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This review examines how natural history museums (NHMs) can enhance learning and engagement in science, particularly for school-age students. First, we describe the learning potential of informal science learning institutions...

To support discussion of tinkering-based learning, the Exploratorium sought to articulate and refine a valid, evidence-based definition of learning in its on-floor "Tinkering Studio." We studied 50 learners and their...

The Diving Deeper, Looking Forward session topics at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting emerged from a pre-meeting survey of AISL-funded Principal Investigators; discussions with PIs and others who have participated in CAISE convenings over the past two years; and input from CAISE staff, co-PIs, and NSF Program Officers. These sessions were intended to catalyze discussions ... Read more

To create more equitable learning opportunities for students from marginalized communities, educators can design learning experiences that help young people connect their everyday interests and knowledge to academic content. Nasir...

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...

Schools do not define education, and they are not the only institutions in which learning takes place. After-school programs, music lessons, Scouts, summer camps, on-the-job training, and home activities all...

This study aims to investigate whether different types of museum visits have specific ways to influence the visitors' experience and learning. Three types of museum visits as offered by the...

The development of interactive, participatory, multisensory environments that combine the physical with the virtual comes as a natural continuation to the computer game industry's constant race for more exciting user...

This article describes an exhibit evaluation project at the San Diego Natural History Museum, funded by NSF in 2001, which took a participatory approach to better understand their audience. The...

New technologies, such as multi-touch tables, increasingly provide shareable interfaces where multiple people can simultaneously interact, enabling co-located groups to collaborate more flexibly than using single personal computers. Soon, these...

The Detroit Zoo will develop an innovative partnership to help underrepresented students achieve success in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) higher education and careers. The “Learning Classroom—Community of Practice”...

What do people learn from visiting museums and how do they learn it? The editors approach this question by focusing on conversations as both the process and the outcome of...

This AISL Pilots and Feasibility project will study the data science learning that takes place as members of the public explore and analyze open civic data related to their everyday...

The concern with a "digital divide" has been transformed from one defined by technological access to technological prowess--employing technologies for more empowered and generative uses such as learning and innovation....

English learners are a diverse group with diverse experiences and needs. While schools focus on teaching them English, afterschool programs can build on their strengths to address their social and...

In this article, we explore how two informal educational contexts—an aquarium and an after-school science program—enabled disenfranchised learners to adopt an identity as insiders to the world of science. We...

Hobbyists are excellent learners. They are self-motivated; they seek out new information; they practice and refine their skills. As a result, some develop considerable expertise in their specialist areas. Studying...

Why do people go to museums and what do they learn there? What roles can museums serve in a learning community? How can museums facilitate more effective learning experiences? John...

The "Bridges to Understanding Children's Museums" publication is a seven-chapter research report of the field of children's museums. This excerpt from chapter 5 includes a policy study highlighting some of...

This article examines afterschool science in light of the National Research Council’s comprehensive synthesis report on promoting science learning in informal environments (NRC, 2009). We present the results of our...

In this study, we suggest to amending the cognitive mediation model of learning from the news to explain the impact of news coverage on climate change on the recipients' acquisition...

The nature of the learning that occurs with real versus replicated objects and environments is an important topic for museums and science centers. Our comparative, exploratory study addressed this area...

This paper is the first report on an extensive ethnographic study of two professional schools of art and design in the United States. The overall purpose of the study is...

While the model for transmitting scientific information ­ a model that attributes the effects of a message on the public to the intent of the communicator mediated by text ­...

The study aims to characterize contextual learning during class visits to science and natural history museums. Based on previous studies, we assumed that “outdoor” learning is different from classroom-based learning,...