Filter by keyword: Science education

This paper investigates and analyzes the motivations of high school women students from Campeche, Mexico, to ingress in the “Taller de Ciencia para Jóvenes Campeche” (TCJ, Science Workshop for Young People in spanish), an initiative aimed at promoting scientific careers. Using the qualitative technique of content analysis, we infer how their experience in this workshop leads them to consider a scientific career in the future.

This article shares the results of a visitors study conducted with families at Modo Escape: Solo la ciencia podrá salvarte, the educational escape room located at the Espacio Ciencia hands-on center (Montevideo, Uruguay). To collect data for the research, six families' participation in the escape room was recorded using a GoPro camera placed on the head of one of the participants. The interactions and conversations that occurred among family members were subsequently analyzed. The results show that participants spent a significant amount of time engaged in interactive activities, primarily referring to manipulation of objects. It was observed that conversations about topics related to the activity facilitated various situations of collaborative work among participants and were essential for completing the tasks before the time limit expired. Regarding the conceptual content addressed through the activities, it was evident that participants were able to understand some scientific concepts beyond just playing and having fun. We hope that this study will be of interest to anyone interested in designing and implementing educational escape rooms with scientific content.

This study maps and characterizes the presence of Brazilian Science and Technology Centers and Museums (CMCT) in the "virtual world", seeking to understand how they fit in and relate to the public in these environments. The websites and social media profiles of 185 CMCTs, selected from the guide published by the Brazilian Association of Science and Technology Museums and Centers, were explored, identifying initiatives for virtualizing collections and practices. The result was that 39% of the institutions are present in virtual environments, but this occurs in an erratic, dispersed and outdated manner, especially with limited interactivity or dialogicity.

This study presented how the exhibitions at Viera y Clavijo Botanical Garden (JBCVC), Gran Canaria, Spain, contribute to the scientific literacy of its visitors from the perspective Non-Formal Education. The presence of scientific literacy indicators at the JBCVC is evaluated using the tool developed by Marandino et al. [2018], which provides four indicators (scientific, social interface, institutional, and interaction). The results reveal that the exhibitions focus on attributes associated with the scientific indicator, with a limited presence of institutional, social, and aesthetic/affective indicators, and some recommendations are made for the environmental education process at the JBCVC.

Biodiversidade e conservação são termos muito populares que envolvem diferentes conteúdos, e cuja abordagem em contextos educativos, é desafiadora. Assumimos a importância de promover o acesso a definições e conteúdos mais complexos sobre tais temas, contribuindo para ampliar o repertório confiável de termos e de ideias multifacetadas, além de estimular o engajamento nas questões ambientais. Neste artigo discutimos a forma como esses temas são representados em duas exposições de imersão em Jardins Botânicos. Para isso, utilizamos o modelo do Discurso Pedagógico de Basil Bernstein, com ênfase à relação entre os discursos de diferentes áreas do conhecimento e/ou saberes (interdisciplinaridade). Considera-se que o maior grau de interdisciplinaridade potencializa mensagens mais multifacetadas e complexas sobre biodiversidade e conservação. Os achados revelam que a expografia exerce papel importante para a ampliação da interdisciplinaridade, bem como há importante influência do contexto de inserção e produção das exposições, contribuindo diferenciadamente para dar acesso à complexidade das ideias sobre os temas.

This article presents an analysis of activities at the Odilza Fernandes Bittar Environmental Education Center, through observation of a guided tour carried out with teachers in Campo Grande-MS, Brazil. This is a qualitative research based on the Anthropological Theory of Didactics. It highlights the integration of Science and Environmental Education knowledge into the school curriculum. The space is a valuable resource for addressing socio-environmental issues, contributing to scientific dissemination. However, it pointed out the need for planning actions with schools, due to the limited time on guided visits, which makes the approach difficult as pointed out by theoretical assumptions.

Scientific culture is expected as a result In the different modalities of science education, this is also a goal of public science communication (PSC), investigated in both cases with different theoretical and methodological approaches. Research in PSC focuses on the quality of products but in informal education it seeks to detect informal learning; both activities are also evaluable from their design, organization, mediation, etc. This article defines and delimits the members of this educational/communicative universe in science as a possible contribution to facilitate the evaluation of practice.

“Repensar los museos y centros de ciencias” es un libro escrito a varias voces bajo la coordinación de María del Carmen Sánchez Mora. Su objetivo es dar cuenta de las decisiones que se van tomando en el proceso de rediseño del museo de ciencias Universum perteneciente a la Dirección General de Divulgación de las Ciencias de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y que resultarán finalmente en su renovación.

Más allá del entretenimiento y la diversión con la ciencia y la tecnología, nuestras sociedades necesitan espacios educativos de encuentro para el diálogo y la deliberación sobre los conocimientos científicos y tecnológicos. Tales espacios podrían ser museos y centros de ciencia, siempre que logren articularse con las necesidades, situaciones y demandas sociales. Este libro nos propone re-imaginar las exposiciones y las prácticas en los museos a partir de una revisión extensa de literatura y varios estudios de caso, que muestran cómo diferentes escenarios en Brasil, Canadá y EEUU están configurando sus exposiciones para involucrar y debatir con sus públicos sobre temas controversiales a travesados por la ciencia y la tecnología.

En este artículo se presentan algunas propuestas para la capacitación de los anfitriones mediadores de museos de ciencias que se han explorado en los museos de la Dirección General de Divulgación de la Ciencia (DGDC) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) con el fin de aportar elementos para la reflexión sobre hacia donde debe ir este proceso de capacitación con base en la evolución de los museos y centros de ciencias (MCC), el papel que desempeñan en el contexto educativo, social y cultural en el que se encuentra, así como los nuevos aportes teóricos y metodológicos. Se describe cómo ha ido cambiando la concepción que se tiene del papel de los mediadores en la DGDC, los marcos teóricos que se han empleado, los perfiles que se requieren y por consiguiente cómo se han ido modificando los programas de capacitación para cumplir con estas propuestas. Finalmente, se presenta una breve discusión sobre las nuevas perspectivas en relación a la formación de los mediadores.