Designers as brokers : the development of field trip programs at three informal science institutions
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Field trips represent potentially powerful bridges between formal and informal science education. This study investigates the work of designing and developing school field trip programs at informal science institutions (ISIs). Using a model of innovation through "knowledge brokering" (Hargadon, 2002), comparative case studies were conducted at three California ISIs: Monterey Bay Aquarium, California Academy of Sciences, and Marine Science Institute. Knowledge brokering describes a process of learning about existing resources in disparate social domains and recombining these resources into innovative solutions. At each ISI, the work of one field trip program designer was investigated through interviews, resource mapping exercises, materials gathering, and observations. Across cases, program designers used knowledge of science content, objects, learning theories, institutional context, and their audience's needs and motivations. Working in their different institutional contexts, designers experienced different opportunities, supports, and challenges around knowledge brokering. Knowledge brokering occurred to the greatest extent in the case of the Aquarium designer; the Academy designer encountered some obstacles, many of which were related to a major institutional transition; and the Institute designer, working at a small institution with comparably fewer resources, had limited opportunities to broker knowledge from disparate domains of expertise. Although it was a useful conceptual lens, issues related to thresholds for evidence and multiple levels of analysis presented challenges in applying the knowledge brokering model to the realm of field trip design. This research urges study of how to support the work of informal science educators who, in designing these programs, shape the type and quality of experiences that are possible for learners.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Fu, Alice Chun Chien |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Education. |
| Primary advisor | Shavelson, Richard J, 1942- |
| Thesis advisor | Shavelson, Richard J, 1942- |
| Thesis advisor | Ardoin, Nicole M. (Nicole Michele) |
| Thesis advisor | Osborne, Jonathan |
| Advisor | Ardoin, Nicole M. (Nicole Michele) |
| Advisor | Osborne, Jonathan |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Alice Chun Chien Fu. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the School of Education. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 2011. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2011 by Alice Chun Chien Fu
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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