NSF PR 98-32 (NSB 98-114) - June 1, 1998
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NSB Hearing Highlights Importance of Informal Education
in Improving Science Literacy
A better connection between informal and formal education
would help to prepare K-12 science and mathematics
students for the 21st century, according to several
participants at an unusual hearing in Los Angeles
May 29.
The one-day hearing, titled "Enriching Lives Through
Informal Education," was hosted by the Committee on
Education and Human Resources (EHR) of the National
Science Board (NSB). The Board normally meets at the
National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va.. The
LA hearing -- held at the Natural History Museum of
Los Angeles County and the California Science Center
-- is the first of three planned by the Board's education
committee to increase the Board's geographic outreach.
(The second and third will take place in Chicago and
Puerto Rico.)
NSB members heard panelists and local attendees discuss
the range, impact, and future of informal (non-school-based)
education. The National Science Foundation (NSF) invests
$36 million annually in informal education activities
such as museums, print and broadcast programs, and
community-based organizations, to increase appreciation
and understanding of science and technology. California
receives more of such NSF funds than any other state.
Common themes expressed at the hearing included pleas
for longer and larger NSF grants to build on promising
experiments and extend proven programs; the need for
more research on the nature of learning; the value
of informal education (such as science museums) in
training K-12 teachers; and suggestions for stronger
connections with formal (school-based) education organizations.
"The informal science community is underestimating
its own potential impact on science literacy, and
its current and potential importance in supporting
formal education," said former NSB member (now consultant)
Shirley Malcom, who is also a member of the President's
Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
"The formal education community is skeptical of the
value of informal education," said Kathleen McLean
of the Exploratorium in San Francisco. "We need both."
Former NSB member and Museum of Natural History Director
Jim Powell emphasized the need for various segments
of the informal science education community to work
together. NSB vice chair and University of Texas-El
Paso President Diana Natalicio added that new partnerships
will have to be created because "distinctions among
various kinds of institutions have begun to blur ...
there is a ... convergence on effective learning,
(but) these partnerships don't happen by accident.
They have to be structured."
California Science Center Executive Director Jeffrey
Rudolph pleaded for teachers to make wise use of science
museums. "Use us well. There's a tremendous difference
between the teachers who prepare (before bringing
students to the center) and those that don't."
NSB education committee chair and California State
Polytechnic University President Bob Suzuki called
the hearing a success. "We've gotten a lot of great
ideas, and a better sense of what is needed in informal
education, which we could not have gotten back in
Washington D.C. That's really the point of these field
hearings."
Malcom said the EHR committee will share the results
of the hearing with the full Board in a summary report.
For more on the hearing, see:
http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/meetings/1998/fieldmay/fieldmay.htm
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