Chapter 5 of Surrounded by Science focuses on the interest aspect of a person’s visit to an informal learning environment. Specifically, the entire experience is led and directed by what a person finds exciting and worth learning about. This is completely different from a formal learning environment, where for the most part the course is determined by the instructors and faculty. Furthermore, the typical sentiment ‘I am never going to need this’ never emerges within an informal learning environment, specifically because it is self-directed.

Informal learning environments must be designed to be both safe and easy to explore. They must provide a challenging experience for visitors, but not too challenging that they be overwhelmed. I like to think of this as asking someone to run a marathon before they have ever completed a 5K. Asking visitors to wrap their heads around a particularly elusive idea (such as the evidence that the rate of the universe’s expansion is increasing over time), may be difficult for those who never particularly cared for that field in their younger years.

It is my experience that having prior book-knowledge about something makes it so much more illuminating when that something is brought to life via the 5 senses (sight, tough, hearing, etc.) For example, since I just learned about invertebrates in my biology class and for my seminar project, I came to the Natural History Museum with a unique insight on the invertebrate exhibits that we passed by on our way to the Poison exhibit. That insight allowed me to share some interesting facts about isopods (pill bugs) with my peers that otherwise could not have been shared in context. I adopted the role of facilitator, bringing the preserved physical specimen on the wall to life through videos that I took of these species as part of my research.

The chapter on interest goes over the 5 C’s and P of arousing interest in the student of informal learning. They are:

Curiosity – By virtue of the fact that informal learning environments are self-directed, a person will naturally gravitate toward and linger around the exhibits that intrigue him/her and spark the curiosity. It appears that having some prior experience with the subject helps nurture this curiosity and allows a person to act as a facilitator for others.

Confidence – The subject matter is not made so advanced that the informal science visitor has no way of grasping it within the time that he/she remains in a particular exhibit.

Challenge – Without a goal most of us are not motivated to take on a challenge. The promise that an informal science environment has something new to teach is what keeps visitors coming back time and again. Once again, great care must be taken to ensure that the exhibit is not made too challenging so as to overwhelm the visitor.

Control – In a formal learning environment, the student does not have control over what he learns or how much time is spent on a particular topic. In contrast, informal learning environments are designed to be non-linear and may cater to a variety of learning preferences. Control empowers the informal science visitor to choose what he/she wishes to learn and bore deeply into the subject while maintaining a mild level of difficulty.

Play – Without enjoyment the informal learning environment is not far removed from its formal cousin. The power of informal learning is that it naturally lends itself to play and allows the visitor to disengage whenever he/she feels the interest is waning.

Communication – Without communication much of the learning that takes place inside informal learning environments may not take place. This is because as social creatures humans need to communicate in order to disseminate information and for most of us, this is an efficient way to retain information.

Chapter 8 elucidates the concept of life-long learning, and the different ways we learn as we age. The end-of-chapter tips suggest to develop an understanding of the target audience before developing a program. The audience background, strengths and weaknesses, interests, and the educator’s learning goals are all things to take into account when applying the idea of life-long learning to an informal science environment.