Learning and Teaching
A Leader in Science Education Reform
The Exploratorium seeks to transform K-12 science education practice nationally by extending its museum-based interactive learning approaches in science inquiry to formal education settings.
As the nation calls for higher academic standards in all disciplines, including science, and documents such as the National Science Standards and Science for all Americans advocate for the importance of students doing rather than just reading about science, the Exploratorium offers its over 35 years of experience as an innovator in creating learning experiences and opportunities that blend hands-on and conceptual learning to provoke in the learner deep understanding of the most important concepts in science.
A Design for Impact and Change
The key change strategy is to provide education professionals with carefully staged and transformative learning experiences in science inquiry, while at the same time illuminating the design and decisions behind these teaching and learning experiences. This approach—both experiential and self-conscious—helps educators become advocates for inquiry approaches to science teaching in their home schools and districts, and gives them the rationale and tools to provide their colleagues and students with similar learning experiences.
What We Bring to the Table
Our programs use the museum’s 400-plus interactive exhibits on display and its core curriculum. Participating teachers begin investigations at the exhibits, observe students and other visitors in their own inquiries, and then participate in group explorations and lecture/seminars in the museum’s classrooms. These classroom experiences are designed to underscore content knowledge emanating from exhibit experiences, and to model inquiry approaches to K-12 science teaching and learning.
The act of genuine inquiry as it is used in the study of art, human perception and other disciplines serves as a vehicle for building among teachers a new view of learning in science classrooms. Often the teacher recognizes in this process that he or she does not have to have (or receive from our faculty) all the answers to science questions in order to have an intellectually stimulating and content-rich experience. Questioning and investigating become real, not words in the latest state science framework or set of standards.
We also produce and disseminate classroom tools for inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning using multiple methods of delivery—from our widely acclaimed classroom books, and teacher guides to on-line science education expertise and classroom activities and strategies. We also are responsible for developing community outreach programs for youth and moderated learning experiences on the museum floor for the museum’s visitors.
The Programs
The Institute for Inquiry (IFI) ©, was one of the five National Science Foundation-designated centers for accelerating science education reform nationwide. It works with elementary school teachers, administrators, and district leaders from around the country and Latin America in a range of workshops and institutes designed to help districts implement inquiry-based education as a part of their standards-based reform efforts. In November 2006, IFI launched a new online curricula — available at www.exploratorium.edu/ifi — a resource for teachers, professional developers, and district administrators. The Teacher Institute provides teacher development programs for middle and high school science and mathematics teachers, including novice teachers. In a recent blind survey, these programs were rated one of the top two science education resources among teachers and district leaders from throughout Northern California.
Taking a cue from the public’s enthusiastic response to “informal science centers” like science and natural history museums, zoos, and aquaria, the Center for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS) integrates the best of the “informal science learning” with the formal learning that takes place in schools. A collaboration between the Exploratorium, King’s College London (KCL), and the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), CILS trains in informal science instruction and examines the strategies that make such centers powerful learning venues. CILS prepares leaders in informal science education, conducts research, supports students pursuing advanced degrees in science education, and provides professional development opportunities for science museum staff. The Center is headquartered at the Exploratorium, and began operation in fall 2002.
The Children’s Educational Outreach program works throughout Bay Area neighborhoods, focusing in particular on youth at risk and working in collaboration with community-based organizations. The High School Explainer program trains cadres of diverse groups of high school youth in both science content and social skills by employing them to act as the museum’s interface with visitors. This program serves as a model for museums around the world seeking to develop authentic youth programs. Our Science Field Trips program works with teachers to facilitate their and their students’ use of the museum, connecting it with mandated curriculum, and developing classroom extensions of the museum experiences.
Strategies
The Exploratorium has learned how to leverage its experience and resources in many significant ways. Specifically, it works at length with educators, routinely exceeding 100 hours in intensity for its professional development programs. More recently, it is recruiting teacher educators and education administrators who, in turn, develop the skills of hundreds of additional teachers in their home institutions. These educators must come from school districts that are already deeply involved in science education improvement projects, thus ensuring that the support and resources are available to advance these approaches to science learning with their colleagues when they return.
In another example, the Novice Teacher Program is providing concentrated professional development programs and support to beginning teachers in middle and high schools to increase the likelihood that they will (1) stay in the profession, (2) teach more effectively earlier in their careers, and (3) adopt our approaches for the length of their careers. This program is designed to shore up the national investment in preparing teachers for today’s classrooms in light of the alarming attrition rate that exists among beginning teachers.
Our youth and teacher professional development faculty are sought out for consultation and advice from museums around the world.
In summary, the Exploratorium seeks to transform teaching practices by:
· Working at length with teacher educators and education professionals who are deeply engaged in district-wide science reform efforts
· Establishing a unique beginning science teacher program and experimenting with new kinds of relationships with colleges of education
· Building ongoing relationships with reform projects and leading organizations in the national science education community
· Strengthening teaching and learning experiences for visitors to the museum and through local educational outreach programming
· Going into greater depth in evaluation and understanding of our own work
· Harnessing the World Wide Web for maximum educational impact, including a digital asset library for teachers, curricula for professional developers, the Pinhole list-serve that allows science teachers to ask questions of each other and get answers immediately, and over 18,000 pages of science content at www.exploratorium.edu.
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