Search Results – Repository and Website Combined

This paper provides an interesting insight into how educators can support learners in coming to understand the nature of matter. Whilst the specific focus is on students’ implicit assumptions and...

If student interest in science is a predictor of careers in science, how can we characterize student interest across ages? Analyzing 6,000 questions from students gathered from informal science settings...

This study is a summary of the review of the research literature of afterschool quality frameworks. It presents the debates on program effectiveness to help organizations, policymakers, funders, and evaluators...

This paper discusses a modification of the Delphi technique as a tool for bridging research and practice. The technique was used to build consensus among a variety of stakeholders on...

This research brief has been made available by Relating Research to Practice (RR2P). RR2P provides short synopses of current peer-reviewed research relevant to informal science education (ISE). The original RR2P brief was written by Heather King of King’s College, London. This paper discusses a modification of the Delphi technique as a tool for bridging research ... Read more

Many people believe that both public policy and personal action would improve with better access to “reliable knowledge about the natural world” (that thing that we often call science). Many...

This paper presents a case study of two currently high-achieving 13-year-old British Asian schoolgirls: One appears keen to pursue advanced science learning, whilst the other seems more likely to reject...

In collaboration with TERC and informal learning organizations across the United States, COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation (CRE) is part of an NSF-funded project, Research to Understand and Inform...

In collaboration with TERC and informal learning organizations across the United States, COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation (CRE) is part of an NSF-funded project, Research to Understand and Inform...

In recent years, there has been much concern over the decline of biologists who actually identify themselves to be naturalists, which negatively impacts the field of conservation and the study...

Angela Johnson is a former physics teacher whose research examines the intersection between race, gender, culture and an individual’s recognition of and affiliation with the STEM community. She examines the ways in which “settings” sometimes reinforce equity disparities, particularly in higher education. Her work also seeks to provide solutions for changing the setting to support ... Read more

Dale McCreedy is a researcher and practitioner whose work has explored how out-of-school settings such as science museums can help adult learners and girls identify with science. In a joint interview with Lynn Dierking, she shares her perspectives on identity from their project Cascading Influences, which explores the long-term impacts of informal STEM experiences for ... Read more

Dan Kahan‘s identity-related work has focused on “identity protective cognition”, which refers to the tendency of individuals to unconsciously dismiss evidence that does not reflect the beliefs that predominate in their group. This is also sometimes called “motivated reasoning”. More broadly, he studies various topics related to risk perceptions and science communication in the context ... Read more

Edna Tan is a social science researcher in STEM education who uses qualitative approaches to explore issues of power and systemic injustices as they relate to identity. Her research uses the concepts of “identity work” and “identities in practice” (i.e. what youth do, say or perform) to understand how youth engage with STEM in ways ... Read more

As a political scientist who studies communication, Erik Nisbet looks at identity from the perspective of public debates around controversial science issues such as climate change or vaccinations. He frames identity along the lines of political identity or deeply rooted beliefs on collective versus individualistic approaches to decision-making and provides examples on how these broader ... Read more

Heidi Ballard is an environmental education researcher whose work focuses on how both youth and adults develop identities and learn through public participation in scientific research, and citizen science activities in particular. Watch the short video or download the full interview transcript below. “Identities are not fixed. They are not fixed in time and they ... Read more

Heidi Carlone is a learning researcher whose work examines identity in concert with the study of culture. She studies an individual’s “performance,” in relation to what is demanded, celebrated, and marginalized in the setting they are in. Her work assumes that the identity-related outcomes of any given set of practices, or local context, are often ... Read more

A scholar and leader in research on identity for 40 years, psychologist Jacque Eccles reflects on the various ways in which “identity” can be understood and measured. She provides a variety of vivid examples on how identity or self-concept play into decisions that young people make on whether to engage with STEM or not. Eccles ... Read more

Jennifer Adams’ research focuses on identity in teacher learning and youth agency. Taking critical and decolonizing stances towards science, and science teaching and learning, are key themes underlying her work. You can watch this short video or download the full interview transcript below. “My definition of identity is very contextual and has shifted even from ... Read more

Kevin Binning is a social psychologist whose research focuses on answering the (seemingly) simple question: Why people do the things that they do? Using formal methods of inquiry such as experimentation and longitudinal observation, he explores how identity influences people’s learning and behavior over time. He develops and tests social psychology interventions that “nudge” people ... Read more

Lynn Dierking’s research focuses on free-choice learning with an emphasis on engaging youth from backgrounds that are underrepresented in STEM in meaningful ways. In a joint interview with Dale McCreedy, she shares her perspectives on identity from their project Cascading Influences, which explores the long-term impacts of informal STEM experiences for girls. Watch the short ... Read more

Shelly Valdez owns and manages an educational consulting business, Native Pathways, located in central New Mexico. Native Pathways focuses on world views of science education, primarily indigenous science. Shelly’s interest and passion for indigenous science has influenced her approaches in the field of education and evaluation, as well as the partners she works with. Watch ... Read more

Zahra Hazari‘s research focuses on reforming physics learning environments in an effort to improve critical educational outcomes for under-represented groups in physics, especially women. In particular, her work centers on physics identity development, often through a recognition of belonging to the physics community, and the development of agency in physics (i.e. empowerment to take intentional ... Read more

Understanding the visitor experience provides essential insights into how museums can affect people’s lives. Personal drives, group identity, decision-making and meaning-making strategies, memory, and leisure preferences, all enter into the...

Concepts and findings from research on identity development are employed to better understand why current science teacher preparation programs are failing to prepare teachers who are able and choose to...