Presents six trends and challenges facing educational technology: (1) increasing differentiation between education and training; (2) private sector (industrial) developments; (3) increasing politicization in education; (4) rapid growth in continuing professional education; (5) informal education replacing formal education; and (6) hardware…

Identifies two stages in research on scientific literacy; a composite saturation stage in which definitions covered all objects of science education, and a stage when researchers focused on small manageable portions of scientific literacy. Describes formal, nonformal, and informal science teaching. (TW)

Defines sexuality, describes the process of informal sexual learning as children acquire meanings and values from their social environment (e.g., parents, mass media, and people around them), and discusses the consequences for teenagers of adults' unwillingness to communicate openly and honestly with them about sexual issues. (MBR)

In the past decade, increasing attention has been paid to the issue of gender equity in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The research for this report, led by Yasmin Kafai and a team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, was guided by several overarching questions: (1) What types of…

In June 2002 the National Leadership Council (NLC) applied the knowledge and understanding gained from its yearlong seminar series on education to create a vision, guiding principles, and program goals to renew the National Park Service's commitment to its education mission. These, along with priority national action items, are presented in this…

A research project was conducted to determine how and what clown-doctors know on entry to the profession and how and what they learn both formally and informally in a hospital environment; the linkages between informal and formal learning in clown-doctor training and practice in Canada; and "best practices." Information was gathered…

Small and mid-sized companies provide substantial opportunities for many U.S. workers. The nature of work and the culture of workplaces are changing as dramatically as the employment statistics. A company's success or failure may ride on the knowledge and skills of a handful of employees. Employees in small and mid-sized companies--both highly…

The impact of the war and its sudden ending has increased the need for educational readjustment work among veterans and industrial workers who desire more secondary education or need high-school credit or diplomas as prerequisites for entering various occupations or for further training. In an effort to ascertain what policies were being put into…

Describes the Gateway Clubs, which work with local authorities to provide the mentally handicapped with opportunities for the enjoyment of leisure and recreation facilities. Makes recommendations for further developing voluntary and statutory authorities' collaboration, raising the general level of provision and leadership, and allocating…

Describes the creation of a classification system with a common vocabulary for discussing educational Web sites, both formal and informal education, and looking for trends in exemplary sites. Categories include instructional; learning activities; content collection; links; reference; teacher resources; vicarious participation; interpersonal…

Describes a college course enhanced by hands-on science applications and a service-learning project. Requires registered students to participate in volunteer training at a nature center and offers certification in several environmental education curricula. Reports successful outcomes with regard to conceptual development and teaching experiences.…

Follow-up interviews with 79 adults and children about 6 months after their visit to Launch Pad, the interactive center in London's Science Museum, provide evidence of long-term impact of the visit. Although most of the memories were episodic rather than semantic in nature, over one-quarter of the memories showed evidence that respondents…

Examines how the aquarium has attempted to move from a transfer view of knowledge to a constructivist approach in its most popular general public program--the killer whale presentation. The process of change that staff underwent is similar to conceptual change processes among learners of science. Describes constructivist strategies of conceptual…

Describes education programs of Plimoth Plantation (Massachusetts), a living history museum dealing with Pilgrims and Native Americans. Includes descriptions of classroom visits, field trips, and programs scaled for different age groups. Explains that museum offers illustrations of cultural comparison for kindergarten students, material culture…

Discusses the lack of substantial changes in education in the past, and describes three factors that could allow for substantial innovations: distance learning, collaborative learning and the use of technology, and changing teacher/student relationships. Also discusses informal learning, individual learning, social behavior, assignment of task,…