Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 4, Issue 1
FOREWORD

Learning Science from Experiences in Informal Contexts:
The Next Generation of Research

David ANDERSON

Department of Curriculum Studies
University of British Columbia
2125 Main Mall
Vancouver BC V6T1Z4
CANADA

Email: david.anderson@ubc.ca


Gregory P. THOMAS

Head, Department of Science Education
The Hong Kong Institute of Education
Hong Kong, China

 

Kirsten M. ELLENBOGEN

Institute for Learning Innovation
Annapolis, USA

Contents
  • Introduction
  • Contemporary Research Developments in the Investigation of Museum-based Learning
  • Views of Learning Appropriate to Today's Research Agendas
  • Future Directions for Research in the "Informal Learning" Field
  • References
  • About the Authors


  • Introduction

    Changes have occurred in the ways science educators and researchers view the learning that occurs in, and emerges from, experiences in informal contexts such as museums, science centres, botanic gardens, and aquariumsi. Prior to the 1980s, there was a search for evidence and a wide spread lack of acceptance that "real learning" occurred in such contexts. Rather, "real learning" was the seen as the sole domain of the classroom and teacher. There are several reasons for this view. First, prior to the 1980s there was not a body of systematic research on informal learning comparable to the body of research on school-based learning. Second, many of the studies conducted in informal contexts merely or considered how learning was effected by differential interventions (such as a change in exhibit format), rather than defining the nature of such learning. The studies characteristically used multiple choice tests and comparative research designs to demonstrate statistically significant effects, rather than the more qualitative measures of learning employed in investigations today. Third, studies of that time naturally adopted perspectives on learning different from those broadly held today. In many of the studies prior to the 1990s, researchers saw learning as the acquisition of facts and information, rather than the gradual, incremental, and assimilative growth in knowledge interpreted in the light of prior knowledge and understanding, that typifies contemporary constructivist views of learning.


    i Museums, science centres, botanic gardens, and aquariums are commonly referred to as museum settings.

     


    Copyright (C) 2003 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 4, Issue 1, Foreword (Jun., 2003). All Rights Reserved.