Learning science in informal environments: people, places and pursuits. A review by the US National Science Council

Abstract

In January this year, the US saw the publication of the preview of an impressive review work on the practices and the studies concerning learning science outside schools and universities, i.e. what is referred to as informal education. The document, promoted by the National Science Council of scientific academies (National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine), is the result of the work by a committee comprising 14 specialists who collected, discussed and then organized hundreds of documents on pedagogical premises, places, practices and pursuits concerning scientific informal education. Nobody doubts that museums, magazines, after-school activities, science festivals and any other science communication offers have a positive impact on the people’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. But what do we really know about what actually happens in these experiences? What sense should be given to the word “learning” in these cases? Do the different communication tools or environments have also a different impact? What factors make them more or less effective? These are the main questions the document wants to answer, carefully evaluating the present state of the art.

Parental engagement in children’s STEM education. Part I: Meta-analysis of the literature

“…School-related projects, homework assignments, and visits to science centres open additional opportunities for positive STEM-related interactions between children and family members (Rodari, 2009;Vartiainen & Aksela, 2013). Science clubs for children offered outside of school is another example of activities helping engage families in science.…”

“…In inquiry-based STEM classrooms, students are asked to pose questions, design experiments, collect, analyze and interpret data, and draw their own conclusions (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2015). There is ample research evidence that inquiry-based education also promotes parental involvement in both formal (Mousoulides, 2013;Zwiep & Straits, 2013) and informal STEM learning environments (Dabney et al, 2015;Rodari, 2009). This might be one of the reasons why the emphasis on inquirybased teaching has become a prominent feature of contemporary educational reforms (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2015;USA National Research Council, 2013).…”

El papel de la comunicación pública de la ciencia sobre la cultura científica: acercamientos a su evaluación

“…Respecto a los aspectos relacionados con identidad, los resultados de la educación informal en ciencias propuestos por el National Science Council, representan una amplia visión de la manera en que los practicantes y lo expertos caracterizan y miden los efectos de las experiencias de aprendizaje informal. Las seis líneas (strands) que proponen para medirlos 1103-9 cubren un amplio rango de enfoques, desde los dirigidos hacia el cambio cognitivo y conceptual, hasta aquellos más relacionados con la participación o la identidad (Rodari 2009).…”

Fatores de caracterização da educação não formal: uma revisão da literatura

“…Ou seja, essa é a educação que acontece em instituições próprias, construídas para o efeito: escola, universidade (ALVES; PASSOS; ARRUDA, 2010), centros de formação, sala de aula (RAMEY-GASSERT; WALBERG III; WALBERG, 1994). Para a educação não formal, a tendência é definir por exclusão, ou seja, a educação não formal é a que acontece fora da escola, fora dos quadros formais (RODARI, 2009). Mas há também quem a defina de outra maneira, frisando que ela acontece em espaços feitos para o efeito, como museus, zoológicos etc., ou espaços de ações coletivas, que acompanham as trajetórias das pessoas, como ONGs ou clubes (CHAGAS, 1993).…”