News & View Category: Knowledge Base

Designing Exhibits to Engage Girls

This is a Knowledge Base article, designed to streamline access to and share evidence about informal STEM learning. Knowledge Base articles are evidence-supported claims about what is new and emerging in the field that you can reference when you develop a proposal or “make the case” for a strategy or approach to funders and stakeholders.  Veronica Garcia-Luis co-authored this article. Research … Read more

How Do Children Engage with STEM Museum Exhibits? Results from a Large Observational Study

This is a Knowledge Base article, designed to streamline access to and share evidence about informal STEM learning. Knowledge Base articles are evidence-supported claims about what is new and emerging in the field that you can reference when you develop a proposal or “make the case” for a strategy or approach to funders and stakeholders. Toni Dancstep (neé Dancu) co-authored this … Read more

More Time Spent Engaged in Nature Play During Early Childhood May Lead to Life-Long Pro-Environmental Orientation and Behavior

Frequent and positive contact with nature before age 11, especially in active and playful experiences, is likely to foster pro-environmental affect, attitude, values, and behavior in adulthood. Direct contact with nature creates strong connections and affiliations between child and place, which is important for eco-centric value development and fosters self-efficacy in environmental issues   Findings from … Read more

Nature Play is Important for the Cognitive Development of Early Learners

Spending time in nature is essential for cognitive development. Nature play stimulates creativity and problem solving skills integral to executive function development. Children who play and spend time in nature have increased concentration and cognitive skills, including mitigation of ADHD/ADD symptoms. Findings from Research & Evaluation Spontaneous, open-ended, play in natural surroundings offer unrivaled opportunities … Read more

Adult Informal Science Education Programs

This article was migrated from a previous version of the Knowledge Base. The date stamp does not reflect the original publication date. Overview  There are a variety of informal science education programs that target adult learners. These programs exist along a continuum from casual drop-in programs (e.g., 1-2 hour workshops or lectures on scientific topics … Read more

Affective experiences are an important part of informal science education

This Knowledge Base article was written collaboratively with contributions from Kevin Crowley and CAISE Admin. This article was migrated from a previous version of the Knowledge Base. The date stamp does not reflect the original publication date. Overview  Fun, excitement, pleasure, enjoyment, delight, laughter, wonder, joy are all emotional states that many informal science educators desire learners to … Read more

Assessment Practices in Informal Science

This Knowledge Base article was written collaboratively with contributions from Yoon Jeon Kim and Mac Cannady. This article was migrated from a previous version of the Knowledge Base. The date stamp does not reflect the original publication date. Overview  There is a great need to develop assessment practices within informal science learning environments that can keep up with the … Read more