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Informal and Non-formal Education: History of Science in Museums

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International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching

Abstract

Although a growing number of research articles in recent years have treated the role of informal settings in science learning, the subject of the history of science in museums and its relationship to informal and non-formal education remains less well explored. The aim of this review is to assemble the studies of history of science in science museums and explore the opportunities for the further use of the history of science in science museum education practice. Α number of mainly interdisciplinary texts from the fields of science education, history of science, scientific museology and museum education are reviewed. The review shows that the study of the role of history of science in informal and non-formal science education is heterogeneous and fragmentary. It is necessary to raise new research questions and construct new lines of research to investigate the subject in a more systematic way.

I, Clio the Renowned, eldest daughter of Mnemosyne, Muse of History, warden of memory, wish to teach men lest they neglect the past of their knowledge as of their ignorance. (Jean Marc Levy-Léblond 2012)

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the present article, the terms informal education and non-formal education are considered as distinct terms (Coombs and Ahmed 1973; Escot 1999; Eshach 2006). An informal educational process is not an organised and systematic one that occurs in different educational settings (schools, museums etc.). It is a process – quite often unintentional – offered by the personal environment of an individual. The interrelationship between the individual and the exhibition during a museum visit is a typical example of an informal educational process. In contrast, non-formal educational environments are related to autonomous cultural institutions that provide scientific knowledge, such as museums, and are environments that offer organised educational activities (as in the case of educational programmes in museums or programmes that are organised between school and museum).

  2. 2.

    Lewis Evans (1853–1930) was a collector, brother of the notable archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans, who excavated the Palace of Knossos, Crete (Greece). See also P. de Clercq, Lewis Evans and the White City Exhibitions, Sphaere. The online journal of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford, available at http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/sphaera/index.htm?issue11/articl4.

  3. 3.

    Robert Stewart Whipple (1871–1953) donated more than 1,000 scientific instruments to the University of Cambridge in 1944. See also S. De Renzi (1998). Between the market and the academy: Robert S. Whipple (1872–1953) as a collector of science books. In R. Myers and M. Harris (eds), Medicine, Mortality and the Book Trade (pp. 87–108). St. Paul’s Bibliographies: Oak Knoll Press.

  4. 4.

    Moreover, history of science as an academic discipline emerged later.

  5. 5.

    See, for example, the Nobel Museum Centennial exhibition Cultures of Creativity (Stockholm, Sweden) which examines creativity in science. Available at http://www.nobelmuseum.se/en/exhibitions/cultures-of-creativity

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  1. Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece

    Anastasia Filippoupoliti

  2. University of Patras, Patras, Greece

    Dimitris Koliopoulos

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Correspondence to Anastasia Filippoupoliti .

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  1. School of Education, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Michael R. Matthews

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Filippoupoliti, A., Koliopoulos, D. (2014). Informal and Non-formal Education: History of Science in Museums. In: Matthews, M. (eds) International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7654-8_49

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