The inspiration for any process of learning always starts with curiosity. It’s especially important for informal science learning, as the entire point of it is that it’s something you choose to be continually immersed in. It was really cool to learn about the 5 C’s + P mentioned in the reading for this reason. The way interest is broken down makes a concrete amount of sense. Curiosity, Confidence, Challenge, Control, Communication – when they’re laid out like that, it’s fairly easy to see how they’re all intertwined.

You need to get people curious about the topic. Then you need to make all age groups feel like they’re capable of learning it. I know that while many scientific topics can seem very daunting, mindset is a huge part of making learning something you can deal with. Some of my friends studying organic chem view it as a huge, unbeatable challenge, and struggle accordingly. I firmly believe that if you can inspire confidence in students, they can learn material much more quickly. Challenge is a huge part of learning as well. Nothing should seem impossible. Additionally, challenge implies that theres a sense of engagement from the educator’s part as well. Not only should they take pains to involve the student, to make them learn on their own instead of spoon-feeding them, but they should see that the student isn’t just blackballed by an overwhelming amount of material either. This naturally leads into Control – the student/learner should feel as if they can influence their own direction of education and performance, that they’re an active participant. Communication helps students know that their educator really cares about their opinion, and validates the “active participant” aspect that makes informal science education so engaging.