Free Choice Learning: Accessing the Informal Science Education Infrastructure

[9803102]福克科学学习公司将计划并开展一个为期两天的会议，该会议将把研究人员、实践者和政策制定者聚集在一起，努力寻求更好地理解非正式科学教育基础设施的运作。作为定义和理解非正式科学教育基础设施在促进公众理解科学方面的作用的开创性事件，会议与会者将更好地定义和描述非正式科学教育基础设施，听取关于检查非正式科学教育基础设施的性质和功能的研究，了解与此问题相关的其他领域的研究模式。展望未来，提出更好地理解这一基础设施的研究和方法。这是为洛杉矶加州科学中心进行的一项为期十年的研究的结果，该研究着眼于主要城市科学中心对其社区的影响。这次会议将与1998年5月的美国博物馆协会年会同时举行。参加者须申请出席；预计将选出大约100人。会议记录将在会后出版并广泛传播。它将包括在会议上提交的九份正式文件，以及小组会议和结论的摘要。詹姆斯·欧文基金会和加州科学中心将为本次会议提供额外的支持。

9803102 Falk Science Learning, Inc. will plan and carryout a tow day conference that will bring together researchers, practitioners and policy makers in an effort to seek to better understand the workings of the informal science education infrastructure. Being promoted as a seminal event for defining and understanding the role of informal science education infrastructure in facilitating public understanding of science, conference participants will better define and delineate the informal science education infrastructure, hear about studies examining the nature and function of the informal science education infrastructure, learn about research models in other fields that are related to this question, and look toward the future by proposing studies and approaches to understanding this infrastructure even better. This is an outgrowth of a projected ten-year research study conducted for LA's California Science Center looking at the impact of a major urban science center on its community. This conference will be held in association with the May, 1998 annual meting of the American Association of Museums. Participants will apply to attend; it is anticipated that approximately 100 individuals will be selected. The conference proceedings will be published and broadly dissemination after the conference. It will include the nine formal papers presented at the conference along with summaries of the small groups' sessions and conclusion. The James Irvine Foundation and the California Science Center will provide additional support for this conference.