What is informal science education?
Informal science education supports people of all ages and walks of life in exploring science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
"Much of what people know about science is learned informally. Education policy-makers should take note," according to an editorial in the April 8 issue of Nature. Citing the influence of federal agencies like the National Science Foundation and NASA (and mentioning the founding of CAISE in 2007), the editorial notes that "evidence strongly suggests that most of what the general public knows about science is picked up outside school, through such things as television programmes, websites, magazine articles, visits to zoos and museums—and even through such hobbies as gardening and birdwatching." While the process is "patchy, ad hoc, and at the mercy of individual whim," it is also "pervasive, cumulative, and often much more effective at getting people excited about science," the editorial concludes. Furthermore, "Most of the necessary infrastructure is already in place."
What are the implications? "Striking the right balance between formal and informal science education will never be easy, but the answer is not to focus exclusively on the small fraction of people's lives spent in school. Policy-makers need to start looking at alternative models."
The full editorial is available here.
But so too should leaders of research universities, those bastions of formal education that, ironically, also serve as major venues and providers of informal science learning. Furthermore, informal science learning is ripe for investments in organizational infrastructure that will make research campuses into what my colleague Ken Smith calls "Destinations for Exploration" where visitors can science as exploring the unknown, within a community of researchers.
So what can research universities do to advance informal science learning?
For starters, focus on the learner: universities can reconsider how they organize their science outreach enterprises and re-assess how well they welcome visitors of all ages. While research universities are amazing places, they often are daunting mazes for visitors seeking to connect to resources in science. As the Smithsonian's visitor website (si.edu/visit) shows, thoughtful and institution-wide synergy can enhance hospitality while increasing visitor access to widely-scattered venues and programs.
Second, research universities can work to their strength: people. While museums can offer interactive scientific exhibits, universities are uniquely positioned to offer interactions with scientists. Grad students, post-docs, staff, faculty, and retirees all can play vibrant roles in engaging the public.
Third, universities should treat taxpayers as the patrons and partners in discovery that they are. Research universities are big enterprises. For example, in the US in 2008, 51 universities had R&D budgets in excess of $350 million each; 131 institutions exceeded $100 million (http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10311/pdf/tab27.pdf). The total R&D budget for all US universities came to $51.9 billion, with $31.2 billion from the federal government and $3.42 billion from state funds (http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10311/pdf/tab1.pdf). Put another way, taxpayers are the patrons for 2/3 of all university research in science in the US.
If researchers at universities do our part to advance informal science learning, then we all will be in a better position to ask education policy-makers to do theirs.