ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ ΙΩΑΝΝΙΝΩΝ ΑΝΟΙΚΤΑ ΑΚΑΔΗΜΑΪΚΑ ΜΑΘΗΜΑΤΑ Θέματα Διδακτικής των Φυσικών Εννοιών Teaching Science in Science Museums and Science Centers Towards a New Pedagogy – Greece Διδάσκουσα: Αναπλ. Καθ. Αικατερίνη Γ. Πλακίτση

Άδειες Χρήσης Το παρόν εκπαιδευτικό υλικό υπόκειται σε άδειες χρήσης Creative Commons. Για εκπαιδευτικό υλικό, όπως εικόνες, που υπόκειται σε άλλου τύπου άδειας χρήσης, η άδεια χρήσης αναφέρεται ρητώς.

Teaching Science in Science Museums and Science Centers: Towards a New Pedagogy? Katerina Plakitsi Associate Professor of Science Education, University of Ioannina, Greece Intensive Programmes (IP) LIGHT, IOANNINA 2012

τὸ ἀντίξουν συµφέρον καὶ ἐ κ τῶν διαφερόντων καλλίστην ἁρµονίαν (καὶ πάντα κατ’ ἔριν γίνεσθαι). Ηράκλειτος Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony. Heraclitus Fragment 98, as translated by Philip Wheelwright, in Wheelwright, P. (1966). The Presocratics. Indianapolis: ITT.

FORMAL AND INFORMAL SCIENCE EDUCATION formal science education includes typical learning environments, approaches or contexts. informal science education consists of free-choice learning environments, approaches or contexts. lifelong learning environments play an important role in human learning.

Formal and informal education is represented by the term “science in society”. presents a global educational scene. forms a dialectical relationship between science and|for society.

Science in Society also means learning science in science museums and science centers. schools do their science courses in science museums and science centers. teachers, students and parents interact during their daily experiences as citizens. science in society became a priority in Europe.

Roth and Mc Ginn (1997), proposed deinstitutionalizing school science education including ethics, culture, informal debates, strengthening the role of women in science, supporting formal and informal science education in schools and in science centers and museums. focusing on science and society communication.

Discussion with your neighbor Share your experience about formal and informal science education. Provide some examples. Specify how your experience connects science to society. – Write down your description and return it to us.

A new necessity of expanding science education to include cultural acquisition and participation in the community (Roth and Tobin, 2002; Roth, 2010). teaching science in science museums and science centers is connected with the sociocultural aspects of science education.

Cultural-Historical Theory of Activity Activity theory has its origins – in classical German philosophy (from Kant to Hegel), – in the writings of Marx and Engels, and – in the Soviet Russian cultural-historical psychology of Vygotsky, Leont'ev, and Luria. 11

Today activity theory is becoming truly international and multidisciplinary. This process entails the discovery of new and old related approaches, discussion partners, and allies, from American pragmatism and Wittgenstein to ethnomethodology and theories of self-organizing systems (Engestrom, 1999). 12

Activity theory is a framework or descriptive tool (Nardi, 1996) that provides "a unified account of Vygotsky's proposals on the nature and development of human behaviour" (Lantolf, 2006, p. 8). 13

Activity Theory 14 RulesRules CommunityCommunity Division of labour Tools Subject Object Outcomes Figure 1: Components of the activity system (Engeström, 1987)

Cultural Historical Activity Theory framework in science education can expand the borders of our pedagogical knowledge. can be more liberating and more motivating. Culture becomes structure.

students cross the borders by horizontal or vertical movements among different interactive systems. learning in science museums and science centers can physically and logically be embedded in the CHAT context. museum exhibitions are strong cultural tools. central mediative role in learning and culture making.

Are you familiar with any socio-cultural perspectives? Describe in a few words the tension or perspective. Write down your description and return it to us. Discussion with your neighbor

Museum is a non-profit, permanent institution – in the service of society and open to the public. acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity. supports education, study and enjoyment.

Is a public social investment with – powerful influence on society. – precious artifacts have been moved, protected, or stolen during war. annual museum attendance is close to a billion visits a year. “infinitely diverse”.

museums of natural sciences and technology 1.The museum-institution, which expresses the traditional form of museum (incorporates intense educational activities).

2. The virtual museum, which is a museum without walls where networking and new forms of communication dominate.

3.The children’s museum, which primarily serves children.

4.The local museum (or museum in situ), which is connected with the local natural and social environment.

1.1. Museum-Institution: Collections Figures1. a. London Science Museum, U.K.: Apollo 10 mode. b. The Future of Biometrics in the new Antenna Gallery.

1.2. Museum-Institution: Experiments-Inventions

1.3. Museum-Institution: Cultural Centers

2. The Virtual Museum digital culture is web communication. creation of many virtual museums of natural science and technology. systems of virtual reality and augmented reality are central in each modern museum. three dimensions (technological, modern, philosophical).

Some useful links for virtual museums International Council of Museums, The Virtual Library of Museums in USA, European Network of Science Centres and Museums, (accessed 27/7/2010).

3. Children’s Museums More than 30 million children and families visited children’s museums annually. The largest children’s museum is The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (Indiana), which has a total of 433,000 square feet. The oldest children’s museum is the Brooklyn Children’s Museum (New York), which opened in 1899; the children’s museum field is 111 years young!

Figures 4. a. Brooklyn Children’s Museum, founded in b. Indianapolis Children’s Museum, U.S

4. The Local Museums (Museums In-Situ). important for local communities promote the teaching and learning of science as a means of participating in the community. E.g. Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil in Sparta highlights the culture and technology of the olive and olive production.

Figure 6. Mediterranean olive oil museums

LIMITED INTERPRETATIVE PARADIGMS theories for learning science in science museuns and science centers have been limited to Falk and Dierking’s (1992) and Hein’s explanatory model (1998).

Modification of the model provided by G. Hein (1997) about different types of museums related to different educational theories.

THE SOCIAL ROLE OF MUSEUMS Formal and informal education need to have the potential to empower citizens to make informed decisions in a democratic society (Hein, 2004). Museums are strong cultural tools – impact on society is gradually advancing. – museums change their educational practices.

gives emphasis to community participation and less to marvellous and miraculous exhibitions. takes into consideration the subject, the object, the tools, the rules, the community, and the division of labor. requires interdisciplinary working groups with both scientists and practitioners and a new mentality about the societal role of museums. THE SOCIAL ROLE OF MUSEUMS

CHAT AND MUSEUM EDUCATION accepts and precedes a process ontology. does not accept separate entities. accepts the inseparability of the individual and the group.

Positivistic versus CHAT epistemology Positivistic epistemology Formal We do research on the child’s phenomenology of the world, the object, time, etc. Intractable For example, in the case of a child’s conception of time, we investigate only the conventional aspect of time, which reflects the Newtonian concept of one unique and uniform time in the universe. Decontextualized We do research on children’s conceptions of time independently of children’s sociocultural, economic, family, and school environments. CHAT epistemology Nonformal We do research with many different methods, without neglecting different research forms and traditions Intractable Scientific concepts and also child­ hood are considered as ongoing processes; the teaching/researching refers to some milestones of their evolution. Contextualized We do research on chilrden’s conceptions of time based on children’s sociocultural, economic, family, and school environments.

Universalistic The basic principle here is that teaching leads to one form of knowledge: a true and stable knowledge. Science is being taught as the discovery of true knowledge, which exists in the real world. Reductionistic only one research method is the scientific one, and any researcher can repeat the same research results any place in the world by following the same method. Unidimensional Reality is uni-dimensional, so research on a child’s conception of time therefore assumes the Western concept of time. Multicultural The central idea of this section is that there are many types of science. Different ways of interpreting data lead to multiple world views that create unity from the differences. Local By keeping the local local, we can acquire a rich list of criteria, as well as ways of knowing and learning. Multidimensional Reality and environment are multi­ dimensional and complex. We need new methodologies for teaching and researching in these interactive and progressive systems of relationships. Positivistic versus CHAT epistemology

Figure 8. Traveling with birds- Modules.

EXAMPLE: TRAVELING WITH BIRDS students to be able to: Know the more important birds of our homeland. Become familiar with some of the more important museums and with some open museums. Connect education in the natural sciences with arts and culture. Become informed about environmental problems, such as the risks to fauna and biodiversity, in combination with the causes behind those threats. Realize the societal role of the natural sciences.

“Travelling with the Birds” 1.Goulandris Natural History Museum. 2.Diomidis Botanical Garden, Athens. 3.Aegean Wildlife Hospital – ALKIONI. 4.Hellenic Wildlife Hospital – EKPAZ. 5.Benaki Museum - Archaeological Department. 6.Benaki Museum - Department of Popular Art. 7. Byzantine and Christian Museum. 8.Numismatic Museum of Athens.

IN CONCLUSION CHAT seems to – fit into the social role of museums. – overcome the obstacles of positivism in science education and research. – provide characteristics of multiplicity, dialectics, and unity of differences. – create educational program in order to implement sociocultural practices. – implement changes and ongoing processes.

47 Thank you! Communication Katerina Plakitsi Department of Early Childhood Education, Ioannina, Greece

Τέλος Ενότητας

Χρηματοδότηση Το παρόν εκπαιδευτικό υλικό έχει αναπτυχθεί στα πλαίσια του εκπαιδευτικού έργου του διδάσκοντα. Το έργο «Ανοικτά Ακαδημαϊκά Μαθήματα στο Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων» έχει χρηματοδοτήσει μόνο τη αναδιαμόρφωση του εκπαιδευτικού υλικού. Το έργο υλοποιείται στο πλαίσιο του Επιχειρησιακού Προγράμματος «Εκπαίδευση και Δια Βίου Μάθηση» και συγχρηματοδοτείται από την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση (Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινωνικό Ταμείο) και από εθνικούς πόρους.

Σημειώματα

Σημείωμα Ιστορικού Εκδόσεων Έργου Το παρόν έργο αποτελεί την έκδοση 1.0. Έχουν προηγηθεί οι κάτωθι εκδόσεις: Έκδοση 1.0 διαθέσιμη εδώ.

Σημείωμα Αναφοράς Copyright Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων, Διδάσκουσα: Αναπλ. Καθ. Αικατερίνη Γ. Πλακίτση. «Θέματα Διδακτικής των Φυσικών Εννοιών. Teaching Science in Science Museums and Science Centers Towards a New Pedagogy - Greece». Έκδοση: 1.0. Ιωάννινα Διαθέσιμο από τη δικτυακή διεύθυνση:

Σημείωμα Αδειοδότησης Το παρόν υλικό διατίθεται με τους όρους της άδειας χρήσης Creative Commons Αναφορά Δημιουργού - Παρόμοια Διανομή, Διεθνής Έκδοση 4.0 [1] ή μεταγενέστερη. [1]