Informal Educational Settings Research Articles

Learning online and teaching face to face: Exploring the planned and enacted conception of teaching of preservice teachers on school placement

This research delved into the experiences of a group of preservice teachers (PSTs) who were taught online and participated in teaching in person as part of their school placement. The study analysed the planning and reflection documents of 101 PSTs, as well as evaluations from their instructors, using a thematic and document analysis. The findings showed that PSTs exhibited strong planning abilities, and a solid understanding of teaching skills. However, these PSTs struggled in managing the classroom and individualising instruction. It is proposed that future teachers' learning occurred through an ongoing process of construction and refinement across formal and informal educational settings, although the transfer of learning remains inconclusive.

Hip Hop, Social Reproduction, and the Possible Selves of Young Black Men

Twenty-seven years ago, the documentary Hoop Dreams solidified a theory—that the world of athletics was one of the few places where adolescent Black males could find success. By the late 1990s, researchers were framing athletics as the next direction in the Civil Rights Movement. In this article, I argue that the historical framing of Black boys in athletics—as a way up, a way out—is similar to the contemporary framing of Black boys in Hip Hop Based Education (HHBE). Using an ethnographic case example of the Homeboys, a group of adolescent Black males experiencing homelessness, I maintain that HHBE, without critical implementation and reflection, limits the possible selves of Black boys in socially reproductive ways. Unlike Hoop Dreams, which historically created an incentive to stay invested in formal educational settings, HHBE offers little “possible selves” development for young Black men. This research asserts that if HHBE, and the myriad ways Hip Hop is taken up in formal and informal educational settings is not dually paired with the critical process of institutional actors envisioning all the possible selves that black boys can become, then it becomes another hegemonic socially reproductive tool wielded by educators.

Enhancing disaster prevention learning through human-centered design: Students’ learning cognition and enjoyment in informal educational settings

This study employs the human-centered design strategy to design disaster prevention education activities, aiming to explore the changes in students' learning cognition and enjoyment before and after participating in these activities. The National Science and Technology Museum, located in southern Taiwan. Its primary objectives encompass the collection of scientific and technological artifacts, the presentation of scientific and technological themes, the advancement of scientific and technological education, and the provision of opportunities for public leisure and lifelong learning. The research focused on 170 elementary school students from grades G3 to G6 who participated in the disaster prevention education of soil and water conservation activity at the National Science and Technology Museum. Pre- and post-tests were conducted to assess disaster prevention learning cognition, and surveys and interviews were used to gauge the joy experienced during disaster prevention learning. The research findings indicate that after participating in disaster prevention education activities, students showed significant improvement in disaster prevention learning cognition. The primary sources of learning enjoyment were closely observing cultural relics and actively engaging with teaching aids. The human-centered design plan can complement the school's disaster prevention education curriculum and address issues such as low student interest, a sense of distance, and a lack of deep impression regarding disaster prevention.

Celebrando Herencia: A Latino Educator’s Reflection on a Science Museum’s “Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month Celebration Day”

ABSTRACT Promoting science education to all continues to be a key focus for many individuals and organizations. Informal science education settings such as museums have been shown to have a positive influence on student attitudes and interests toward science. Unfortunately, many underrepresented groups do not frequent museums as frequently as other majority groups. Hispanic and Latino-identifying individuals are an example of a group of interest, as their national population growth is not reflected in museum visitor statistics. This paper explores how the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts attempts to engage the Latino community through a Hispanic Heritage Month event. This is explored through the lens of the author, after attending the event. These reflections will capture a “lived experience” that can potentially be used as consideration when planning future events that target the Latino community.

Geographies of supplementary education: Private tuition, classed and racialised parenting cultures, and the neoliberal educational playing field

AbstractThis paper makes two contributions to knowledge. First, it broadens geographies of education's focal reach by concentrating attention on the consumption of supplementary education. Supplementary education markets are booming as parents seek to ensure their children have the qualifications required to succeed in knowledge economies. The paper elucidates how consumption of such commercially provided tuition—which is delivered outside of school boundaries but designed to improve performance in school—is shaped by place‐specific, classed and racialised parenting cultures. This shines an important light on shadow education market mechanics that have hitherto been hidden from geographical view, and foregrounds the significant role parenting cultures play in shaping children's educational experiences. Future research in geographies of education must attend to these parenting cultures, as interactions between the home and diverse formal, informal, alternative and supplementary education settings play an increasingly crucial role in confronting and reproducing educational inequality. Second, the paper advances the conceptual contribution of geographies of education to interdisciplinary debates about parents and education. It demonstrates that multi‐scalar geographical research makes a unique contribution to interdisciplinary theorisations of home–school links, including those utilising Bourdieu's notion of cultural reproduction, and Lareau's model of concerted cultivation. Specifically, multi‐scalar analysis demonstrates that: (i) place‐sensitive research is vital as it contextualises parenting cultures, reattaching analyses of parental habitus and capital to the field, highlighting how intersecting global, national and local processes shape parents' educational practices; (ii) previously overlooked racial differences in concerted cultivation must be analysed without being naturalised, by exploring how racialised dispositions towards education are shaped in/across place, and reproduced through global/local racialised social capital; and (iii) inter‐class differences that have dominated parenting debates remain important, but attention to inter‐class similarity and intra‐class variation, as it emerges through intersections with race and in place, is equally vital.

Digital music and critical music literacy

ABSTRACT The Society of Music Analysis report indicated that digital music often sits uncomfortably within a curriculum where the main focus is on the non-digital. This article takes as its starting point a broad definition of digital music as both a type of music and a way that music is represented. It will examine how digital music has altered the music landscape within informal and formal educational settings, and it will explore conflicting notions of music literacy while suggesting that traditional arguments about the value of notation fluency in the digital age may be misdirected. Ultimately, it will propose a definition of ‘critical music literacy’ in which Western standard music notation is not the crucial consideration, with implications for the design of music curricula and for progression.

보건계열 대학생의 학과 간 연계교육(IPE) 프로그램 적용 효과 연구

Objective : The purpose of this study is to validate the effectiveness of an Interprofessional Education (IPE) program developed and implemented within an informal educational setting among health science students. This will be achieved by setting up an experimental group and a control group among the students, comparing and analyzing them to assess the program's impact. The aim is to utilize these findings as evidence supporting the necessity and significance of integrating such programs into formal curricula. Methods : The homogeneity of the two groups in terms of the general characteristics of the subjects was assessed using the χ2-test and presented in terms of frequencies and percentages. To compare the differences in effectiveness between the experimental and control groups, means, standard deviations, and t-tests were employed. The validation of research hypotheses was conducted using t-tests. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS 25.0 software. Results : This study is a non-equivalent post-test research paper that validates the effects of an Interprofessional Education (IPE) program by comparing an experimental group, consisting of
 students from three departments in the health science field who participated in the IPE, with a control group who did not. The results of the program's effectiveness verification supported Teamwork Roles and Responsibilities, Experts Biases. However, Patient-centeredness, Diversity and Ethics, Community-centeredness, and Experts Communication were rejected. Conclusion : Students from three departments in the health science field developed an Interprofessional Education (IPE) intervention program, aiming to provide an understanding of theoretical and practical education courses in other departments and offer experiential opportunities in each department. Critical thinking processes among professionals and communication are necessary for problem-solving among participants. Future research requires the development of suitable measurement tools for interprofessional aspects among health science students and intervention research for program development.

A research instrument to monitor people's competence to sustain insect biodiversity: the Self-Perceived Action Competence for Insect Conservation scale (SPACIC)

ABSTRACT The loss of insect biodiversity is a major global sustainability issue that is highly relevant to science education. Science education can support and develop learners’ competence to take actions to sustain insect biodiversity and empower learners to deal actively with this sustainability issue. However, we currently lack an instrument to assess these aspects of individual competence. This paper aims to fill this gap by introducing the Self-Perceived Action Competence for Insect Conservation scale (SPACIC). This scale allows for investigating learners’ action competence by focusing on self-perceived knowledge, confidence, and willingness to take insect conservation actions. The scale is grounded in theory and face-validated by external experts. The piloting with 180 secondary school students showed a good quality of the instrument in terms of reliability and validity, as the reliability analyses and confirmatory factor analysis show. The SPACIC scale is applicable to various formal and informal educational settings. Applying the scale can yield information about the effects of educational approaches and inform learners, educators, and researchers about changes in self-perceived competence. In this way, the SPACIC scale can contribute to the evaluation and design of educational approaches and eventually boost learners’ development into becoming active environmental citizens.

Exploring the integrative nature of STEAM through material objects

ABSTRACT STEAM has gained traction across informal and formal educational settings, but the connections between STEAM disciplines are not always obvious to youth. We argue that an explicit focus on how art and STEM overlap in the world, and how these overlaps connect personally to learner’s interests and concerns, is a way to support the development of STEAM-related identities. We developed a “STEAM objects” pedagogical activity aimed at explicitly surfacing the ways that art and STEM are intertwined in everyday objects, as well as the ways that STEAM is connected to learners’ own lives. We piloted the activity with educators, asking what they took up from the experience. Our results show how the educators made connections to land, historicity, their professions, function, aesthetics, and agency of materials during the activity. The STEAM objects served as boundary objects that illustrated the integrative nature of art and STEM in the world, as well as bridging important aspects of their lives and STEAM. We discuss the importance of recognizing and leveraging the multiplicities of meaning and ways of knowing, as well as implications for the classroom.

The Concept of Forming Shaleh Children According to Islamic Education

Children, viewed as a divine trust from Allah SWT, are entrusted to parents from the moment they grace the world. This bequeathed responsibility mandates parents to meticulously nurture and educate their progeny, directing them towards the cultivation of utility and noble character. Born in a state of fitrah, children's trajectories, whether towards virtue or peril, hinge significantly upon the guidance provided by parents. This responsibility extends beyond mere guidance; parents are entrusted with the monumental task of instilling piety in their children—a duty often underestimated by a substantial number of parents, despite explicit guidance in the Al-Qur'an and Hadith regarding the pivotal role of righteous offspring. This research, titled Concept of Forming Pious (Shaleh) Children According to Education, delves into this critical matter with precision. The research objectives encompass a nuanced understanding of the principles underpinning the cultivation of piety in children through education, exploration of methodologies employed in educating pious children, and identification of strategic efforts to foster piety from an educational standpoint. Employing a descriptive research methodology, the study undertakes a comprehensive examination of current issues through a thorough library research approach. The findings of this research underscore the imperative of cultivating pious children with the aim of nurturing individuals of noble character, thereby contributing to peace and tranquility in both temporal and spiritual realms. The practice of educating children in piety is characterized by its enduring nature, persisting beyond the corporeal realm, as the prayers of pious children become a poignant means of salvation for parents from the fires of hell upon their demise. The conceptualization of forming a pious child according to education involves the developmental nurturing of their soul, even within the confines of the womb, with the overarching goal of achieving virtuous outcomes. Efforts to foster pious children, from an educational perspective, entail the deliberate incorporation of moral education in both formal and informal educational settings. The methodologies employed in shaping pious children through education encompass exemplariness, adherence to cultural norms, the provision of advice, focused attention, and judicious application of appropriate disciplinary measures. In consideration of these insights, this research anticipates active parental engagement in cultivating their children's moral compass, fostering the nuanced development of pious offspring. Encouraging community participation in shaping the moral character of children towards piety is deemed essential. Furthermore, the sustained and active involvement of educators in schools, dedicated to imparting moral values, is paramount for the realization of a society characterized by pious children.

PEDAGOGICAL ISSUES OF TRANSLANGUAGING PRACTICE IN INDONESIA: THE VOICE OF FOUR EFL TEACHERS

In Indonesia, many pedagogical stakeholders may not be familiar with translanguaging practices in EFL education. Indonesian EFL teachers may unconsciously have practised translanguaging in their classrooms, but they may not be aware that they have practised the activity. To explore the perspectives and beliefs about translanguaging, this study involves four Indonesian EFL teachers from four different geographical areas in Indonesia. Two of them teach EFL in formal education, while the other two in informal education settings. The data was collected by conducting an in-depth interview with each of them. Based on their perspectives, this study reveals four main pedagogical issues in translanguaging practice. They are (1) confusion of the concept, (2) institutional policy, (3) cognitive and social gains, and (4) complication. These four issues indicate that while theoretically translanguaging is said to potentially encourage learning, it still creates some controversies about whether or not it can lead success to in EFL learning. This study suggests that the implementation of translanguaging practice in the Indonesian context should depend on typical situations in every EFL classroom. Teachers should consider, among others, learners’ diverse backgrounds and also their existing linguistic repertoire, including their L1 knowledge. In making EFL learning meaningful, learners’ needs should be a priority.

Socioscientific issues in science exhibitions: examining contributions of the informal science education sector

This paper examines how a particular subset of informal science education settings — science exhibitions — embraces contemporary socioscientific issues (SSI) and fosters public engagement with them. A qualitative cross-case analysis of two SSI exhibitions about teen pregnancy (Brazil) and sustainability (Canada) was conducted. It revealed complex issues around operational funding, and institutional tensions related to the nature, balance, and relevance of the topics displayed. The analysis unravelled opportunities for SSI exhibits to engage with contextualized and situated knowledge; articulate the deficit model with other models of science communication; and consider visitors as agents of change.

The Formation of Scientific Conceptions in Early Childhood: A Result of “Over”-Development?

Conceptual development in the scientific domain initiates at an early stage, leading to the emergence of “overthinking” in the form of mis- and alternative conceptions. This contribution aims to delve deeper into the origins of scientific misconceptions by examining the parallels found in three other areas of early learning characterised by an overapplication of rules: overextension, overregularisation, and overimitation. One prominent characteristic shared by these is the presence of U-shaped trajectories, indicating an initial simplicity, followed by an overapplication of rules, and eventually leading to a more sophisticated understanding. It is evident that both linguistic and non-linguistic forms of overdevelopment interact and influence each other. Language, specifically the role of dialogue, assumes particular significance in both formal and informal educational settings. Conversations and dialogue, whether in the formal classroom or during everyday interactions, play a crucial role in shaping children's understanding and facilitating conceptual change. By engaging in meaningful conversations, children can challenge and refine their existing conceptions, allowing for a more accurate and nuanced understanding of scientific principles.

A meta-analysis of the efficacy of self-regulated learning interventions on academic achievement in online and blended environments in K-12 and higher education

ABSTRACT Numerous empirical studies, including meta-analyses, have confirmed the impact of self-regulated learning (SRL) on learners’ academic achievement in traditional or face-to-face learning environments. However, prior meta-analyses rarely examined the efficacy of SRL interventions on academic achievement in online or blended education across elementary education, secondary education, higher education, and adult education. Therefore, this meta-analysis addresses this research gap by focusing on the effect of SRL interventions on students’ academic test performance in online and blended learning environments in elementary, secondary, and higher education settings as well as informal settings. The present meta-analysis compares SRL phase, SRL scaffolds, and SRL strategies between treatment and control groups. We also investigated possible differential effectiveness due to substantive features of the included studies, such as different educational levels of learners (e.g. elementary, secondary, and higher education), academic subjects (STEM vs. non-STEM), and learning contexts (e.g. online learning, blended learning, web-based learning, mobile learning). Consistent with previously published meta-analyses, the present meta-analysis confirmed a positive and moderate effect of SRL intervention (ES = 0.69) on learners’ academic achievement in online and blended environments for learners in elementary, secondary, and higher education as well as informal adult education settings.

Exploring Responsible Research and Innovation in Museums Through Hands‐on Activities

AbstractResponsible research and innovation (RRI) is a framework for thinking about the implications of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) discoveries and innovations and shaping them in a way that is responsible to people, future generations, and the natural environment. In this paper, we present a project that engages museum visitors in learning about RRI through hands‐on activities inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein story, characters, and themes. We developed a learning framework describing strategies and outcomes for RRI in informal educational settings, then created a set of seven activities that embodied the framework and studied their implementation at 13 museums. Evidence from observations and interviews are consistent with the RRI learning framework and suggest a number of practical implications for its use in museums.

Understanding Facilitation Techniques for Hands-On Chemistry Activities

ABSTRACT Educators play a key role in facilitating interactive learning experiences in informal science education settings, such as science centers and museums. Despite their importance, research around facilitation has generally focused on visitor impacts and not the strategies used by the educators themselves. The ChemAttitudes project studied and characterized facilitation moves used by educators during hands-on chemistry activities with visitors at two science museums. Building on previous research done by the Exploratorium, the project team defined a framework of three overarching categories of facilitation techniques: “Invite participation,” “Support exploration,” and “Deepen understanding.” (referenced in short form as “Invite,” “Support,” and “Deepen”). Each of these categories also included distinct facilitation moves that educators used throughout an interaction with visitors. Overall, data indicated that educators used Support moves most often, Deepen moves less frequently, and Invite moves the least. Although educators almost always started an interaction with Invite, afterwards, they moved flexibly back and forth between the three types of moves in a non-linear order in response to the visitors. The framework and findings from this project can be used to support training and professional development for other informal educators using hands-on activities with visitors.

Self-efficacy beliefs of English teachers from a non-educational background in the Indonesian context

This research investigates how English teachers with a non-English educational background demonstrate their self-efficacy beliefs on the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) toward their professional practices. The data was obtained from 18 teachers from a non-English educational background in formal and informal Indonesian education settings. Those teachers undertook strategies to develop the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) while managing their self-efficacy beliefs. Employing a mixed-method research approach, this study gathered the data using closed-ended and open-ended questionnaires, individual interviews, and in-depth interviews. Responses revealed that 18 participants completed a 5-item Likert-type survey measuring the level of teachers’ TPACK self-efficacy. The survey measures the three major aspects of TPACK mean value for teachers’ technological knowledge (TK) (X ̅=23.55) and pedagogical knowledge (PK) (X ̅=19.55), both of which are relatively higher than the value of the content knowledge (CK) (X ̅=16). The dominant factor affecting the high percentage in those two aspects emanates from the teachers’ persistent accounts that they need to be independent in learning while constantly updating their knowledge. This research also discusses the suggestion for future research studies for developing teachers’ TPACK self-efficacy.

The Station: A Model for Content Co-Design with Rural Youth

We describe the design, modification, implementation, and preliminary research of a place-based serious AR (augmented reality) application in a rural school setting. The Station is a collaboratively designed iPhone app that allows players to explore the world around them through educational quests. It links the virtual gameplay to real-world locations and discovery via GPS. The quest content is user generated through a companion editor, a web-based platform that allows anyone to design and author their own quest. When used in a student context, the editor allows student users to move from passive consumers of game content to active creators. We follow a group of ninth-grade students from rural western Maine who worked to create content for The Station in collaboration with Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, who facilitated and researched the project. Youth participants were able to create game content for a real-world location that combined historical, geographical, and scientific knowledge while also learning the importance of storytelling. During our observations of the pilot deployment of this program, key elements emerged that should be incorporated as part of the co-design process for users to successfully create content for The Station. Our model can be useful in engaging youth as place-based content creators in both informal and formal education settings.

Using a statewide landscape analysis to inform fieldwide supports for environmental learning programs

In this article, we describe a large-scale data collection effort about the environmental learning field in Maine. This approach utilized a stakeholder engagement process which included over 600 project managers, educators, and school administrators from both formal and informal education settings. Our focus on collecting data about specific environmental learning projects allowed us to analyze alignment with a selection of best practices in environmental education drawn from NAAEE’s K-12 Guidelines for Excellence. We highlight the characteristics of “high-mastery” projects – those most aligned with the targeted best practices in environmental education – and describe implications for supporting growth of the environmental learning field in Maine moving forward and equitable access to quality programming for youth.

Exploring Guardians’ Perceptions towards Edutainment Environments: The Case of Kidzania, Cairo, Egypt

Over the last few decades, the concept of combining education and entertainment has become increasingly popular. Edutainment (education and entertainment) environments started appearing in 1970 and have expanded, ever since, across the globe. This study seeks to explore the perception of guardians towards the edutainment experience and its impact on their children, with special reference to Kidzania’s branch in Cairo, Egypt. The study adopted an interpretive qualitative approach that combines different data gathering methods, including informal discussions, in-depth semi-structured interviews, on-site sketches, observation, field notes, photographs, and archival sources. The number of guardians involved in the study was 12, accompanying 23 children. A thematic analysis of the data revealed two important overarching themes: qualities of the edutainment environment, and the factors affecting the interaction between guardians and children. The first theme, qualities of the edutainment environment, includes three categories: safe environment, exploratory environment, and well-maintained environment. The second theme, factors affecting the interaction between guardians and children, encompasses three categories: physical proximity, visual connectivity, and provision of basic amenities. The findings of the study were discussed in light of relevant previous accounts and studies. In its conclusion, the study confirms that such edutainment environments can be considered as significant informal educational play settings in which children learn valuable life skills, complementing those learned in formal learning environments. Such findings are expected to provide useful insights that could inform different initiatives aiming to create thriving edutainment centers and engaging informal learning environments.