After reading Chapter 3 of Surrounded by Science, the first thought in my mind was:

Formal science learning is like DC Comics’ movies.

DC Comics has a myriad of superheroes.  These superheroes fill many different roles, run the gamut as far as powers go, and many of them have strong – or at least decent – fan bases.  Yet when it comes time for DC to make movies, they keep pouring their money into the same two projects: Batman and Superman.  Even with their newer ventures – the upcoming Flash adaptation and the rumoured Justice League – DC remains faithful to superheroes who are more popular and more easily written with Batman and Superman.

Formal science learning is DC Comics.  There are so many approached to learning that have data to support their success, yet formal science learning keeps using the same formulas and book learning year after year.  Formal science learning is afraid to take chances; it sticks to its versions of Superman and Batman to give the public.

This weary cycle is why I prefer informal science learning, which is willing to take chances, engage the public, and try untraditional or less popular types of education.  For example, The Mind exhibit at the Exploratorium sound like a fun exhibit; I want to go test the limits of my brain with new technologies.  The exhibit – as well as the Cell Lab and the  St. Louise Science Center group – enable participants to have “challenging but not frustrating” (pp. 48) experiences without forcing people to learn from books or formal classrooms; rather, the actual experience is given a go, which encourage the learning strands.  Allowing people to interact through various modes of learning (interactivity and  multiple modes being key to supporting learning) is different from the lecture hall or textbook lessons.  Informal science is involving people, hoping to teach citizens through their activities.  And according to the textbook, it seems to be working.  This is why Formal science learning should take more risks; students could have higher success rates in science if they use the strategies for supporting learning (pp. 41).  (And DC might make more money and fans if they were to make a Wonder Woman film… but I digress.)

Speaking of the strategies, the one that surprised me the most was juxtaposition.  Bringing prior knowledge wasn’t surprising, but the fact that it plays such a large role in determining the way in which people approach things did surprise me.  Also, the idea of including a sort of “fun fact” about the topic is a method I’ve experienced before but never thought about.  I love hearing little tidbits of information and then researching further into the information… if the subject interests me, of course.

Daniel Bibawy

10/01/13

The chapter starts off by giving reasons as to why learning takes place in informal science. The first is juxtaposition, which I understood as realizing that something is not the way you thought it was. I think this is a great tool to use when learning something, as it is an eye-opening and memorable experience and will help you remember this experience in the future. Multiple modes is giving a learner several methods to learn something and allowing the person to understand it in multiple ways. Interactivity is what the chapter focused on the most. Interactivity is the process of an informal science learner having a personal experience or interaction with the exhibit shown in front of him or her and making this experience more memorable through the personal interaction the learner has with it. There was an interactive exhibit of a skeleton during which children were allowed to play and fiddle around with it and after the exhibit, an astonishing 96% of the children were able to accurately draw a skeleton, even after some time after seeing the exhibit. Such numbers are difficult to argue with.

There was an activity named “Cell Lab” during which participants were able to conduct a variety of experiments in a wet-lab which were guided by the museum that housed these labs. One thing I thought was especially interactive about this activity was that the participants would put on the attire of a scientist (goggles, lab coat, gloves) which served to purposes: it assured the safety of the participants and really made them feel that they were scientists doing chemical experiments. This experiment brought out all 6 strands of science learning discussed in chapter two. It sparked the interest of the science learner, discussed in strand 1. They learn more and further their knowledge of the science topic as strand 2 talks about. They use the scientific method of asking questions, developing hypotheses and discovering answers to their questions discussed in strands 3 and 4. They use the technology of science and identify themselves as scientists, discussed in strands 5 and 6.

An exhibit called “The Mind” shows a plethora of ways in which a thought or mental dilemma can have physical manifestations. For example in one of the exhibits, participants choose, or choose not, to drink out of a toilet shaped fountain that has clean water and tell how they found the taste of the water.

This chapter really opened my eyes to the effect science can have on its learners. For the group of teens discussed in the last portion of the chapter, their lives were changed from having failing grades in high school to becoming college graduates because of the science experiment they had conducted for two years and saw come to fruition. I never thought of science as life changing in this regard. I suppose that when you put so much time and effort into a project and see it work out, it is a rewarding experience and helps mold a teenager, or even an adults, self-image and self-approval.

Ilanit Zada

Science and Technology in NYC

The book entitled Surrounded by Science by Fenichel and Schweingruber goes into the third chapter with a continuing emphasis placed on the importance of informal environments in sparking an interest and allowing for further education in a specific area. In chapter three, these ideas are taken a step further; the authors discuss the benefits of different exhibits in a museum and whether the different levels of engagement can affect how much of the information from that exhibit is retained (and perhaps studied further). Fenichel and Schweingruber state that “it appears, too, that providing opportunities for active engagement draws more people to an exhibit” (42). I agree with this statement; I do believe that by providing interactive activities for children will spark a (newfound) interest in the topic.

This statement reminded me of my childhood visits to the museums. Walking around such a large building with only a limited amount of time, forced us students to make the educated decision of which exhibits to spend our time on and which to either look at for a short amount of time or disregard completely. I remember that the most important determining factor and the one thing my friends and I were looking for was whether or not there was any activity for us to do at that exhibit. We were instantly drawn to those that demanded active engagement; we did not want to simply read something boring, but rather we wanted to take part in it and see how it all worked. I even remember that after many of these trips I would share what I took part in with my family and discuss that topic with them, surprising them with how much information I had remembered. It is almost a guarantee that many other students and children visiting museums experience the same thing reiterating the importance of active engagement and how that can help further our education.

In Chapter 3, the author states that informal learning allows for a person to develop an understanding of the topic even in as a child. The chapter mentions how informal science should be used to foster one’s own thoughts and opinions about the matter, helping a person draw conclusion of their own, while delving deeper into the topic. This can be accomplished by juxtaposing the learner’s understanding of natural phenomena, which will make the learner reflect on what he/she has learned and gage how much he/she has learned. Another strategy mention is providing multiple mediums in which the learner can attain the information. This appeals to the learner, as there are multiple ways to engage in topic and therefore increases the amount of knowledge gained by the learner. The last strategy is interactivity and allowing the learner to be actively involved in the learning process. This increases interest in the topic as well as develops a deeper understanding of the topic, as learners are able to experience what would normally be written in a textbook.

I believe that these methods are very effective in engaging the learner and increasing his/her understanding of the topic. Furthermore, these methods do not isolate a certain group of people. A child is able to pick up the same amount of information as an adult would through the methods mentioned in the reading whereas if a child may not be able to grasp the same amount of knowledge as a scholarly adult if they both were to read the same science journal. Furthermore, most people learn through experiences and hands on training and therefore being able to be actively involved in the field of study will further enhance the amount of information retained. However, age will still play role, in that an adult brain is much more developed and may be able to understand abstract topics as opposed to a child who has not yet been exposed to such.

I really enjoyed reading this chapter from Surrounded by Science, especially because I am one of those people who learns more about a certain topic through my own interaction. Simply listening to someone explain a specific concept, or even reading about it on your own, doesn’t produce the same effect as does actively participating in what you have just learned. For example, I took Anatomy in high school. In order to learn about the skeletal system, I read around ten or more pages of an anatomy textbook and committed what I learned to memory. Even though the topic itself was interesting, my mode of learning about it was not. Don’t get me wrong—reading is a great way to learn about a topic of interest—but unfortunately sometimes reading can get boring or monotone. And it’s times like that when we need to get creative and fun. So, in order to further understand the skeletal system and memorize where each bone was, my friends and I would randomly pat each other on certain spots on our bodies and say things like “Hey! That’s your humerus!” or “So this is where your phalanges are!” What I did with my classmates to learn about the skeletal system was similar to how the stationary bicycle pedaling exhibit taught children about the role and structure of the lower part of the skeleton. We were able to learn a topic simply by somehow relating it to ourselves, and being able to physically see and/or touch exactly what we previously read about. I completely agree with the notion that interactive experiences are key to understanding different scientific concepts.

In terms of learning about science through media, I believe that this is a perfect way of teaching any age group about a certain topic. Media is becoming more and more important in today’s world, in both informal and formal settings. So why not use it to our advantage by informing a general audience about science? One form of media that just came to my mind right now is the mini clip (I think it’s about ten minutes long) in one of the dinosaur halls at the American Museum of Natural History. I love watching it, even though I’ve probably seen it a lot of times. Even though I know what to expect in the mini movie clip, I still enjoy relearning the same information because it’s both entertaining and interesting at the same time.

Malka Niknamfard

Professor Adams

9/30/13

Surrounded by Science Chapter 3

Chapter 3 of Surrounded by Science deals extensively with the idea of interactive experiences and how essential they are in terms of sparking children’s and even adults’ interests in scientific exploration.  Interactive experiences effectively teach students material that they are able to understand and retain because they are efficient means of triggering interests and engagement. For example, a particular exhibit that was designed to teach visitors about the form and function of the human skeleton consisted of a stationary bicycle that a visitor could ride and when the visitor pedaled the bike, the exhibit was arranged so that an image of a moving skeleton appeared inside the pedaling person’s reflection. The movements of the legs and skeleton attracted the visitor’s attention to the role and structure of the lower part of the human skeleton, thereby engaging a person’s interest in the subject at hand.

People can be exposed to interactive experiences in a variety of ways- a strategy for supportive learning commonly referred to as ‘multiple modes’. Interactive experiences manifest themselves through simple things such as turning knobs, spinning wheels, or pushing buttons that people can manipulate in order to discover an answer, or they can be experienced via hands-on involvements such as engaging with objects or animals or being a part of a scientific investigation.

Lastly, interactive experiences are crucial when it comes to teaching people about science because when people are able to determine answers to questions through solitary experimentation, they feel as though they understand the material at hand better, and feel as though they are directly responsible for making a significant contribution to the scientific community a well as to gaining scientific knowledge that they would otherwise solely be exposed to via a textbook. Thus, places such as museums, botanical gardens, nature centers, and other informal science venues play crucial roles in hands-on learning and directly impact the way students learn about the scientific community.

Mohamed Adnan

09-29-2013

Professor Adams

Seminar 3

Reflection on Chapter 3

Chapter three puts into focus the aspect of interactive learning. In order to implement the interactive aspect of learning in a informal science environment, some creators enforce juxtaposition, multiples modes, and interactivity. These three aspects can enhance how one can learn in an informal science environment.

I am a strong supporter of learning through experiencing and interacting. The Cell Lab is an excellent environment in which people can learn through interaction. I believe that in order to learn, someone should be able to break out of their comfort zone. When we are given answers readily and not offered a real challenge, we feel comfortable. If we are spoon fed all the answers to our questions, we would not be learning. Learning is about pushing past mental barriers and figuring things out yourself. For example, the  moment in which you spend hours trying to figure something out and you finally figure it out. The information you just figured out will probably be unforgettable. This is what informal science should be about. Being placed in an environment in which we are challenged to think for ourselves and learn through interactions. Trial and error is enhanced through interactive learning as we will go the extra mile just to figure something out even if we keep getting the wrong results.

Another interesting topic I found in the reading was the aspect of learning through media. As a child, I was not privileged enough to attend museums or science workshops. Instead I relied on the television and books for my scientific curiosity. The main television network that informed me about numerous scientific topics was the channel 13. There were two documentary shows that always captured my attention: Nature and Nova. Nature was about the different types of animals found in nature and Nova was about pace science. I did not understand every aspect of the shows, but all the information that I did learn did make me want to learn even more. I believe that the exposure from these shows sparked my interest in science and I hope that my younger siblings will also develop a similar interest.

Jennifer Mikhli

Science and Technology in NYC

09/29/13

Professor Adams

Chapter 3 Reflection

            The third chapter of Surrounded by Science ventures into the strategies used for supporting learning in informal science environments. Creators of these informal science activities can choose to implement some or rather all of the three learning strategies, as they seek to maintain optimal engagement and understanding with participants. Juxtaposition, multiples modes, and interactivity are the three tactics that are currently being implemented in citizen science activities to enhance the overall learning experience. Via juxtaposition, a learner’s prior understating of a phenomenon is juxtaposed with the current scientific understanding of it, allowing the participant’s prior understanding to be challenged. Learners also engage with a particular concept of science through a multitude of ways, via multiple modes. Lastly, which I believe to be the most fundamental strategy of all, is the interaction with a scientific concept in a fun and interesting way.  I believe that there are two fundamental aspects of interactivity that contribute to its success amongst citizen learners: the ease of comprehension and unlocking of exclusive scientific tools.

The Cell Lab citizen science project mentioned within the chapter does a great job in unlocking access to the interaction with laboratory instruments that are not available to all in their every lives. Participants are granted access to a variety of stations devoted to performing wet-lab biology activities. Adolescents are able to gain access to microscopes, cultures, and centrifuges; tools unavailable to them in their day-to-day lives. This creation of a “sacred experience,” one that is not readily available to them on a mundane level, prompts great interest among its participants. In addition, establishing a familiarity with these exclusive scientific tools enables a breakdown of the learning barriers associated with science. Students will no longer view science and laboratory experiments as an intimating enterprise; rather, they will remember these tools as a means to unlocking fun and exciting facts about science.

If I were to create an informal learning experience, I would definitely implement the interactive component, along with the key factors associated with it. The activity would involve the use of so-called daunting laboratory equipment (i.e. centrifuges, microscopes etc.) so that participants could come away from the experience feeling at ease with these scientific tools, seeing them for the amazing devices of learning that that they truly are. Students would be able to forge a familiar relationship with these tools and perhaps view themselves as working alongside them one day in a professional capacity. The activity would have to be easily comprehensible as well, as not to discourage participants in any way. Essentially, this tactic could create a scientific relationship with its participants that could perpetuate far beyond the confines of the informal activity setting.