Keeping the Flame Lit: The Value of the Long-Term Permanence of a Science Club

Abstract

Science clubs are programs that allow people (especially children and youngsters) to meet regularly outside of school programs and engage with science and technology activities. Clubs encourage participants to foster attitudes, capabilities, and knowledge related to STEM fields with the goal of promoting interest and passion about science. As such programs provide big opportunities to improve the impact of public communication of science activities, it is really important to look at the impacts of such programs.

From experience to theory: Science recreation workshops as a practice-led approach in informal environments for science learning

“…Hence, successful SRW events have the potential to get participants more involved in science-related events. There is a need for follow-up programmes to avoid leaving participants on their own after positive initial experiences (García-Guerrero et al, 2019). As is the case with other ISE activities (Durant et al, 2016), SRWs provide an opportunity to connect interested participants with established learning communities or programmes, provided such spaces exist in a specific area.…”

“…Interestingly, SRWs can also provide the foundation for this kind of periodic approach that take things a step further: fostering closer relationships between science and the participants’ interests. Regular science programmes provide permanent free-choice learning opportunities for people (García-Guerrero et al, 2019). This involves participants taking up science as a hobby, learning about it, having a bigger choice in what and how they learn, and developing projects on their own (Lewenstein, 2013; Liu and Falk, 2014).…”

“…There is evidence linking participation in periodic extracurricular programmes to positive attitudes towards science, improved science learning and a greater sense of appreciation for scientific endeavours (Hartley, 2014). Although it is important to promote such endeavours, they have been addressed in detail elsewhere (Sahin, 2013; Vartianen and Aksela, 2013; Hartley, 2014; García-Guerrero et al, 2019). We must turn our attention to the learning theories that can provide a foundation for the discussion of SRWs.…”

“…Isolated experiences provide essential sparks of interest but cannot ‘keep the flame lit’. To foster a closer relation to science, they need subsequent follow-ups to flourish (García-Guerrero et al, 2019). To achieve deeper connections, there is a need for participants to replicate what they have done, reflect on it and discuss it with their peers (Robinson, 2019).…”

“…Thus, people interested in becoming practitioners become apprentices in a workshop devoted to the development of SRWs and in a process in which they also contribute to the growth of their peers and the group as a whole. This is how the goal of developing SRWs contributes to a rich CoP—one that often feeds off former participants in isolated events and periodical programmes (Cabral and Rivera, 2010; García-Guerrero et al, 2019) to create new generations of practitioners.…”