While the opportunity to engage in scientific reasoning has been identified as an important aspect of informal science learning (National Research Council, 2009), most studies have examined this strand of science learning within the context of physics‒based science exhibits. Few have examined the presence of such activity in conjunction with live animal exhibits at zoos and aquariums. A video study of 41 families at four touch‒tank exhibits, where visitors can observe and interact with live marine species, revealed that families engaged in making claims, challenging claims, and confirming claims as well as other actions associated with scientific reasoning such as applying prior knowledge, making and testing predictions and hypotheses, and constructing arguments. We provide examples of scientific reasoning and examine the role of claims in promoting scientific reasoning. Implications for rethinking learning opportunities and interpretational approaches at touch tanks, as well as examination of the unique characteristics of these and similar exhibits, are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 96: 1047–1070, 2012
RESUMO: Neste estudo exploratório, de caráter qualitativo, objetivamos compreender a experiência de adolescentes em museus de ciência em visita fora do contexto escolar. Em particular, apresentamos a análise da visita de cinco grupos, entre 14 e 17 anos, de escolas públicas, à exposição “Passado e Presente - ciência, saúde e vida pública”, localizada no Castelo Mourisco do Museu da Vida, da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, no Rio de Janeiro. Os resultados indicam que, durante as visitas, esse público interagiu intensamente nas relações entre três elementos fundamentais no modelo teórico adotado: os módulos expositivos, os próprios visitantes e os mediadores. Esse dado, associado à análise de trechos específicos das visitas, sugere que, quando os adolescentes vão ao museu, eles podem vivenciar diversas experiências que permitem tornar esse espaço de aprendizagem não formal interessante, excitante e motivador, e, consequentemente, oferecer oportunidades de aprendizagem por livre escolha e de discussão sobre a ciência e temáticas que a tangenciam.
Developing an account of the encounter between vernacular and official (Bodnar, 1992) mediational means, this paper explores some of the ways narratives about history come into dialogic contact in history museums. We argue that the history museum acts as a public forum where personal lives may be linked more or less closely to collectives through encounters among narratives produced by the museum and its visitors. Through analysis of exhibits at two museums and visitor talk in one museum, we offer a preliminary discussion of possible relationships among narratives in the negotiation of public memory.
Citizen science is a growing phenomenon across many branches of environmental science facilitating both increased science literacy and the collection of highly rigorous, longitudinal data. Understanding the motivations of adults to join and remain active in citizen science programs is important as the diversity and abundance of opportunities for public participation in science grow. We conducted a mixed-methods study of newly recruited and "seasoned" (1 year plus) participants in the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team, a hands-on, environmental citizen science program focused on adult coastal residents, to explore the degree to which engagement, measured as time in the program, influenced motivation. We used constructs of functionalism, person-object theory of interest, and activity theoretic approaches to situational identity to deconstruct motivation into three interacting components: objects of interest, actions directed toward those objects, and situated senses of self. Newly recruited participants came with a strong interest in being outside on the beach and learning about birds and saw themselves as data collectors defined in part by their birding and degree/ job-based credentials and their social relationships. By contrast, seasoned participants aligned their interests and situational identity more directly with the program, calling out the importance of program data and results, elevating science-based actions such as monitoring over learning, intensifying their desire to contribute to science, subjugating individual attributes in favor of their science identity, and increasing their sense of self-worth attached to the project. Our results suggest that hands-on, environmental citizen science programs focused on adults should shape their data collector roles and projects around context-specific motivations including senses of place and biodiversity, support both the altruistic and self-interest needs of participants, and combine rigorous science experience with social interaction.
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