Learning as Phenomena for Scientific Inquiry

This report outlines the proceedings of a March 2011 meeting at the Exploratorium, hosted by the Center for Informal Learning and Schools. A distinguished group of learning scholars and practitioners came together to consider ways that informal science learning institutions – museums, science centers, aquaria, etc. – might engage the general visiting public with learning as a social, cultural, and scientific phenomenon. In particular, they attempted to identify how interactive exhibits and programs could engage visitors with a wide range of learning phenomena, such as mimicry, attention, perception, interpretation, modeling, etc.