Learning Science in Informal Environments Resources

This portion of the site contains a cross-section of papers pertaining to science learning. Please note that any information given below or its links does not reflect the work of the Board and committees, and may be subject to copyright restrictions of the writer and/or organization. Any opinions and statements are solely those of the individual persons or their organization, and are not necessarily adopted or endorsed or verified as accurate by The National Academies. Please note that this is a work in progress; therefore, the list will be updated on a regular basis.

Crane, V., Nicholson, H., Chen, M., & Bitgood, S. (1994). Informal science learning: What the research says about television, science museums and community-based projects. Dedham, MA: Research Communications Ltd.

Dierking, L.D., Ellenbogen, K.M., and Falk, J.H.  (2004). In principle, in practice:  Perspectives on a decade of museum learning research (1994-2004).  Science Education, 88 (Supplement 1).

Friedman, A.J.  (1995).  Creating an academic home for informal science education.  In J.H. Falk and L.D. Dierking (Eds.), Public institutions for personal learning.  Washington, DC:  American Association of Museums.

Garnett, R.  (March 2002).  The Impact of Science Centers/Museums on their Surrounding Communities: Summary Report. Canberra, Australia:  Questacon.

Hein, G.E. (1998). Learning in the museum. London: Routledge.

Leinhardt, G., K. Crowley, et al. (2002). Learning conversations in museums.  Mahwah. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

National Research Council (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning.  J.D. Bransford, and A.L. Brown, and R.R. Cocking, (Eds.). Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Schauble, L., Leinhardt, G., & Martin, L.  (1997).  A framework for organizing a cumulative research agenda in informal learning contexts.  Journal of Museum Education, 22, (2&3), 3-8. 

Other useful sites:
The Center for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS) at the Exploratorium has an introductory reading list and a comprehensive reference list related to informal science learning at http://www.exploratorium.edu/cils/resources.html

The Museum Learning Collaborative (MLC) has a literature database available on-line at http://museumlearning.com/Annotatedlit.html
(Please note that the MLC project officially ended on December 2003 but the web site is still available for literature searches.)