Policy statement of the “Informal Science Education” Ad Hoc Committee.

In the spring of 1999, the Board of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) established an Informal Science Education Ad Hoc committee, co-chaired by Lynn Dierking and John Falk. The Committee's task was to focus on the organization's positioning in regard to out-of-school science education. After 2 years of work, the committee composed a policy statement, included below, that was presented to, and accepted by, the NARST board. The policy statement defines this arena of research, describes a variety of out-of-school environments in which science learning occurs, identifies issues related to conducting research in this area, and makes recommendations for building a community of researchers in this field and for facilitating opportunities for collaborative initiatives with other research areas in NARST.