Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 4, Issue 1, Foreword (Jun., 2003) David ANDERSON, Gregory P. THOMAS & Kirsten M. ELLENBOGEN Learning Science from Experiences in Informal Contexts: The Next Generation of Research Previous Contents Next

Future Directions for Research in the "Informal Learning" Field

"Informal learning" research has evolved considerably over the last two decades. It has progressed from studies that simply demonstrate that learning occurs in informal settings to studies that explore the nature of the making meaning and the developing knowledge states of museum visitors. In surveying the literature in the field, it is evident that there are still many worthy questions to ask, and, indeed, many areas of research that are worthy of pursuit in this field. Researchers Hofstein and Rosenfeld (1996) make an important recommendation that "future research in science education should focus on how to effectively blend informal and formal learning experiences in order to significantly enhance the learning of science" (p. 107). Indeed, research that follows people through their daily lives shows that people's learning experiences across "formal" and "informal" environments can be seamless (Ellenbogen, 2002). Increasingly, science museums and like institutions are taking on educational roles to shape the public's understanding of science (e.g. Durant, 1996; Lewenstein, 2001) and therefore their scientific literacy. From our stand point, and that of a number of our colleagues, the level of research issues that typify the field is still evolving.

Despite the considerable progress museums and like institutions have made in the ways they develop and implement education programs for school groups, and despite teachers' appreciations of the educational value of field trip visits to museum settings, there is much evidence to suggest that the experiences students have are under-realised in terms of their true learning potential. Absent from the research to date are studies that focus on the potential for such out-of-school experiences to help students become aware of their own learning processes. This is despite the fact that a number of studies of student learning in formal classroom environments provide strong evidence that when students are assisted to become aware of their own learning processes (metacognition), they gain much richer understandings of the content of their learning and also become better more empowered learners (Baird, 1986; Thomas, 1999; Thomas & McRobbie, 2001). Understanding such processes would facilitate another level in the evolution of educational research in informal settings. Filling this knowledge void would help school teachers and museum staff to design more educational effective curriculum that are able to realise the greater learning potential of students' field-trip experiences. In addition, it would help students to develop richer cognitive understandings of the topics portrayed in museum-based settings and help them become more empowered life-long learners.