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Sherman Rosenfeld explores the broad landscape of current and future out-of-school science learning environments.

Image courtesy of interviewee. May 28, 2024

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The speaker expresses excitement about discussing their recently co-edited book on informal science learning, emphasizing its relevance to educators and enthusiasts in both science education and general education. The motivation for the book stems from long-standing relationships with influential mentors, particularly Dr. Mac Watson Lech, and collaboration with co-editor Judy Diamond, both of whom significantly contributed to the field of informal science learning. The speaker explains that informal science learning is characterized by self-directed, experiential environments outside traditional schooling, encouraging student motivation and skills development. They outline the book's content, which encompasses various areas, including exhibits in science museums, environmental stewardship, alternative informal learning spaces (like libraries and zoos), and critical essays reflecting on the challenges and improvements needed in the field. The book curates approximately 34 essays from 70 authors worldwide, providing diverse perspectives on current practices and research in informal science learning. It aims to define the state of the art in the field, addressing issues like connection to formal education and the importance of incorporating diverse learning modalities and social science research. Throughout their research and writing process, the authors have emphasized collaboration, evidence-based findings, and the need for long-term learning connections. The concluding remarks focus on the need to bridge informal and formal science education and explore future research possibilities for integrating these approaches effectively.

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Here are some articles that are similar to the video, focusing on informal science learning, collaboration in education, and the intersection of formal and informal learning environments:

1. **"Bridging Formal and Informal Learning: The Role of Museums"**
- This article discusses how museums serve as informal learning environments that can complement formal education. It highlights the importance of collaborative efforts between museum educators and school teachers to create enriching learning experiences for students.

2. **"The Impact of Informal Learning on STEM Education"**
- This research paper examines how informal learning experiences, such as those found in science fairs, nature centers, and civic science projects, enhance students' understanding of STEM subjects. It emphasizes the need for educators to recognize and integrate these experiences into the formal curriculum.

3. **"Collaboration in Science Education: Amplifying Informal Learning Experiences"**
- This article outlines various collaborative approaches in science education that enhance informal learning opportunities. It features case studies of projects where schools partner with informal learning institutions like aquariums and community organizations.

4. **"Understanding Informal Learning: Implications for Science Education"**
- This scholarly article focuses on defining informal learning and its implications for developing effective science education programs. It offers recommendations for educators on how to harness informal learning environments to improve student engagement and motivation in science.

5. **"Connecting the Dots: The Role of Community Organizations in Science Learning"**
- This article explores how community organizations can play a pivotal role in informal science education. It discusses the collaborative initiatives that bring together educators, scientists, and community leaders to foster a shared understanding of scientific concepts.

6. **"The Future of Science Learning: Integrating Formal and Informal Approaches"**
- This article contemplates the future of science education, advocating for a seamless integration of formal and informal learning approaches. It presents strategies for educators to create innovative learning pathways that utilize both environments.

7. **"Experiential Learning in Science: Lessons from Informal Education"**
- This piece reviews research on experiential learning in informal settings, discussing key findings on how such experiences can deepen students' understanding of scientific principles compared to traditional methods.

These articles collectively reflect themes of informal science learning, the integration of various educational environments, and the importance of collaboration in enhancing educational practices.

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First of all, I'm delighted to be here.

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Uh, I think that, anyone interested in education in

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general and science education specific will, will find this,

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this book, engaging

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and also, maybe even inspirational.

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At least that was the case for us, for my, co-editor

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and I, professor Judy Diamond, myself.

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So I'll tell you a bit about, what motivated the book

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and then, maybe go into describing

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what is informal science learning.

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So there are basically two events that motivated the book.

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Both were long relationships.

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The first is my long relationship with my PhD

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thesis advisor, Dr.

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Mac Watson Lech.

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He was a botanist at the University

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of California at Berkeley,

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and also the director of the Lawrence Hall of Science.

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And the, Berkeley's, university of California,

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Berkeley's Botany, garden.

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And, both of those are informal science.

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Um, he was my PhD advisor,

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and I learned a lot from him,

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and I kept in touch with him,

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after I finished my doctoral work.

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And, so he was the first motivation.

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And second was my long relationship

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and friendship with my colleague,

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professor Judy Diamond.

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Um, toward the end of Mac Leech's life, I began to think

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that he be, he was, both of our, thesis advisors

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and led us,

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and many others into this field

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of informal science learning research.

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So I did my PhD in the San Francisco Zoo to learn how people

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normally learn in the zoo.

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And Judy did hers at the Exploratorium,

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and she followed family groups around to find out how

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families, normally learn in a science museum At

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that time, Frank Oppenheimer, started that

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and had a big revolution in science museums

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by turning them from very static

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and archaic kinds of institutions to very dynamic

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and interactive ones.

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So I think that's what motivated the book,

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both my relationship with, Mac Fletch

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and also, my relationship with Judy Diamond, who,

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agreed to co edit this book, with, with me.

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And, it took us about three years.

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Um, I'll explain about that in a second.

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Maybe I'll just mention what is informal science learning?

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So there are a lot of different ways to define it.

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I think, the easiest way to think about it is

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to think about what is formal schooling

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and what are some of the attributes of it

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we all have gone to school?

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And then think about what could be, out

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of school learning and

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what could be some attributes of that.

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So in a nutshell, outta school

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or informal science learning is learning based on the free

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choice and experiential learning environments.

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Because typically in school, we are given grades

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and other people are determining what we learn.

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Um, but informal science learning actually can increase.

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We've shown this, through research.

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It increases student motivation for learning

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because it's free choice.

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It's something that you decide as a learner.

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It also expands your own conceptions of

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what is learning and, and knowledge.

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Uh, knowledge and learning is not just something

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that happens in schools, and it also develops new

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student skills and abilities.

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For example, being curious,

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asking questions, posing problems.

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Uh, and so anyway, these, environments that are out

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of school or informal, Judy

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and I, have worked in these environments

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for the last 50 years,

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and we thought this was the time to sort of do a state

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of the art, kind of review, of this field.

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And what we did is we actually searched for

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and curated, about 34 essays

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that explore the state of the art of this field,

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including essays that we found wonderful people from India,

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South Africa, the Arab world, Singapore,

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Greece, Poland, Israel.

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Um, there are about 70 authors from around the world

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that have, helped us to sort of create a document,

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this book that we think is a, a good stab at

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defining the state of the art of this field.

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The first thing we did was, look for people who have

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made a contribution to this field,

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and, then also look for people

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who are making a contribution to this field.

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So we actually went out to people that we know

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as our colleagues

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and her have been doing work for a long,

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long time, many, many decades.

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And we also, looked for people who are up

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and coming researchers, who are, who really have a lot

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to contribute to this field.

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And we looked at it actually in four areas.

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Um, I don't, I can't say at the beginning, this was

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what we did, but looking back

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and connecting the dots

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afterwards, these were the four areas.

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The first area was like exhibits, in science museums

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and planetarium and things like that.

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And looking at the design for diversity, how do you design

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for these, for various diverse exhibits?

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The second area had to do with stewardship.

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Um, you know, dealing

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with the environment and sustainability.

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It's a big topic for everyone today,

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and it's a huge topic in out

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of school, in formal learning.

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And by the way, I would say that it's a great place

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to do out of school because one of the problems

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with sustainability programs in school is

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that they're cut up in very disciplinary ways,

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and it's very hard to get an integrated view

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of what's really going on with earth stewardship.

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So we have chapters that deal with zoos

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and aqua of citizen science, programs.

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Uh, we talk about climate change

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and rural populations, et cetera.

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The third area has to do with other spaces

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and places for informal science learning.

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Judy wrote an excellent chapter on libraries as a place

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for science learning outside of school science, hobbies,

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escape rooms, a program in Singapore that fuses

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informal stem learning with in,

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with formal stem learning in a and,

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and how, how do you make computational literacy

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and the performing arts come together?

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Um, the open school model in Europe where schools go out

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of the school to find resources they can bring into the

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school and engineering, programs.

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So, and there's also a 50 year, review

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of digital learning.

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Um, digital learning has become a big thing, and how

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and how does that relate to informal science learning?

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And of course, we've, we have a chapter on outdoor science

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centers in India, so that's the third area.

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First area is exhibit second,

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stewardship third, other places.

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And the fourth is basically a collection of essays

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that I would call critical essays

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that actually look at our field in a very critical way.

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Uh, we don't wanna give ourselves discounts on,

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you know, we're doing great work.

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Well, okay, what are we doing that we need to practice on?

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We know we need to, we need to improve.

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And, it is very clear we need

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to improve in a lot of ways.

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Um, one of the problems that we have in the field is

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how do you develop long-term learning?

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It's something that, that formal school systems do.

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You go to first grade, second grade, third grade, et cetera.

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How do you connect learning experiences that take place

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outside of the environment?

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And how do you amplify them? The, the title of our book?

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How do you amplify them so that, that you can,

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they can connect to formal science learning And

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how do you develop science identity,

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which has become recently a hot topic

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because it's clear

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that the way a person defines themself is the way

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that they're going to look at

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what they want to do in the future.

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Now, how do we get people to define themselves

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as interested in science?

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Um, how do we get people

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to look at data collection reporting in multiple

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perspectives, and,

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and how do we develop, cha how do we,

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how do we address the challenges

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of cross-cultural communication,

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because we haven't been very good when it comes

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to inclusion and diversity.

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So these are some of the essays

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that we have in the fourth section.

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Yeah. So all of those essays together compose the book,

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and, we think it, it's a, it's a good collection,

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a good curation of, of essays.

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This is kind of an interesting chapter

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because I actually was,

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interviewing someone from the New York Hall of Science,

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and I was thinking about doing a chapter on

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what he did in his life's work,

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but then I found something

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that was really quite spectacular, that he worked

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with a group of eight different science museums

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and, health, institutions to create

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a traveling exhibit.

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Actually three copies of a traveling exhibit that went to 26

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countries in a three year period, just at the height

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of the aids, pandemic.

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And so when I spoke to Martin Weiss and I,

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and I asked him what was going on, it turned out

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that this was quite an unusual exhibition.

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And so, it was called What about aids?

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And so I, I subtitled it, the case

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of the National AIDS Exhibit Consortium

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and this traveling exhibition, that's the context.

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How did this thing get started? What were the outcomes?

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How was it developed and

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what can we learn from it going into the future?

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That's jumping to the end on,

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and then we can talk about how to get there.

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I, the, the research that was done, that's one of the things

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that we, we're clear about.

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Everything in this book is, is research based,

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ev evidence-based.

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And that's basically what we're trying to do.

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We're trying to say, look, you, you have a lot of data

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and a lot of things going on in formal schools.

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Let's take a look at what's going on outside

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of schools and let's collect data.

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And sometimes you collect data in interesting ways

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that may be different from what goes on in schools.

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So, and to answer your question, one

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of Mac let's other students besides Judy and myself and,

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and many others, was John Lech.

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And John Lech has had a, a, a very, spectacular

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history in terms of informal science.

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One of the most published authors in that field.

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And he actually, at the very beginning,

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this was in the 1990s, he

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and his, colleagues did a very thorough evaluation

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of this, traveling,

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exhibition.

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And so we can say what the outcomes were, the outcomes,

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for the, for, for the individuals that actually went

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through the science museum were

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very positive and they were stable.

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There was not only, evaluation,

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a summative evaluation at the end of their visits,

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but also three months after.

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And the overwhelming majority of 'em felt

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that the controversial aspects were handled sensitively.

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And, the other interesting thing, what was interesting

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as an outcome was that there were three goals, of,

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of, of the exhibition.

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There was a cognitive goal.

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That's something that happens in schools, right?

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What you have to know. But then there are two other goals,

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which a lot of times are missing in schools.

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And that was the affective or emotional goals

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and behavioral goals.

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So what do I mean by affective?

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The fact is that much of that, exhibition was told

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through personal stories of people

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who had contracted the disease and, and,

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and they're very, very, very, very touching stories.

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And then there's of course, behavioral goals.

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What can people do to prevent,

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the HIV AIDS pandemic from, from going on?

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And that's where we get into some

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of the sensitive, issues.

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But what we found, in the, in,

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in this evaluation was

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that the affective goals were in the center.

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That's what people really remembered.

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And they moved off to motivate people

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to learn the cognitive goals

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and what's really going on with this aids,

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what is a virus at all.

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And also to the behavioral goals. Okay, so what can I do?

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Or what can we do to prevent, this from, from going on?

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And so it was kind of an interesting, outcome.

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It wasn't something that was expected at the beginning,

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but that's what we found.

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So in a nutshell, it was very positive, very stable.

12:56.915 --> 13:01.095
Um, people thought it was very sensitive and, and by

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and large, that was what the outcomes were in terms

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of the institutions.

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Uh, you asked that question, and I think

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it's a very important question.

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The institutions gained a lot

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of credibility in their own communities

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for tackling this topic.

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You have to remember, this is a time

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when controversial issues were not put into museums.

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Uh, people were very wary about that.

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And this was definitely a controversial issue,

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if you remember, as aids, kind of ruled out,

13:35.475 --> 13:39.335
you know, people were very, very critical about a, a lot

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of the issues relating to that and how do you handle it.

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So the fact that these museums made partnerships

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with other key players

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and key people in, in their, communities,

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really was a boost to them

13:56.465 --> 13:59.395
because they were seen as being able

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to bring people together.

14:01.095 --> 14:05.115
And we saw that, for the 26,

14:05.775 --> 14:08.715
for the 26, cities where this took place.

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In each case, we have case studies.

14:11.325 --> 14:12.435
Again, they were written earlier.

14:12.595 --> 14:15.595
I mean, I say we, I'm talking about the people who,

14:15.695 --> 14:16.715
who wrote this chapter.

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Um, and by the way, I should maybe mention,

14:20.615 --> 14:21.955
how did we write this chapter?

14:22.065 --> 14:24.835
It's like 2020 is when we started,

14:24.935 --> 14:27.955
and this is like 1992, right?

14:28.735 --> 14:32.845
And so it was because of Martin Weiss who basically said,

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well, there are a lot of other people,

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not just myself, that were involved in this.

14:36.205 --> 14:40.725
And so we basically hunted down, you know, these people.

14:41.225 --> 14:43.805
And we had biweekly meetings.

14:44.585 --> 14:48.565
And every time in on Zoom, we were, you know,

14:48.565 --> 14:50.565
during the coronavirus a different virus.

14:51.425 --> 14:54.925
And we were able to meet and to talk about these problems.

14:55.265 --> 14:59.405
And, these issues find documents that, you know,

14:59.435 --> 15:02.685
some people kept, finding new people that it was,

15:02.685 --> 15:05.725
there was someone in the Ontario Science Museum who,

15:06.065 --> 15:07.325
we haven't been in touch with, these people

15:07.325 --> 15:08.485
have been in touch with in a long time.

15:08.945 --> 15:13.325
So in short, there was a kind of, ongoing,

15:13.905 --> 15:17.125
discovery process in finding the documents

15:17.225 --> 15:19.525
and the people who, who did the work

15:20.025 --> 15:21.525
and then trying to make sense of all them.

15:21.955 --> 15:24.885
I'll say that this particular study,

15:26.775 --> 15:28.185
sort of raised several issues.

15:28.275 --> 15:32.185
First of all, as I mentioned just a few seconds ago,

15:32.625 --> 15:35.105
collaboration is essential when dealing with sensitive

15:35.105 --> 15:36.185
and controversial issues.

15:37.015 --> 15:39.905
Science deals with controversial issues,

15:40.405 --> 15:41.585
and we can't run away from them,

15:41.585 --> 15:42.705
and we shouldn't run away from them,

15:43.005 --> 15:46.905
but we should talk about them with the attitude about

15:46.905 --> 15:48.225
what is science all about.

15:48.535 --> 15:53.345
Science is all about asking questions, finding good methods

15:54.005 --> 15:57.905
for collecting data, and then analyzing data objectively.

15:58.685 --> 16:02.105
And when we have controversial issues, we can talk

16:02.105 --> 16:04.585
with people who feel that these are controversial issues

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and they all the questions on the table,

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but at the end of the day, it's gonna be the evidence

16:10.285 --> 16:14.545
that's gonna have to decide where the dice roll, where,

16:14.545 --> 16:15.985
what we, what decisions we make.

16:15.985 --> 16:18.225
So that's the first thing. We have to collaborate

16:18.765 --> 16:19.865
on these sensitive issues

16:20.285 --> 16:24.385
and use data as a way of negotiating the answers.

16:24.885 --> 16:26.705
The second question, the second big issue,

16:26.705 --> 16:29.985
as I think I mentioned earlier, is that cognitive

16:30.165 --> 16:33.505
and effective goals, along with behavioral goals are,

16:33.685 --> 16:35.505
are essential to bring together.

16:35.685 --> 16:36.625
That's one of the things that

16:36.625 --> 16:37.745
doesn't happen enough in schools.

16:38.455 --> 16:41.745
Schools a lot of times are pushing the cognitive.

16:42.405 --> 16:46.105
And what we are finding in informal is you need cognitive,

16:46.205 --> 16:47.825
yes, but you certainly need the affective

16:48.165 --> 16:49.305
and behavioral as well.

16:50.045 --> 16:51.705
The third area, which we found,

16:52.125 --> 16:54.785
and this has to do with the way that the,

16:54.795 --> 16:57.425
exhibition was created, is dealing with

16:58.065 --> 16:59.705
multiple learning modalities.

17:00.915 --> 17:02.745
Again, schools seem,

17:02.845 --> 17:06.785
or at least the traditional schools have privileged books

17:07.645 --> 17:10.145
or, or, or verbal information.

17:10.405 --> 17:11.705
And what we do in informal

17:11.765 --> 17:14.625
and what we've done in this particular exhibition is

17:14.645 --> 17:17.745
to provide many learning modalities, videos,

17:18.545 --> 17:22.625
personal stories on, audio tapes,

17:23.285 --> 17:24.825
et cetera, et cetera.

17:25.165 --> 17:27.705
And all of these together can lead

17:27.705 --> 17:29.345
to very effective learning outcomes.

17:29.665 --> 17:30.865
'cause we know that people learn differently.

17:32.005 --> 17:35.505
Uh, fourth area has to do with social science research.

17:36.105 --> 17:39.745
I think at the beginning of the history of science museums,

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everything was sort of focused on the collection

17:43.345 --> 17:45.625
and then focused on the science concepts

17:45.625 --> 17:47.625
and then focused on what we can learn.

17:48.365 --> 17:52.455
And what we're finding now is that a lot of what we have

17:52.455 --> 17:55.055
to do, especially when we're talking about sensitive issues,

17:55.635 --> 17:59.455
we need to talk about informed decision decision making.

18:00.735 --> 18:03.655
Informed decision making is not something the traditional

18:03.655 --> 18:06.335
science museum touched with the 10 foot pole.

18:07.425 --> 18:10.525
Um, they would put the exhibits out there,

18:10.585 --> 18:12.205
the dioramas, whatever.

18:13.065 --> 18:14.965
Uh, but today we're beginning to realize

18:14.965 --> 18:17.885
that we can all learn a lot from social science research.

18:18.585 --> 18:21.125
And the fifth area has to do

18:21.125 --> 18:23.005
with the importance of collective memory.

18:23.845 --> 18:26.205
I think what we did in the three months

18:26.205 --> 18:29.245
that we were meeting, there are five authors

18:29.245 --> 18:31.965
of this paper, is that we were basically

18:32.595 --> 18:34.165
digging into the past

18:34.585 --> 18:37.125
and dredging out the collective memory

18:37.125 --> 18:39.405
that would've been lost if we didn't write the paper.

18:40.225 --> 18:42.285
And I think that this provides an important lesson

18:42.305 --> 18:44.485
for the future that all of us

18:44.505 --> 18:48.365
who are involved in informal science learning, we have

18:48.365 --> 18:52.485
to do our research, but we also have to provide the stories

18:52.625 --> 18:56.085
behind them and make that available so

18:56.085 --> 18:58.005
that people can learn going forward.

18:59.375 --> 19:00.755
That's brilliant. Really good.

19:00.905 --> 19:03.515
Okay, final question, takeaway message for the audience.

19:03.585 --> 19:05.235
What are your conclusions implications,

19:05.285 --> 19:06.555
areas for future research?

19:08.705 --> 19:12.765
So, one of the areas that I have been involved with,

19:12.905 --> 19:16.245
over the last decade, few decades has been

19:16.425 --> 19:20.325
how do we take this rich, wonderful area

19:20.325 --> 19:21.965
of informal science learning

19:22.665 --> 19:27.205
and bring it into the formal, environments?

19:27.625 --> 19:29.965
How do we bridge the gap between the two?

19:30.585 --> 19:32.685
And many people have been dealing with this,

19:32.805 --> 19:35.885
I mentioned earlier, the, work

19:36.545 --> 19:37.965
of open schooling.

19:38.465 --> 19:40.725
Uh, that's an area, that's something that's done a lot in,

19:41.385 --> 19:42.645
in Europe.

19:43.515 --> 19:45.135
Um, not so much in America.

19:46.015 --> 19:47.135
I see you're from England,

19:47.155 --> 19:49.175
so you probably have heard of open schooling.

19:49.495 --> 19:50.895
A lot of my,

19:50.895 --> 19:52.935
colleagues in America haven't heard about it

19:52.935 --> 19:54.415
because it's not really a thing.

19:54.995 --> 19:57.575
But, but what is a thing is really connecting

19:57.575 --> 19:59.055
between formal and informal.

19:59.875 --> 20:02.335
Uh, I've done a lot of work on project-based learning.

20:02.615 --> 20:06.415
'cause I think it is a kind of a pedagogy

20:06.605 --> 20:09.135
that can bridge the gap between formal and informal.

20:09.595 --> 20:13.415
It, it, it brings together the,

20:13.955 --> 20:17.175
the interests of the students along with the content of, of

20:17.175 --> 20:18.775
what the formal system needs to teach.

20:19.635 --> 20:20.735
Uh, I will mention

20:20.845 --> 20:24.175
that recently I've been involved in a very innovative

20:24.245 --> 20:26.095
project, funded

20:26.155 --> 20:28.455
by the European Union called Surrounded by Science.

20:29.195 --> 20:31.895
And in this particular project, we're asking that question,

20:32.115 --> 20:34.615
how can we bridge formal, informal?

20:34.875 --> 20:37.895
And the way that we're looking at it is we're conducting

20:37.895 --> 20:39.455
close to 20 case studies

20:40.285 --> 20:43.735
that involved informal STEM programs and activities.

20:44.395 --> 20:46.975
And we divide them into three different categories.

20:47.465 --> 20:51.365
We have activities that are outreach, for example,

20:51.365 --> 20:53.045
people who come to the Weitzman Institute

20:53.065 --> 20:55.445
to learn about the scanning electron microscope.

20:55.825 --> 20:58.205
We have activities that have to do

20:58.235 --> 21:01.885
with the designed environment like zoos or aqua.

21:02.925 --> 21:07.065
And then we have activities that have to do with the digital

21:08.185 --> 21:10.065
programs, programs that have

21:10.065 --> 21:11.145
to do with media and so forth.

21:11.365 --> 21:15.945
And in each case, we're looking at how these particular

21:16.635 --> 21:19.585
activities and programs impact learning.

21:20.245 --> 21:21.465
And we use,

21:22.005 --> 21:25.585
the National Research Councils report on learning in science

21:25.605 --> 21:26.705
and informal environments.

21:26.925 --> 21:29.865
And we use their strands, which are interest

21:30.415 --> 21:35.385
knowledge reasoning, reflecting on science, using the tools

21:35.405 --> 21:36.465
and language of science

21:36.765 --> 21:38.345
and the development of science identity

21:38.765 --> 21:39.985
in order to bridge the gap.

21:40.085 --> 21:42.025
And so what we're hopeful for,

21:42.565 --> 21:44.305
and this has to do with your question,

21:44.305 --> 21:47.265
where I think the next steps are, what we're hopeful for is

21:47.265 --> 21:52.065
that we create a common basis, again, of, of evidence-based

21:52.665 --> 21:56.465
research in informal science that then can be looked at

21:57.055 --> 22:01.065
very carefully by people, informal schools,

22:01.725 --> 22:04.105
and to see what the potential is.

22:04.565 --> 22:08.785
So I, I hope that our next project, will be

22:08.885 --> 22:13.385
to incorporate those people from the formal system,

22:14.005 --> 22:16.945
the formal science educators, to look at this data

22:17.325 --> 22:19.025
and think with us about, okay,

22:19.205 --> 22:23.345
how can we best bridge the gap between these two,

22:23.405 --> 22:24.905
big environments for teaching science.

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