Abstract
Informal science learning has great potential to engage diverse learners, but faces issues of persistent inequities. While systemic change is needed to address these issues at a structural level, there is also a need for practical tools to support the organisations and the educators who are working to engage audiences in informal science that is authentic, culturally responsive, interest driven and learner centered. This article presents a collection of design principles, generated through a design approach which actively involved informal science learners, practitioners and researchers from nineteen countries as contributors. We present the design approach adopted, and suggest that participatory design methods could play a role in supporting equity efforts in informal science learning since several of the educators involved in the process decided to adopt participatory methods in their own practice. We also present an overview of the design principles generated through this process, and discuss the application of an early draft of these in an authentic informal science education programme. By adopting and adapting these principles and approaches in their practices, educators can work towards creating equitable and transformative informal science learning environments and experiences.
Highlights
Digital and physical spaces beyond the boundaries of formal education hold myriad opportunities for creative engagement with various combinations of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the arts (Falk, 2001; Sacco et al, 2014; Bicer et al, 2017)
This paper offers a perspective on the development of a designbased solution to support equity in the informal science learning sector
A design principle is a proposition that works as the foundation for designing systems, services or products (Fu et al, 2015)
Summary
Digital and physical spaces beyond the boundaries of formal education hold myriad opportunities for creative engagement with various combinations of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the arts (Falk, 2001; Sacco et al, 2014; Bicer et al, 2017). Science learning in these out-ofschool settings is extremely diverse (O’Donnell et al, 2006; Falk and Dierking, 2012). Such activity is referred to as free-choice (Falk, 2005), non-formal (Garner et al, 2014) and informal (Bell et al, 2009) learning. Despite the great potential for informal science learning to engage a broad range of learners (Sacco et al, 2014; Dawson, 2018), those underserved by formal science education, there is persistent evidence that these spaces do not engage effectively with a diversity of communities; rather, they reinforce the dominance of particular societal groups and the culture of science (Dawson, 2014a; DeWitt and Archer, 2017; Dawson, 2018; Godec et al, 2021). Archer and colleagues assert that within informal science learning activities, equity is determined by underlying norms and values, but
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