Zoos, aquariums and other free-choice/informal education settings offer the public opportunities to interact with live animals in exhibits through animal encounters and/or touch experiences designed to carry a conservation mission. Many of these institutions are accredited by the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the World Association of...
Human development researchers consider adolescence a rich time for interest development and identity exploration. A relatively new movement in the Free-Choice Learning (FCL) arena, the Maker movement, offers learners interest-driven, experiential, often collaborative, and process-oriented activities ranging from game design (computer-based and otherwise) and robotics, to sewing LEDs into clothing...
There is growing evidence that children develop science-related interests in early childhood, before they enter school, and that these interests may have long-term implications for science participation and achievement. Although researchers have made headway in describing interest development in the preschool years, little is currently known about the proximal processes...
In recent years, there has been an increased focus on identity and how it shapes visitor
experience in free-choice learning (FCL) environments. Inquiry into how visitor's sex
impacts identity and experience has yielded equivocal results. To date there has been no
research into how the psychosocial construct of gender and...
The persistent underrepresentation and marginalization of women of color in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are well-documented. However, much of the existing literature takes an “either/or” approach, focusing solely on the experiences of either “women” or “minorities” in STEM, without adequately examining the unique experiences of...
Community science (also called citizen science) has become an increasingly popular data collection technique for scientists researching nature at a large scale. Many ecologists have also looked to community science as a method for educating the public about science. Over the past several decades, researchers have attempted to define an...
:
_____________________________________________________________________
SueAnn I. Bottoms LynnD. Dierking
Abstract
Community science (also called citizen science
Citizen science (formally public participation in science research) has emerged in recent years as an innovative and interactive tool for engaging many diverse groups in science and research. Defined as the collaboration of science professionals and the public in science research, citizen science has tremendously improved the reach of science....