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

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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.

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Notes

  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 organized 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 organized educational activities (as in the case of educational programmes in museums or programmes that are organized between school and museum).

  2. Lewis Evans (1853–1930) was a collector, brother of the notable archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans, who excavated the Palace of Knosos, Crete (Greece). See also P. de Clercq (2000). 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. 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.

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Correspondence to Dimitris Koliopoulos.

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Filippoupoliti, A., Koliopoulos, D. Informal and Non-formal Education: An Outline of History of Science in Museums. Sci & Educ 23, 781–791 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-014-9681-2

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