Measuring the long-term effects of informal science education experiences: challenges and potential solutions

Abstract

Despite the fact that most science learning takes place outside of school, little is known about how engagement in informal science learning (ISL) experiences affects learners’ knowledge, skill development, interest, or identities over long periods of time. Although substantial ISL research has documented short-term outcomes such as the learning that takes place during a science center visit, research suggests that the genuine benefits of informal experiences are long-term transformations in learners as they pursue a “cascade” of experiences subsequent to the initial educational event. However, a number of major methodological challenges have limited longitudinal research projects investigating the long-term effects of ISL experiences. In this paper we identify and address four key issues surrounding the critical but challenging area of how to study and measure the long-term effects or impacts of ISL experiences: attribution, attrition, data collection, and analytic approaches. Our objective is to provide guidance to ISL researchers wishing to engage in long-term investigations of learner outcomes and to begin a dialogue about how best to address the numerous challenges involved in this work.

A multi-approach perspective for the attention of the diversity of the audiences in science museums: the pedagogical model of the Bogota Planetarium.

“…In the case of museums, although not all exhibitions or museography devices may be constructivist, it is possible to evaluate some parameters to maintain the constructivist vision (Hein 2002) (Uyen et al 2019). One of the principles to consider will be the generation of contextualized relationships, allowing one to recognize how previous knowledge contributes to the understanding of the new concept, situation, or process (Roschelle 1995) (Massarani et al 2019) (Collins et al 2021) (Staus et al 2021). The rst contextualized relationship should be with the space itself and how the public interacts with the place, for which consideration should be given to visitors being able to roam the space freely and feeling comfortable being in contact with an adequate and not excessive number of sensory stimuli.…”

What we've learned: A research agenda for a museum, 7 years later

“…Recognizing those challenges, scholars have proposed features of a research agenda that are responsive to those intrinsic features of informal learning (Dillon et al, 2016;Rennie et al, 2003;Schauble et al, 1997;Staus et al, 2021). These include exploring the precursors to learning such as motivation, choice and engagement; focusing upon holistic constructs that have particular validity in free choice activities like identity and interest; situating the research…”

Learning science with YouTube videos and the impacts of Covid-19

“…Our exploration of online instructional videos as resources for learning science is guided by the ecological perspectives of the learning ecosystems theoretical framework (Barron, 2004 , 2006 ; Corin et al, 2017 ; Falk et al, 2016 ; Jackson, 2013 ; Staus et al, 2021 ; Traphagen & Traill, 2014 ). Ecologists studying natural ecosystems explore the interconnected relationships between biotic and abiotic components in physical environments and the cycles of matter and energy that connect them.…”

“…Our emphasis on video as a major component of the constellation of resources students use to learn science is guided by the learning ecology theoretical framework (Barron, 2004 , 2006 , 2016; Corin et al, 2017 ; Falk et al, 2016 ; Jackson, 2013 ; Staus et al, 2021 ; Traphagen & Traill, 2014 ). This theoretical perspective conceptualizes and explores science learning within educational ecosystems made up of relationships between the physical, virtual, and in- and out-of-school environments as well as the associated resources, artifacts, and processes through which people learn.…”