Playful Invention and Exploration (PIE) Institute: Professional Development Opportunities for Informal Educators

“趣味发明与探索学院”是一项为期三年的计划，旨在提高博物馆教育工作者和参展商为公众设计和实施技术整合探究活动的能力。合作者包括探索博物馆、麻省理工学院媒体实验室、明尼苏达科学博物馆、沃斯堡科学与历史博物馆、探索科学中心和阿尔伯克基儿童博物馆。可交付成果包括一系列技术丰富的活动、专业发展机构、在线教育资源和面向博物馆教育工作者的教学设计原则手册。这个项目建立在先前NSF支持的PIE网络开发工作的基础上，PIE网络开发了“蟋蟀”，这是一种廉价的计算机，使非正式的学习探究活动更加引人注目。这个项目有可能对博物馆非正式科学教育的理论和实践产生影响。它将采用新的理论和工具，代表了一种新的方法，通过游戏和实验来吸引和支持游客的学习体验，这反映了实验室调查的过程。它还提供了一种创新的合作模式，通过将具有独特和互补专业知识的科学中心聚集在一起，开发和实施一个重大的复杂项目。

The "Playful Invention and Exploration (PIE) Institute" is a three-year project to increase the capacity of museum educators and exhibitors to design and implement technology-integrated inquiry activities for the public. The collaborators include the Exploratorium, MIT Media Lab, Science Museum of Minnesota, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Explora Science Center and the Children's Museum of Albuquerque. The deliverables include a portfolio of technology-rich activities, professional development institutes, online educator resources and a handbook of pedagogical design principles for museum educators. This project builds upon prior NSF supported work that developed the PIE Network, which among other things developed the "cricket," an inexpensive computer that makes informal learning inquiry activities more compelling. This project has the potential to impact both the theory and practice of informal science education in museums. It will implement new theories and tools that represent a new approach to engaging and supporting visitors' learning experiences using play and experimentation that mirrors the processes of laboratory investigation. It also provides an innovative model of collaboration that develops and implements a major complex project by bringing together science centers with unique and complementary expertise.