Media And Informal Science Education Today
From Media and Informal Science Learning
Contents |
Free-Choice/Informal Science Learning
At the most basic level, learning is learning. However, in response to the growing dominance of schools in society, around the middle of the 20th century educators felt the need to distinguish between the learning that occurred in schools - formal - and that which occurred outside of school - informal or non-formal.[1] These terms, in particular informal learning, have grown in usage, though other terms have been created that arguably better reflect the learner-centered nature of out-of-school learning. In particular, Falk and Dierking coined the term free-choice learning to specifically call attention to the key role that self-direction and motivation play in most out-of-school learning experiences.[2] Free-choice/informal science learning is the learning that people engage in when they have significant choice and control over what, when, where and with whom to learn. Typically, free-choice learning occurs while people visit museums or other cultural institutions, watch television, read a newspaper, purchase or borrow books to inform themselves about an issue, interest or concern, surf the Internet, or attend programs or events sponsored by community-based organizations such as health, environmental, youth or faith-based groups.
Definition of Learning
Fiol and Lyles (1985) offer a definition of learning as "the development of insights, knowledge, and associations between past actions, the effectiveness of those actions, and future actions."[3]. Summarizing the work of such seminal writers as Dewey,[4] Bruner,[5] Maslow,[6] and Lave and Wenger,[7] learning should be viewed as the personally and socially constructed way individuals and groups make meaning from and about the world. Learning represents changes in an individual's and/or a group's cognition, attitudes, beliefs, feelings and/or behavior. In fact, typically learning involves changes in several of these dimensions at once. Learning is a natural human process and does not necessarily require structured times, settings, curricula, and routines. It might be possible to attend to life without learning to occur; but for most individuals, learning happens continuously across the day and throughout their lifetime.
Free-Choice/Informal Science Education vs. Formal Science Education
Historically, most of the focus of science education has been on pre-college and college level schooling. Although some of the public's interest and knowledge about science is unquestionably shaped by compulsory schooling, given that the average adult spends only a fraction of their life participating in some kind of formal education (estimates range from 1-3%), the contribution of school-based science learning to the long-term public understanding of science is actually quite limited. Most adults learn most of what they know about science and technology through free-choice learning using informal education resources.[8] Thus, most of the public's science learning is supported by the vast infrastructure of informal science education (ISE) entities-including, but not limited to science museums of all kinds, community-based organizations and increasingly STEM-oriented media such as television, film, books, gaming and the Internet.[9] ISEs are ideally suited to support the public's ever-expanding desire, and at times need for free-choice STEM learning, across their lifetimes and throughout their day.
Small portion of life actually spent in formal education (vs. informal)
Learning is virtually always a cumulative process and tends to be strongly influenced by personal motivation and identity. In stark contrast to the highly structured, externally directed and often solitary learning typical of schooling, free-choice/informal learning experiences are typically characterized as learner-motivated, guided by learner interests, voluntary, personal, ongoing, contextually relevant, collaborative, nonlinear, and open-ended.[10] part of the learner, e.g., participants in an online gaming network; others are brief and more ephemeral, e.g., listening to a one or two minute science segment on the radio while driving home from work. Either way, people learn primarily in order to support and enhance their sense of identity, and this is particularly true during leisure-time learning experiences, which typically characterizes informal science education experiences.
References
Crane, V., Nicholson, H., Chen, M., & Bitgood, S. (Eds.) (1994), Informal science learning: What the research says about television, science museums, and community-based projects. Ephrata, PA: Science Press.
Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (1998, July). Free-choice learning: An alternative term to informal learning? Informal Learning Environments Research, 2, 2.
Falk, J.H., Randol, S. & Dierking, L.D. (2008). The informal science education landscape: A preliminary investigation. Washington, D.C.: Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education. Retrieved February 17, 2009 from http://caise.insci.org/uploads/docs/2008_CAISE_Landscape_Study_Report.pdf
Falk, J.H., Storksdieck, M. & Dierking, L.D. (2007). Investigating public science interest and understanding: Evidence for the importance of free-choice learning. Public Understanding of Science, 16(4), 455-469.
Knowles, M.S. (1950). Informal adult education. New York: Association Press. National Research Council. (2008). Learning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places and Pursuits. Committee on Learning Science in Informal Environments. Philip Bell, Bruce Lewenstein, Andrew W. Shouse, and Michael A. Feder, editors. Board on Science Education, Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
- ↑ Brew, J.M. (1946). Informal education: Adventures and reflections. London: Faber; Knowles, M.S. (1950). Informal adult education. New York: Association Press.
- ↑ Dierking, L. D. (1987). Parent-child interactions in a free choice learning setting: An examination of attention-directing behaviors. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville. Falk, J.H. (2001). Free-choice science education: How people learn outside of school. New York: Teachers' College Press. Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (1992). The museum experience. Washington, DC: Whalesback Books. Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (1998, July). Free-choice learning: An alternative term to informal learning? Informal Learning Environments Research, 2, 2.
- ↑ Fiol, C.M. & Lyles, M.A. (1985). Organizational learning. Academy of Management Review.10(4), p. 811.
- ↑ Dewey, J. (2003 c1916), Democracy and education. Boston: IndyPublish.com
- ↑ Bruner, J. S. (1973). Beyond the information given: Studies in the psychology of knowing. New York: Norton.
- ↑ Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper and Row.
- ↑ Lave, J. & Wegner, E. (1991). Situated learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- ↑ Falk, J.H., Storksdieck, M. & Dierking, L.D. (2007). Investigating public science interest and understanding: Evidence for the importance of free-choice learning. Public Understanding of Science, 16(4), 455-469.
- ↑ Falk, J.H., Randol, S. & Dierking, L.D. (2008). The informal science education landscape: A preliminary investigation. Washington, D.C.: Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education. Retrieved February 17, 2009 from http://caise.insci.org/uploads/docs/2008_CAISE_Landscape_Study_Report.pdf
- ↑ Some ISE experiences are extremely deep and long-lasting involving significant motivation on theCrane, V., Nicholson, H., Chen, M., & Bitgood, S. (Eds.) (1994), Informal science learning: What the research says about television, science museums, and community-based projects. Ephrata, PA: Science Press.
Falk, J.H. & Dierking, L.D. (2000). Learning from museums. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Koran, J. J., Jr., & Dierking Shafer, L. (1982). Learning science in informal settings outside the classroom. In M. B. Rowe (Ed.), Education in the 80's: Science. Washington, DC: National Education Association.
National Research Council. (2008). Learning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places and Pursuits. Committee on Learning Science in Informal Environments. Philip Bell, Bruce Lewenstein, Andrew W. Shouse, and Michael A. Feder, editors. Board on Science Education, Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
The original draft of this article was written by John Falk, Sea Grant Professor of Free-Choice Learning at Oregon State University, and founder of the Institute for Learning Innovation.
