Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 4, Issue 1, Foreword (Jun., 2003) David ANDERSON , Gregory P. THOMAS & Kirsten M. ELLENBOGEN Learning Science from Experiences in Informal Contexts: The Next Generation of Research Previous Contents Next

Contemporary Research Developments in the Investigation of Museum-based Learning

At the beginning of the nineties, Feher (1990) observed that "the study of learning in science museums is a field in its infancy" (p. 35). In the years following there has been considerable growth and development in this field of research. Changes in accepted paradigms and definitions of learning have resulted in studies that point to the considerable richness of learning that have the potential to emerge from experiences in informal settings. By the middle of the 1990s there was widespread acceptance of the cognitive, affective and social value of experiences in museums and similar institutions (Rennie & McClafferty, 1996), and Falk and Dierking (1992) had drawn attention to the physical, social and personal contexts in which learning occurs. Others argued that students enjoyed visits to museums tremendously and that the resulting increased interest and enjoyment of science activities constitute extremely valuable learning outcomes that persist over time (Ayres & Melear, 1998; Ramey-Gassert, Walberg, & Walberg, 1994; Rennie, 1994; Wolins, Jensen & Ulzheimer, 1992). In the later 1990s several researchers (e.g. Anderson, 1999; Falk & Dierking 1997; Gilbert & Priest, 1997; Schauble Leinhardt, & Martin, 1997) embraced constructivist and sociocultural views of learning for detailed investigations of the processes of knowledge development from students' experiences in informal settings. Key to the their epistemological positions were the views that learning is dynamic in nature, and that prior knowledge is not only a strong influence on the learning that occurs in informal settings, but that these experiences dynamically influence subsequent knowledge development beyond the informal setting. This subsequent knowledge development may be realised for the learner in the hours, days, months, even years following the experience.