Telling Your Story:

What the Informal Science Education IndustryHas to Offer COSEE

Alan J. Friedman

Consultant

Museum Development & Science Communication

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Scientists have been seeking to achieve engagement with the public for centuries, and

formal education has not been their only means

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But we don’t all have a super-charismatic personality

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Informal Science Education

Learning during the 95% of our lives which we spend outside the formal education system

Also called “free choice learning,” because learners set their own agenda

Includes aquariums, museums, zoos, botanic gardens, and visitor centers, plus television, magazines, books, libraries, the Internet

61% of all adults visit an ISE institution at least once a year

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Sciencebuddies.org

– Hundreds of inquiry science fair projects, way beyond that model volcano; career advice and more

Science Museums are the Fastest Growing Sector of the Museum World

Several new “hands-on” science museums open each year

350 now in USA alone

$1+ billion per year total budgets

177 million visits per year in USA

about 60 million visitors on school field trips

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Science-Technology Centers Share a Lot, Yet Each is Different from the Others

tryscience.org Find just

about every science museum on the planet; dozens of vetted activities from science museums for use on or off-line; in 9 languages

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CW from top left: Vancouver BC, Paris FR, Duxford UK, Richmond VA, Indianapolis, IN

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Citizenscience.org

– Individuals, families, students do data collection and analysis for real science research

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Nobelprize.org

– Exquisite simulation activities of real experiments, inspiring stories, and more

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pbskids.org/designsquad/

– The TV show is cool, but even better are teens doing engineering for delight at school or at home

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Sciencefriday.com

– Millions listen, but even more get it through the Web, Podcasts, Blogs, Tweets ….

27,500 Inservice Teachers Take In-Depth Training in Science Museums Each Year

Museum staff know both content and pedagogy

They are used to paying attention to learners

Hard evidence that teacher’s exposure to real research improves their student’s test scores

Roles for COSEE

Apprenticeships for Students and Pre-Service Teachers Are Increasingly Popular

Exposure to real phenomena, scientists, technologies—COSEE organizations can offer real research experiences

Culture of inquiry, love of science and technology

Good balance of intensity, evaluation, and enjoyment, well suited to most youth

COSEE Projects can choose to work with both formal and informal education but

the differences are significant For schools the drivers are

standards, curricula, and assessments. COSEE projects need to discover where their stories do or do not fit with these constraints.

Informal learning organizations have broader missions and fewer external constraints. However, their economic drivers are very different from those of formal education, and so are their domains of greatest impact.

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The Informal Learning Realm is Well Organized—Sector by Sector.

See the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education at www.insci.org, then:

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Inquiry Group on Informal Science Educationestablished by COSEE-OCEAN

Paul Boyle, Association of Zoos and Aquariums

Vince Breslin, Southern Connecticut State University

Johnny Frasier, Institute for Learning Innovation (formerly with the Wildlife Conservation Society) 

Alan Friedman, New York Hall of Science/Consultant

Katie Gardner, Liberty Science Center

Sara Schoedinger, NOAA

Jerry Schubel, Aquarium of the Pacific

Steve Uzzo, New York Hall of Science

Steve Yalowitz, Institute for Learning Innovation (formerly with the Monteray Bay Aquarium)

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Four Useful Recent References “The 95 Percent Solution,” Falk, J.H. and Dierking, L. D., American Scientist (2010), v. 98, pp. 486-

493. A manifesto declaring the importance, even the necessity, of informal science education.  

“Executive Summary,” Learning Science in Informal Environments http://books.nap.edu/catalog/12190.html. The NRC’s 2009 big synthesis study.

“A Special Report on Informal Science Education,” Education Week 2011. http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/sciencereport-2011/index.html?r=1427089755. Up to date summary of the entire field.

Framework for Evaluating Impacts of Informal Science Education Projects, A. Friedman, ed. http://insci.org/docs/Eval_Framework.pdf. 2008 NSF report on evaluating effectiveness of ISE activities

Alan J. Friedman, ConsultantMuseum Development and Science Communicationwww.friedmanconsults.comalan@friedmanconsuts.com