Lynn D. Dierking

Oregon State University | OSU

This special issue brings selected papers from an international conference which brought a group of approximately 30 Science Technology and Society and Popularization of Science experts from nine South Asian and Southeast Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand), plus the United S...

Despite the fact that most science learning takes place outside of school, little is known about how engagement in informal science learning (ISL) experiences affects learners’ knowledge, skill development, interest, or identities over long periods of time. Although substantial ISL research has documented short-term outcomes such as the learning th...

Despite considerable efforts in recent years to encourage Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) interest and participation among youth, STEM interest during adolescence continues to decline. Recently, researchers, educators, and policymakers have used a learning ecology perspective to better understand the development and persiste...

Background. STEM identity has emerged as an important research topic and a predictor of how youth engage with STEM inside and outside of school. Although there is a growing body of literature in this area, less work has been done specific to engineering, especially in out-of-school learning contexts. Methods. To address this need, we conducted a q...

Profound changes are occurring in society, disrupting current systems and institutions; these disruptions also are affecting science education practice and research. Science learning is becoming a lifelong, self-directed process, dominated by out-of-school, free-choice learning experiences. By necessity these disruptions in the science learning nar...

Students’ declining performance in science and mathematics is an issue of great international concern. Recently, educators and researchers have begun to focus on affective factors such as interest to better understand STEM learning and persistence. Therefore, there is a need for effective measures of STEM interest that allow it to be tracked over t...

Fostering interest in science is critical for broadening engagement with science topics, careers, and hobbies. Research suggests that these interests begin to form as early as preschool and have long-term implications for participation and learning. However, scholars have only speculated on the processes that shape interest development at this age,...

Studying the multidimensional, dynamic and complex qualities of a community-wide science education system must begin by creating an expanded definition of what constitutes a public science education system. A system-wide approach recognises that formal education entities (early childhood, elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools) are critic...

Although discussions of museums often revolve around exhibits, educators in these spaces have the potential to create in-depth, social learning experiences beyond what is possible at exhibits alone. There is still little empirical research, however, to inform how we understand, approach, and improve museum facilitation practices. In this study, we...

Staff facilitators in museums and science centers are a critical but often overlooked component of the visitor experience. Despite assertions about the important role they play in visitor learning, there continues to be almost no research to understand staff facilitation in these settings or identify effective practices. To address these gaps, we c...

This international investigation was designed to determine if, and under what circumstances experiences at science centers, significantly correlated with a range of adult general public science and technology literacy measures. Given the complex and cumulative nature of science and technology learning, and the highly variable and free-choice nature...

Abstract This paper, describes Synergies, an on-going longitudinal study and design effort, being conducted in a diverse, under-resourced community in Portland, Oregon, with the goal of measurably improving STEM learning, interest and participation by early adolescents, both in school and out of school. Authors examine how the work of this particu...

In this issue, we have compiled six original papers, outcomes from the U.S. National Science Foundation (US-NSF)-funded REESE (Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering) 2020 Vision: The Next Generation of STEM Learning Research project. The purpose of 2020 Vision was to re-envision the questions and frameworks guiding STEM re...

Head Start on Engineering is a pathways project focused on developing the foundations of a long-term, community-based research program to (a) understand how preschool children and their families develop engineering-related interests in early childhood and (b) develop community partnerships and programs that support engineering interest pathways for...

The dramatic decline in youth interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) during adolescence, both in the USA and internationally, has been a phenomenon of societal concern for several decades. The Synergies project was launched to help deal with this issue. In this paper, we report findings from the first two years of our l...

This document presents an overview of the quantitative survey data findings from the SL+ Equity Pathways in Informal Science Learning project. Further qualitative analysis on some of the open response data is yet to be completed. Findings are grouped into four areas: about the individuals taking part in the survey; their definitions and understandi...

Increasing evidence suggests that individuals develop their understanding of science concepts in and out of school, using varied community resources and networks. Thus in contrast to historic research approaches that focus exclusively on single organizations and/or educational events, the current paper presents exploratory research in which we util...

This briefing paper reports findings from the Youth Access & Equity in Informal Science Learning (ISL) project, a UK-US researcher-practitioner partnership funded by the Science Learning+ Phase 1 scheme. Our project focuses on young people aged 11-14 primarily from under-served and non-dominant communities and includes researchers and practitioners...

This infographic reports findings from the Youth Access & Equity in Informal Science Learning (ISL) project, a UK-US researcher-practitioner partnership funded by the Science Learning+ Phase 1 scheme. Our project focuses on young people aged 11-14 primarily from under-served and non-dominant communities and includes researchers and practitioners fr...

This Research & Practice Agenda is a synthesis of findings from the Youth Access & Equity in Informal Science Learning (ISL) partnership, a UK-US researcher-practitioner project, funded by the Science Learning+ Initiative. Activities included a survey administered in the UK and US with 134 ISL researchers and/ or practitioners; workshops with 111 p...

From the growth of the Internet to the proliferation of educational programming offered by IMAX, educational television, museums, and the Web, there are more opportunities for self-directed, free-choice learning than ever before, much of it science and health related. People engage in such learning every day, tapping into a vast science learning in...

Educators, docents, and interpreters are considered integral to the learning experiences at many museums. Although there is growing recognition that these staff members need professional development to effectively support visitor learning, there has been little research to describe their work or identify effective facilitation strategies. To addres...

Science educators worldwide are concerned about decreasing engagement in school science and declining enrollments in university science courses, a situation affecting societal vitality and informed democratic participation in science. I share these same concerns, however, suggesting that the primary issue is the way in which schools and universitie...

Science learning is increasingly a lifelong, self-directed process, dominated by out-of-school, free-choice learning experiences. This chapter discusses the scope and scale of that learning across a range of informal contexts – museums, zoos and aquariums; broadcast media such as television and radio; hobby groups; electronic media such as social n...

The aim of the work reported here has been to give an overview of the support that the informal sector provides for learning and engagement with science. In addressing this goal, we have taken the view that engagement with science and the learning of science occur both within and without schools. What is of interest is not who provides the experien...

This study investigated the informal science education (ISE) field to determine whether it currently functions as an effective community of practice. Research questions included: How do professionals describe and self-identify their practice, including what missions, goals and motivating factors influence their professional work? What challenges do...

Front-line educators are arguably critical to the visitor experience at museums and science centers across the country. However, little research exists to inform staff facilitation strategies or professional development efforts. In this article, we describe the results of a qualitative study of 63 staff-family interactions in a science center, focu...

In this paper, we propose a practice-based theory and new methods for the study of interest development. The theory incorporates individual psychological perspectives, but it also theorizes the place-based nature of interest development and seeks to give an account of how persons and practices are mutually constituted. It also identifies roles rese...

Decades of research support the importance of open-ended, self-directed play in children's cognitive, socio-emotional, and academic development. However, a “demise of play” is influencing science education, although such exploration is critical to building science identity and agency. An ethnographic study of the science, technology, engineering, a...

The scientific research and education communities have long had a goal of advancing the public's understanding of science. Another emerging area of research investigates science-related hobbies. Research conducted by Marni Berendsen, education researcher and project director of the NASA Night Sky Network, showed that amateur astronomy club members...

While public gardens typically offer educational programming for adults and elementary school-aged children, many institutions struggle with serving the teenage audience. This study gathered information on the institutional benefits, challenges, and strategies of offering successful programming for youth aged 13-19 years. Institutional members of t...

This paper describes an innovative education program launched in 2004 by Oregon State University Science and Mathematics Education Department, with leadership from Oregon Sea Grant, and funding from NOAA. Program development is described as well as the impact of it on participants. The program represents one vision for how to transform research and...

Museums invest considerable resources in promoting and supporting elementary-school field trips, but remain skeptical about their educational value. Recent cognitive psychology and neuroscience research require a reappraisal of how and what to assess relative to school-field-trip learning. One hundred and twenty-eight subjects were interviewed abou...

The discussion of public value is in the air among museums and other cultural institutions as they strive to achieve strategic impact "for and with" their "communities," rather than merely operational impact "for themselves." At the most basic level, it is about ensuring that their work is fully and meaningfully connected to the fabric and true nee...

Many museums offer specialized programs for young people during out-of-school time, yet the consequences of such programs are not well documented. This article explores the potential utility of borrowing a conceptual framework from the youth development literature as a tool for assessment. The authors map findings from three studies of museum youth...

Abstract  Over the last 10 to 15 years, zoos and aquariums have set out to influence visitors' conservation-related knowledge, attitudes, affect, and behavior. In 2000, the Institute for Learning Innovation collaborated with Disney's Animal Kingdom (DAK) on a comprehensive baseline study conducted to assess the outcomes of a DAK experience on visit...

Abstract Interactives—computers and other multimedia components, physical manipulatives (including whole-body and tabletop activities), and simulations—occur in all types of museums. There is considerable interest in the nature of the learning that happens when visitors use interactives. Museum professionals have enlisted constructivist theory to s...

Although the criteria for determining success as a cultural institution at the beginning of the twenty-first century are still evolving, there are a few universals that are emerging. Successful cultural organizations serve the specific needs of audiences while maximizing the flexibility and ingenuity of their relationships, both inside and outside...

The biggest trend in museum exhibit design today is the creative incorporation of technology. Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience: Handheld Guides and Other Media explores the potential of mobile technologies (cell phones, digital cameras, MP3 players, PDAs) for visitor interaction and learning in museums, drawing on established practice...

This chapter, Chapter 19, is the first in Section IV, Visitors, Learning, Interacting, of the book, A Companion to Museum Studies. Chapters in this section discuss questions about the visitor experience, models of education and learning, visitor studies and museological approach. This specific chapter contextualises visitors' use of museums within...

Natural history museums are the principal repositories of the collections that represent much of the objective evidence for evolution. With approximately 50 million visitors annually, US natural history museums can significantly influence the public's understanding of evolution. Here we present the results of a study that investigated the knowledge...

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 schooling, we argue that...

Zoos and aquariums have shifted their focus over recent years, taking a much more active role in wildlife conservation and in promoting conservation learning among their visitors. Research in these settings provides a valuable foundation for the emerging field of non-captive wildlife tourism. In particular, valuable lessons regarding the potential...

This study investigated visitors' and staff's perceptions about the communication of science in a traditional natural history museum. The research examined the science-related outcomes for adult visitors and explored visitors' and staff's ideas of science and how it is portrayed at the museum. Data were collected by questionnaire and interview from...

Societies are in the midst of change, witnessing an explosion in out-of-school learning. From the proliferation of educational programming through film, television, museums and science centers, there are more opportunities for free-choice learning, self-directed and voluntary, than ever before. However, most virtual learning research is focused on...

In the past decade, we have seen an increased focus on measuring the impact of zoos, aquariums, and other free‐choice learning environments on the conservation‐related knowledge, attitudes and behavior of the visiting public. However, no such studies have been conducted on the impact of such environments on the staff working in these facilities – t...

Societies are becoming nations of lifelong learners supported by a vast infrastructure of learning organizations. The centers of this learning revolution are not schools, but a network of organizations and media (museums, libraries, television, books, and increasingly the Internet) supporting the public's ever-growing demand for free-choice learnin...

Societies are in the midst of change, witnessing an explosion in out-of-school learning. From the proliferation of educational programming through film, television, museums and science centers, there are more opportunities for free-choice learning, self-directed and voluntary, than ever before. However, most virtual learning research is focused on...

Thomas Kuhn's notion of a disciplinary matrix provides a useful framework for investigating the growth of research on family learning in and from museums over the last decade. To track the emergence of this disciplinary matrix we consider three issues. First are shifting theoretical perspectives that result in new shared language, beliefs, values,...

Free-choice learning, a new paradigm for the learning that youth and their families engage in outside school, can play an important role in the healthy development of youth, their families, and communities.

The question, "What constitutes a reasonable, useful agenda for research into science learning in out-of-school, free-choice environments?" has surfaced with increasing frequency over the past 10 years or so. One event that helped move the agenda forward was the National Science Foundation-funded conference, "Public Institutions for Personal Learni...

In the spring of 1999, the Board of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) established an Informal Science Education Ad Hoc committee, co-chaired by Lynn Dierking and John Falk. The Committee's task was to focus on the organization's positioning in regard to out-of-school science education. After 2 years of work, the commi...

This chapter will address how changes in our perception of museums and learning are resulting in a paradigm shift in how we approach research of learning in and from museums. Traditional notions of the museum as ultimate authority and arbiter of taste are being challenged as we recognise that visitors make their own meaning in museums. An evolved u...

Societies worldwide are in the midst of great change, directly tied to the shifting of world economies from ones that are industrially based to information and knowledge based. The learning strategy of choice for many people will be free-choice learning - self-directed, voluntary and guided by individual learners' needs and interests. This transfor...

This article reports on part of a larger study of how 11- and 12-year-old students construct knowledge about electricity and magnetism by drawing on aspects of their experiences during the course of a school visit to an interactive science museum and subsequent classroom activities linked to the science museum exhibits. The significance of this stu...