Students should be provided with more meaningful learning experiences to attract more students to STEM careers, Out-of-School learning environments can offer students exciting and motivating learning opportunities that formal environments cannot provide. Therefore, national education reforms in many countries that are working on popularizing STEM…

Public engagement is an important component of the operation of many physics organizations, such as physics departments. However, comparatively little work has been done to systematize the study of pedagogical approaches in these informal environments, which may contain unique affordances and challenges compared to formal settings. A 2016 study…

This book introduces the reader to evidence-based non-formal and informal science learning considerations (including technological and pedagogical innovations) that have emerged in and empowered the information and communications technology (ICT) era. The contributions come from diverse countries and contexts (such as hackerspaces, museums,…

This research explores learning in science museums through the most common activity in a science museum--interaction with exhibits. The goal of this study was to characterize the learning behaviors exhibited by students as they engage with interactive exhibits in order to draw insight regarding the design of the exhibits. In order to do so, we…

As an international informatics contest, or challenge, Bebras has started the second decade of its existence. The contest attracts more and more countries every year, recently there have been over 40 participating countries. From a single contest-focused annual event Bebras developed to a multifunctional challenge and an activities-based…

The Peterson Proactive Developmental Attention (PPDA) model offers a framework for affective curriculum for gifted children and adolescents and for both formal or informal interaction with individuals. The model was developed in authentic clinical and educational settings in response to perceived needs but was also informed by considerable…

This article explores the outcomes of a school leadership study visit to India. The research critiques the competency-based frameworks common in English leadership development programmes, and argues instead for an approach that challenges assumptions in a fresh context for learning and considers leadership as a process of humanisation. Using…

Increasingly, cognitive developmental researchers are forming partnerships with museums as a way to achieve both overlapping and distinctive goals. Such partnerships can further our understanding of cognitive development by providing opportunities to study children's learning within social contexts. At the same time, these collaborations can…

It is argued that social media has the potential to bridge formal and informal learning through participatory digital cultures. Exemplars of sophisticated use by young people support this claim, although the majority of young people adopt the role of consumers rather than full participants. Scholars have suggested the potential of social media for…

This article provides an overview and analysis of a relatively new phenomenon: congregational schools that have altered the conventional grammar of schooling, either through their structural arrangements or through their curricular approaches. Five pre-bar/bat mitzvah models are discussed: family schools, schools as communities,…

Self-directed, informal learning is a less recognized and understood form of professional development. Researching informal learning is almost an oxymoron. The process of studying learning contexts, such as informal, self-directed professional development, raises new challenges for researchers. Gaining insights into self-directed professional…

The author examines the museum as a valuable resource for providing professional development within informal learning environments, especially in the area of science instruction and curricular methods. (Contains 6 tables.)

This proceedings volume of InCoTEPD 2018 covers many ideas for handling a wide variety of challenging issues in the field of education. The outstanding ideas dealing with these issues result in innovation of the system. There are many innovation strategies resulting from recent research that are discussed in this book. These strategies will become…

"Approaches and Strategies in Next Generation Science Learning" examines the challenges involved in the development of modern curriculum models, teaching strategies, and assessments in science education in order to prepare future students in the 21st century economies. This comprehensive collection of research brings together science educators,…

The people at Inverness Research Associates spent 12 years studying Community Science Workshops (CSW) in California and in six other states. They gathered statistics on the scale, scope, and cost-efficiency of CSW services to youth. They observed youth at work in the shops--taking apart computers, repairing bikes, growing plants, and so on--and…