Surveys Confirm Enormous Value of Science Museums, ‘Free Choice’ Learning

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 282-283
Author(s):  
. .
Keyword(s):  
Free Choice ◽  
Science Museums ◽  
Free Choice Learning

Play in the Museum

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 96-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan P. Rowe ◽  
Eleni V. Lobene ◽  
Bradford W. Mott ◽  
James C. Lester
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
Formative Evaluation ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
Science Museums ◽  
Science Centers ◽  
Free Choice Learning ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Informal Settings

Digital games have been found to yield effective and engaging learning experiences across a broad range of subjects. Much of this research has been conducted in laboratory and K-12 classrooms. Recent advances in game technologies are expanding the range of educational contexts where game-based learning environments can be deployed, including informal settings such as museums and science centers. In this article, the authors describe the design, development, and formative evaluation of Future Worlds, a prototype game-based exhibit for collaborative explorations of sustainability in science museums. They report findings from a museum pilot study that investigated the influence of visitors' individual differences on learning and engagement. Results indicate that visitors showed significant gains in sustainability knowledge as well as high levels of engagement in a free-choice learning environment with Future Worlds. These findings point toward the importance of designing game-based learning exhibits that address the distinctive design challenges presented by museum settings.

scholarly journals Learning science from museums

2005 ◽  
Vol 12 (suppl) ◽  
pp. 117-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Falk ◽  
Martin Storksdieck
Keyword(s):  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Science Learning ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
Science Museum ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Science Museums ◽  
Museum Learning ◽  
Real World Learning ◽  
Museum Experience ◽  
Free Choice Learning

This article provides an overview of current understandings of the science learning that occurs as a consequence of visiting a free-choice learning setting like a science museum. The best available evidence indicates that if you want to understand learning at the level of individuals within the real world, learning does functionally differ depending upon the conditions, i. e., the context, under which it occurs. Hence, learning in museums is different than learning in any other setting. The contextual model of learning provides a way to organize the myriad specifics and details that give richness and authenticity to the museum learning process while still allowing a holistic picture of visitor learning. The results of a recent research investigation are used to show how this model elucidates the complex nature of science learning from museums. This study demonstrates that learning from museums can be meaningfully analyzed and described. The article concludes by stating that only by appreciating and accounting for the full complexities of the museum experience will a useful understanding of how and what visitors learn from science museums emerge.

Form Follows Function: Interpretive Wisdom for Environmental Educators

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eve M. Turek
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Education ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
Environmental Activism ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Ecological Awareness ◽  
Environmental Educators ◽  
Free Choice Learning

A review of the literature reveals that interpreters’ emphasis on individual connection to the resource offers environmental educators key strategies to promote engagement and addresses critiques of environmental education practice as too generalized, behaviorist, manipulative, or negative. Interpreters serve as the nation's front-line environmental educators, with the foremost opportunity to inspire adults to engage in the free-choice learning that may, at best, motivate deeper ecological awareness and personal environmental activism. Pairing interpreters with teachers can extend the same opportunities to students.

Free-choice learning and ecotourism

2013 ◽  
pp. 155-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Falk ◽  
Nancy L. Staus
Keyword(s):  
Free Choice ◽  
Free Choice Learning
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