A Shift in Authority Letourneau, Susan M.; Bennett, Dorothy; McMillan Culp, Katherine ...
Curator (New York, N.Y.),
April 2021, Letnik:
64, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Research across fields has converged on the importance of grounding STEM learning in learners’ personal, social, and cultural experiences. This article describes how distributed and transformational ...leadership models in science centers can enable a paradigm shift away from unidirectional communication of scientific information from institution to visitor, and toward practices that prioritize the diversity of visitors’ own experiences and their agency as learners and thinkers. Three case studies (on exhibit design, facilitation, and activity development) illustrate how adopting elements of distributed and transformational leadership models allowed project teams at the New York Hall of Science to operationalize the theoretical foundations of our museum’s educational philosophy across multiple areas of the organization. Across the three projects, supporting visitors’ agency and centering their diverse perspectives and prior knowledge required a parallel shift toward increased collaboration and agency among staff with diverse roles and areas of expertise.
Youth are introduced to STEM topics through informal settings like science camps, aquaria, and zoos. In these interactive and sensory-rich environments, a well-designed programme can help ...participants to acquire knowledge and cultivate interest through experiential learning. Given the importance of informal activities in environmental education, it is crucial to identify which contextual components lead to successful learning outcomes. Thus far, research in environmental STEM education has focused on brief experiences, such as one-time visits to curated environments likeaquaria. Investigating the impact of multi-day/longer experiences in natural settings is critical because the level of engagement with the STEM topic and the interaction with the learning environment in such experiences have different cognitive and affective impacts. To address these current limitations, we explored whether there is evidence that a four-day, immersive outdoor soundscape ecology camp contributed to situational interest and conceptual understanding of middle-school youth. During the soundscape camp, a variety of evidence was collected through different instruments including drawing activities, questionnaires, an interview, and field-observations. Through a qualitative analysis and open coding, we identified three core principles of informal outdoor curricular design that positively contribute to participants' learning experiences, including direct experience with nature, the use of authentic technology, and exercises that promote collaborative teamwork. We argue that activities that promote scientific practices and engagement with authentic tools in a real-world context creates a learning environment in which participants collaboratively construct deep conceptual understanding of different aspects of environmental STEM topics and foster interest in the context of science inquiry.
Abstract
Research across fields has converged on the importance of grounding STEM learning in learners’ personal, social, and cultural experiences. This article describes how distributed and ...transformational leadership models in science centers can enable a paradigm shift away from unidirectional communication of scientific information from institution to visitor, and toward practices that prioritize the diversity of visitors’ own experiences and their agency as learners and thinkers. Three case studies (on exhibit design, facilitation, and activity development) illustrate how adopting elements of distributed and transformational leadership models allowed project teams at the New York Hall of Science to operationalize the theoretical foundations of our museum’s educational philosophy across multiple areas of the organization. Across the three projects, supporting visitors’ agency and centering their diverse perspectives and prior knowledge required a parallel shift toward increased collaboration and agency among staff with diverse roles and areas of expertise.
Informal education environments like museums have become some of the most important educational resources. Although much attention has been paid to museum settings and programs, little is known about ...how museum educators support visitors’ learning and intrinsic motivation. In particular, there is a need to investigate museum educators’ enthusiasm, considering that enthusiasm is a powerful way of creating an engaging learning experience across various subjects and environments. In this study, I investigate museum educators’ enthusiasm as perceived by adult visitors through the lens of interest development. The results I found (N = 209) indicate a strong positive relationship between museum educators’ enthusiasm and visitors’ situational interest. Visitors’ reports of educators’ enthusiasm were directly related to catch interest (β = .74) and indirectly to hold interest (β = .46). In addition, educators’ enthusiasm mediated the connection between prior individual interest and catch interest. Visitors’ prior individual interest was also moderately related to both their catch (β = .28) and hold interest (β = .37). Limitations and directions for future studies are discussed.
Young children are capable of engaging in scientific and mathematical thinking, but often have few opportunities to use math as a tool for understanding the world. This article describes the ...development and implementation of a museum‐based after‐school workshop that introduced young children and their families to data science, an applied field that involves real‐world observations. Through three iterations of the workshop, the museum developed strategies for engaging families in interest‐driven cycles of data collection, organization, and interpretation. The workshop used design and making to motivate exploration of data and highlight the utility of mathematics for answering questions and guiding decisions. Children (ages 5–8) gathered data about museum exhibits (including size, features, visitors’ preferences, etc.) and applied what they learned to create models of their own exhibit ideas. We discuss the theoretical basis for the program, the process by which it was iteratively developed, and the final structure of the workshop activities and curriculum.
Informal education environments like museums have become some of the most important educational resources. Although much attention has been paid to museum settings and programs, little is known about ...how museum educators support visitors' learning and intrinsic motivation. In particular, there is a need to investigate museum educators' enthusiasm, considering that enthusiasm is a powerful way of creating an engaging learning experience across various subjects and environments. In this study, I investigate museum educators' enthusiasm as perceived by adult visitors through the lens of interest development. The results I found (N = 209) indicate a strong positive relationship between museum educators' enthusiasm and visitors' situational interest. Visitors' reports of educators' enthusiasm were directly related to catch interest (β = .74) and indirectly to hold interest (β = .46). In addition, educators' enthusiasm mediated the connection between prior individual interest and catch interest. Visitors' prior individual interest was also moderately related to both their catch (β = .28) and hold interest (β = .37). Limitations and directions for future studies are discussed.
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