The purpose of this study was to identify how high school graduate newcomers adjust to working in organizations. This study examines how their formal learning, intended informal learning, and unintended informal learning experiences jointly influence their adjustment processes [e.g., role clarity and personal-organizational (P-O) fit]. It also…

In this article, we discuss a museum program for teens located in an urban environment. The participants were high school students from public, private, religious and home schools. The program allowed learning to occur in an informal setting and united teens from one city through a common interest in visual art. Also, it was an opportunity for the…

Field trips are an important feature of the United States' education system, although in the current context of high-stakes tests and school accountability, many schools are shifting resources away from enrichment. It is critical to understand how field trips and other informal learning experiences contribute to student test scores, but little…

This paper summarises research findings from a longitudinal national evaluation of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) "enrichment and enhancement activities". The activities included science practical lessons, supported by ambassador visits, trips to laboratories, STEM centres and higher education institutions. The…

As 21st century skills (e.g., creativity and collaboration) are informally developed by tech-savvy learners in the Digital Age, technology-based strategies to develop such skills in non-formal and formal contexts are necessary to reduce the gap between academic and business organizations on the one hand, and the revolutionary wave of self-taught…

In this investigation, we examined how youth during learning conversations at an informal science education camp negotiated and authored identities as learners of science. Using identity theory as our analytical lens, we investigated by application of qualitative methodology the socially constructed nature of youth's identities. We focused on the…

Recent public discussions of curriculum and pedagogy that have accompanied the English National Curriculum review have been structured around clichéd dichotomies that generate more heat than light and that, as Robin Alexander has argued, reduce complex educational debates to oppositional and incompatible slogans. This paper begins by exploring the…

The educational potentials of social media both in the formal and informal learning contexts have been widely acknowledged. However, how social media use in the informal contexts might influence students' learning in the formal contexts is still underexplored. Path analysis of 141 survey responses from secondary school ethnic minority students in…

Seamless and future-oriented: in essence, this is Finland's vision for lifelong learning in a world where adapting to new jobs and tasks and trends in society is becoming the norm. To make it a reality requires the support of the entire education and training system. This renewed emphasis on learning as a continuous process throughout life and the…

The present article will examine informal learning in popular and jazz music education in Finland and evaluate it as a part of formal upper secondary vocational musicians' training, which is typically teacher directed. It is not necessarily the best model of working in popular and jazz music learning, which has traditionally benefitted from…

Recent educational studies have shown increasing lack of interest and participation of youth (ages 10-14 years old) in various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields in the U.S. The decline in the number of youth choosing to study STEM fields in higher education and the resulting lack of STEM professionals in the society…

Purpose: In the present paper we describe how civic and citizenship education takes place in Italy, trying to identify strengths and weaknesses, with the aims both of understanding the situation and of identifying possible measures for improvement. Methods: The methodology implies an analysis of the official guidelines by the Ministry in this…

Evolving mobile technology and the rapid spread of STEM-focused informal learning environments have created a unique opportunity to break through the barriers that have traditionally separated diverse learning contexts such as school, family, and community. Previous research suggest that in a well-designed family learning environment, both parents…

Current scholarship suggests that many youths identify with hip-hop, especially youths of color. Study of this artistic form has been suggested as a means of helping youths acquire and become fluent in literacy practices. This article explores how the use of a hip-hop literacies curriculum addressed the literacy skills of urban ninth-grade English…

In this paper I describe and analyse how critical pedagogy, an approach to teaching and learning that encourages students to reflect on their socio-political contexts, may stimulate critical consciousness and dialogue at a youth radio show. The participants, who attended four diverse Cape Town high schools and predominantly lived in poor…