1. Balacheff N., Ludvigsen · S., de Jong T., Lazonder A, Barnes S. (Editors), (2009) Technology-Enhanced Learning Vedere libro in pdf.[ BalacheffLudvigsende JongLazonderBarnes10.1007_978-1-4020-9827-7Libro]

2. Michael Eraut (2004) Informal learning in the workplace, Studies in Continuing Education, 26:2, 247-273, DOI: 10.1080/158037042000225245AbstractThis paper focuses mainly on theoretical frameworks for understanding and investigating informal

learning in the workplace, which have been developed through a series of large- and small-scaleprojects. The main conclusions are included but readers are referred to other publications for moredetailed accounts of individual projects. Two types of framework are discussed. The ®rst groupseeks to deconstruct the `key concepts' of informal learning, learning from experience, tacitknowledge, transfer of learning and intuitive practice to disclose the range of different phenomenathat are embraced by these popular terms. The second group comprises frameworks for addressingthe three central questions that pervaded the research programme: what is being learned, how is itbeing learned and what are the factors that in¯uence the level and directions of the learning effort?

3. García-Peñalvo F.J., Johnson M., Alves G.R., Minović M., Conde-González M.A. (2014). Informal learning recognition through a cloud ecosystem, Future Generation Computer Systems 32, 282–294.

AstractLearning and teaching processes, like all human activities, can be mediated through the use of tools. Information and communication technologies are now widespread within education. Their use in the daily life of teachers and learners affords engagement with educational activities at any place and time and not necessarily linked to an institution or a certificate. In the absence of formal certification, learning under these circumstances is known as informal learning. Despite the lack of certification, learning with technology in this way presents opportunities to gather information about and present new ways of exploiting an individual’s learning. Cloud technologies provide ways to achieve this through new architectures, methodologies, and workflows that facilitate semantic tagging, recognition, and acknowledgment of informal learning activities. The transparency and accessibility of cloud services mean that institutions and learners can exploit existing knowledge to their mutual benefit. The TRAILER project facilitates this aim byproviding a technological framework using cloud services, a workflow, and a methodology. The services facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge associated with informal learning activities ranging from the use of social software through widgets, computer gaming, and remote laboratory experiments. Data from these activities are shared among institutions, learners, and workers. The project demonstrates the possibility of gathering information related to informal learning activities independently of the context or tools used to carry them out.

4. Sommerauer P., Müller O. (2014). Augmented reality in informal learning environments: A field experiment in a mathematics exhibition, Computers & Education 79, 59-68.

AbstractRecent advances in mobile technologies (esp., smartphones and tablets with built-in cameras, GPS and Internet access) made augmented reality (AR) applications available for the broad public. While many researchers have examined the affordances and constraints of AR for teaching and learning, quantitative evidence for its effectiveness is still scarce. To contribute to filling this research gap, we designed and conducted a pretesteposttest crossover field experiment with 101 participants at a mathematics exhibition to measure the effect of AR on acquiring and retaining mathematical knowledge in an informal learning environment. We hypothesized that visitors acquire more knowledge from augmented exhibits than from exhibits without AR. The theoretical rationale for our hypothesis is that AR allows for the efficient and effective implementation of a subset of the

design principles defined in the cognitive theory of multimedia learning. The empirical results we obtained show that museum visitors performed significantly better on knowledge acquisition and retention tests related to augmented exhibits than to non-augmented exhibits and that they perceived AR as a valuable and desirable add-on for museum exhibitions.

5. Sutherland R., Lindstr¨om B. and Lahn L. (2009) Sociocultural Perspectiveson Technology-Enhanced Learning and Knowing, in Nicolas Balacheff · Sten Ludvigsen · Ton de Jong ·Ard Lazonder · Sally Barnes (Editors), Technology-Enhanced Learning, Chap. 3, pp.39-53, Springer Science+Business Media B.V.Abstract During the last decades the sociocultural approach to studying learningand knowing has been raised as an alternative to more cognitive approaches tobecome a vivid research tradition with many branches. Sociocultural theorizingand thinking have played an important part in contemporary educational researchand educational psychological research in general and also in the research areaof technology-enhanced learning (TEL). This is witnessed by the content of thehandbooks in the field (see for example, Handbook of Educational Psychology(Alexander & Winne, 2006) and Handbook of Research on Educational Communicationsand Technology (Jonassen, 2004)). This chapter aims to provide an outlineof foundational ideas in sociocultural theorizing about human learning and knowing,summarizing some key sociocultural studies on TEL and illustrating key ideas withexamples of empirical research.[estratti:“Top-down influences include the school culture,subject cultures (for example, mathematics, history, science), the curriculumand the national assessment structure, which in turn are influenced by more globalinstitutions such as the OECD.1 Bottom-up influences are more informal and includeyoung people’s outside school cultures, their personal histories of learningand the teacher’s own personal history of learning.”“In this chapter we have brought to the fore some of the merits of socioculturalthinking in studies of TEL. At the same time it should be evident that there is a needto address some issues in a more concerted way: longitudinal studies of learningtrajectories within and across different institutional settings, micro-analyses of theinteraction between formal and informal processes in learning and the design ofmulti-level studies that include a dynamic dimension.3 We have also argued thata number of theoretical approaches can be subsumed under the heading sociocultural– begging for some tolerance and multi-voicedness in the “socialization” ofexperts in this community”

6. Dierking, L. D., Falk, J. H., Rennie, L., Anderson, D., & Ellenbogen, K. (2003). Policy statement of

the “informal science education” ad hoc committee. Journal of Research in Science Teaching,40, 108–111.

In the spring of 1999, the Board of the National Associ ation of Research in Science Teaching(NARST) established an Informal Science Education Ad Hoc committee, co-chaired by LynnDierking and John Falk. The Committee’s task was to focus on the organization’s positioning inregard to out-of-school science education.After 2 year s of work, the committee composed a policy statement, included below, that waspresented to, and accepted by, the NARST Board. The policy statement defines this arena ofresearch, describes a variety of out-of-school environments in which science learning occurs,identifies issues related to conducting research in this area, and makes recommendations for

building a community of researchers in this field and for facilitating opportunities for collaborativeinitiatives with other research areas in NARST.

7. Lelliott, A. (2007). Using personal meaning mapping to gather data on school visits to science centres.

In G. N. Vavoula, A. Kukulska-Hulme & N. Pachler (Eds.), Proceedings of the WorkshopResearch Methods in Informal and Mobile Learning (pp. 85–90). London: WLE Centre.

There are a number of difficulties in assessing the outcomes of informaland mobile learning. In formal learning situations there is normally a clearteaching activity involving specific objectives which can be assessed priorto and after the intervention. These do not necessarily apply in informalsituations such as museum1 visits (Hein, 1998), and with a shift towardsmore constructivist learning in these contexts, new techniques are worthinvestigating. Personal Meaning Mapping (PMM) is a variation of conceptmapping developed by John Falk, of the Institute for Learning Innovation,Maryland, USA (Falk, 2003) for use in informal learning environments.While concept mapping requires the technique to be taught to learners,PMM can be used with no prior experience on the part of the learner, andhas uses both within and outside the classroom, thus providing a usefultechnique for assessing learning in informal and mobile learning environments.This chapter is based on an empirical study of school groups visitingan astronomical observatory in Gauteng, South Africa (Lelliott, 2007). Thedata collection involved structured interviews with students on astronomyconcepts such as stars, the Sun and gravity, the students drawing PersonalMeaning Maps as well as interviews based on their Maps. The chapter providesan account of a useful technique for data collection which is availableto both practitioners and researchers of informal and mobile learning, andwhich can be carried out with the simple tools of pen and paper.

8. Sørensen B. H.& Danielsen O.& Nielsen J. (2007) Children’s informal learning in the context of schools of the knowledge society, Educ. Inf. Technol. (2007) 12, 17–27. DOI 10.1007/s10639-006-9019-z

AbstractAbstract This paper builds on a key finding of a 5-year Danish research project concerningchildren in the 7 to 15 age group: children’s principal use of computers and theinternet takes place in their spare time, and it is during their spare time that the majority ofchildren really learn how to use interactive media. The project shows that in children’sspare-time use of ICT they employ informal forms of learning based to a large extent ontheir social interaction both in physical and virtual spaces. These informal learning formscan be identified as learning hierarchies, learning communities and learning networks; theyare important contributions to the school of the knowledge society. The ICT in NewLearning Environments project based on anthropologically inspired methods and sociallearning theories shows that students bring their informal forms of learning into the schoolcontext. This happens particularly when the school has undergone physical alterations andwhen its organisation of learning and teaching are also restructured, with project-basedlearning becoming an important part of the school work and with the media available in thelearning environment. Using organisation theory, the school working with ICT and projectbasedlearning is shown to simultaneously constitute a mixed mode between the school ofthe industrial and the knowledge society. The research shows that it is possible to tip thebalance in the direction of the school of the knowledge society, and thus of the future, by

comprehensively using ICT and project work in the day-to-day activities of the school,alongside and integrated with the traditional forms of learning, and not least by employingthe informal learning processes children develop outside school. For teachers this will meanan extension of their function: no longer merely communicators of knowledge, they willhave to become knowledge managers and overall leaders of projects, and this entails muchmore dialogue with the pupils.

9. Lucas M. and Moreira A. (2009) Bridging Formal and Informal Learning – A Case Study on Students’Perceptions of the Use of Social Networking Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325-

In Ulrike Cress Vania Dimitrova, Marcus Specht (Eds.), Learning in the Synergyof Multiple Disciplines, Springer, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Abstract. Social networking tools have been enthusiastically heralded as ameans to support different learning types and innovative pedagogical practices.They have also been recognized as potential tools to promote informal learning.In this paper we describe work carried out using the synergy of social webtools, learning models and innovative pedagogical practices across a MastersDegree Course. Findings suggest that the use of these tools as a means to distributean open and flexible learning environment fosters informal interactionsand such interactions are perceived by students to have a significant impactover their formal learning outcomes.

10. Kuech R. (2004) Collaborative and Interactional Processes in an Inquiry-Based, Informal LearningEnvironment, The Journal of Classroom Interaction, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 30-41

This study was conducted on informal aspects of an inquiry-based physics course and reports findings about learning interactions and discourse observed during the first three semesters the course was offered. The course offered an alternative to the large lecture instruction typical in introductory university physics and promoted learning in an informal environment. The course organization attempted to engage students in investigations with only a small fraction of time devoted to lecture/discussion. Students collaborated in groups of three to conduct investigations with the use of computer tools and laboratory apparatus. The instructor and teaching assistants interacted directly with the students with the intent to ask probing questions to guide the students through conceptually meaningful problem solving. Researchers video taped student groups as they worked through investigations. Field notes and students' investigation reports provided additional information about student performance. The study reports detailed accounts of student interaction through discourse during the class investigations and comments on the nature of the student collaborations. The study showed that during collaborative problem solving, the students engaged in informal elaborative and reflective discourse that critically examined the data the students had collected during the investigations. The author comments on possible relationships of these interactions and cognitive processes to knowledge construction in an informal setting.

11. Edvige Schettino ( ) The Scientific Historical Heritage in the Physics Museum of the University of Naples

12. ALSOP S., WATTS M. (1997) Sources from a Somerset Village: A Model for Informal Learning about Radiation and Radioactivity, Science Education, 81 (6), 633–650.

ABSTRACT: Much of the work on conceptual change in the learning of science has focused onthe cognitive domain—the factors influencing and underwriting the knowledge required bylearners. Many researchers have used the model developed by Strike and Posner who suggestthat conceptual change will only take place when the subject matter to be learned is seen by thelearner to be intelligible, plausible, and fruitful. Although these are important ingredients for

learning and the later revisions of the Strike and Posner model recognize the important role ofaffective and social domains, the model, however, remains cognitive in emphasis. We build onTreagust’s development of the original Strike and Posner model. Through a series of studies setwithin informal learning contexts in the UK we argue that models of conceptual change learningshould also encompass issues of affect, conation, and self-esteem. We explain our use of theseexpressions through a range of examples, which, in this study, are drawn from four case studiesconcerning the informal learning of radiation and radioactivity within the general public. Thesecases concern members of a rural village in a geographic area in the UK that has high levels ofbackground radiation through naturally occurring radon gas. The emphasis of this work relatesto the extent to which we can use this extended model of conceptual change learning to describethese villagers’ engagement with the science involved in a hazard in their daily lives. Our summarycomments examine the need for a greater awareness of the major components of learningin informal science. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 81:633–650, 1997.

13. Anderson D., Lucas K. B., Ginns .I.S. (2003)Theoretical Perspectives on Learning in an Informal Setting

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING VOL. 40, NO. 2, PP. 177–199.Abstract: Research into learning in informal settings such as museums has been in a formative stateduring the past decade, and much of that research has been descriptive and lacking a theory base. In this article, it is proposed that the human constructivist view of learning can guide research and assist the interpretation of research data because it recognizes an individual’s prior knowledge and active involvement in knowledge construction during a museum visit. This proposal is supported by reference to the findings of a previously reported interpretive case study, which included concept mapping and semistructured interviews, of the knowledge transformations of three Year 7 students who had participated in a class visit to a science museum and associated postvisit activities. The findings from that study are shown in this report to be consistent with the human constructivist view of learning in that for all three students, learning was found to be at times incremental and at other times to involve substantial restructuring of knowledge. Thus, we regard that the human constructivist view of learning has much merit and utility for researchers investigating the development of knowledge and understanding emergent from experiences in informal settings. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for teachers and staff of museums and similar institutions are also discussed.

14. Anderson D., Lucas K.B. (1997) The Effectiveness of Orienting Students to the Physical Features of a Science Museum Prior to Visitation, Research in Science Education, 1997, 27(4), 485-495

AbstractThis paper reports on a study in the area of informal science education in the contexts of sciencemuseums. The research focused upon two areas: first, perceived novelty and its effect oncognitive leahaing in year eight students visiting an interactive science museum; second, the linksbetween exhibits which were most frequently recalled and exhibits which students later recalledas being interesting and.puzzling. Results on a post-test of cognitive learning of concepts andprinciples associated with the exhibits suggested that students who underwent novelty reducingpre-orientation to the physical environment and had prior visitation experience learned more thantheir counterparts. Gender did not influence learning when perceived novelty level and priorexposure were considered. Furthermore, the most frequently recalled exhibits shared acombination of characteristics such as large physical size, prominence in the exhibit galleries, andthe diversity of sensory modes that they employed. Finally, it appears that cognitive learning islikely to occur for exhibits which are most memorable.

15. Giasemi N.Vavoula, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Norbert PachlerResearch Methods in Informal and Mobile LearningBook of AbstractsWLE Centre

16. BOYER L., ROTH W.-M.(2006) Learning and Teaching as Emergent Features of Informal Settings: An Ethnographic Study in an Environmental Action Group, SCIENCE Education, DOI 10.1002/sce, pp.1028-1049

ABSTRACT: Around the world, many people concerned with the state of the environmentparticipate in environmental action groups. Much of their learning occurs informally,simply by participating in the everyday, ongoing collective life of the chosen group. Suchsettings provide unique opportunities for studying how people learn science in complexsettings without being directly instructed. This study was designed to investigate learningand teaching that occurs through ordinary, everyday participation in environmental action.We draw on data collected during a 2-year ethnographic study of a coast-wide eelgrassmappingproject. Taking a whole activity as our unit of analysis, we articulate the formsof participation that volunteers take and theorize learning in terms of changing participationand expanding opportunities for action. The community-based eelgrass stewardshipgroup we studied is both socially and materially heterogeneous, made up of people youngand old and with different expertise. We show that changing forms of participation areemergent features of unfolding sociomaterial inter-action, not determinate roles or rules.

17. M.J. Cox (2012)Formal to informal learning with IT: research challenges and issues for e-learning, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2012.00483.x.

Abstract For the purpose of clarity and consistency, the term e-learning is used throughout the paper to refer to technology-enhanced learning and information technology (IT) in teaching and learning. IT depicts computing and other IT resources. Research into e-learning has changed in focus and breadth over the last four decades as a consequence of changing technologies, and changes in educational policies and practices. Although increasing numbers of young people haveaccess to a wide range of IT technologies during their leisure activities, little is known aboutthis impact on their learning. Much of the research evidence, to date, of students’ informal usesof IT is about the frequency of use in different educational settings and the different typesof IT uses occurring among learners at school and in the home. There is little evidence of theinterrelationship between them.What makes researching e-learning so difficult is the ever-changing technology itself and theincreasing access to IT resources in informal settings, changing the balance between formal andinformal uses of e-learning. This rebalancing not only results in a wider diversification of ITuses by learners but also a greater variability in their IT literacies and unknown variables such asthe level of control of the learning activities, and contributions from third parties online. Thispaper reviews the wide range of technological and educational research changes that have takenplace over the last 40 years, the affordances these provide, and the consequent implications forresearch methods and issues regarding investigating the impact of IT on formal and informallearning. Based on this analysis, strategies are proposed to help us achieve reliable researchapproaches and methods that take account of the eclectic nature of e-learning and the growinginfluence of informal learning on e-learning in education.

18. K. Ann Renninger ( )Interest and Motivation in Informal Science LearningIn this paper, research on interest and motivation is revisited in the context ofinformal science learning (ISL) settings such as museums, out-of school or after-schoolclubs or groups, science camps, and enrichment programs1. The ISL context differs from

traditional school “cookbook” science in a number of critical ways: rather thanemphasizing science information, it is designed to engage participants in inquiryinformedand free-choice opportunities to work with authentic science2. Productiveparticipation in the ISL setting should enable the development of scientific literacy andscientific thinking (Lehrer & Schauble, 2006), although tracking and documenting suchdevelopment is not simple (Falk & Storksdieck, 2005).19. Meisner, Robin, Lehn, Dirk vom, Heath, Christian, Burch, Alex,Gammon, Ben and Reisman, Molly (2007) 'Exhibiting Performance: Co-participationin science centres and museums', International Journal of Science Education, 29:12,1531 – 1555There is a growing commitment within science centres and museums to deploy computer-basedexhibits to enhance participation and engage visitors with socio-scientific issues. As yet, however,we have little understanding of the interaction and communication that arises with and around theseforms of exhibits, and the extent to which they do indeed facilitate engagement. In this paper, weexamine the use of novel computer-based exhibits to explore how people, both alone and withothers, interact with and around the installations. The data are drawn from video-based field studiesof the conduct and communication of visitors to the Energy Gallery at London’s Science Museum.The paper explores how visitors transform their activity with and around computer-based exhibitsinto performances, and how such performances create shared experiences. It reveals how theseperformances can attract other people to become an audience to an individual’s use of the systemand subsequently sustain their engagement with both the performance and the exhibit. The observationsand findings of the study are used to reflect upon the extent to which the design of exhibitsenables particular forms of co-participation or shared experiences, and to develop design sensitivitiesthat exhibition managers and designers may consider when wishing to engender novel ways ofengagement and participation with and around computer-based exhibits.

20.Committee on Science Learning, Kindergarten throughEighth Grade, Richard A. Duschl, Heidi A.Schweingruber, and Andrew W. Shouse, Editors

Taking Science to School: Learning and TeachingScience in Grades K-8This report brings together research literatures from cognitive anddevelopmental psychology, science education, and the history and philosophyof science to synthesize what is known about how children in gradesK through 8 learn the ideas and practice of science. The resulting conclusionschallenge the science education community, writ large, to examinesome tenacious assumptions about children’s potential for learning aboutscience and, as a result, the priority of science in elementary schools. Webelieve this research synthesis and the implications from it have the potentialto change science education in fundamental ways.For example, the repeated challenge from science educators is thatscience education should be for “all” the children. This has been a difficultchallenge to meet. Although there is general agreement that all childrenwill and must learn to read, historically there has been far less agreementthat all children will and must learn science regardless of gender, race, orsocioeconomic circumstances.That issue is addressed in this report. Taking Science to School speaksin a clear, evidentiary-based voice. All young children have the intellectualcapability to learn science. Even when they enter school, young childrenhave rich knowledge of the natural world, demonstrate causal reasoning,and are able to discriminate between reliable and unreliable sources ofknowledge. In other words, children come to school with the cognitivecapacity to engage in serious ways with the enterprise of science.

21. Michael D. Enos, Marijke Thamm Kehrhahn, Alexandra Bell (2003 )

Informal Learning and the Transfer of Learning: HowManagers Develop Proficiency,HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, vol. 14, no. 4, Winter 2003Copyright © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.AbstractThis study examined how the extent to which managers engaged in informallearning, perceptions of support in the transfer environment, and level ofmanagerial proficiency related to transfer of learning in twenty coremanagerial skills. The results suggested that informal learning ispredominantly a social process and that managers with high levels ofproficiency who experience low levels of coworker, supervisor, and organizationalsupport learn managerial skills mostly from informal learningand transfer learning more frequently. New perspectives are offered onthe interrelationshipbetween informal learning and transfer of learning, therole of metacognition and self-regulation in informal learning, andthe influence of informal learning in the development of managerialproficiency.

22 JOHN FALK, MARTIN STORKSDIECK (2005)Using the Contextual Model of Learning to Understand VisitorLearning from a Science Center Exhibition, Sci Ed 89:744– 778.

AbstractFalk and Dierking’s Contextual Model of Learning was used as a theoreticalconstruct for investigating learning within a free-choice setting. A review of previousresearch identified key variables fundamental to free-choice science learning. The studysought to answer two questions: (1) How do specific independent variables individuallycontribute to learning outcomes when not studied in isolation? and (2) Does the ContextualModel of Learning provide a useful framework for understanding learning from museums?A repeated measure design including interviews and observational and behavioral measureswas used with a random sample of 217 adult visitors to a life science exhibition at a majorscience center. The data supported the contention that variables such as prior knowledge,interest, motivation, choice and control, within and between group social interaction, orientation,advance organizers, architecture, and exhibition design affect visitor learning. Allof these factors were shown to individually influence learning outcomes, but no single factorwas capable of adequately explaining visitor learning outcomes across all visitors. Theframework provided by the Contextual Model of Learning proved useful for understandinghow complex combinations of factors influenced visitor learning. These effects wereclearerest when visitors were segmented by entry conditions such as prior knowledge andinterest.

23. Brian L. Gerber , Anne M.L. Cavallo & Edmund A. Marek (2001) Relationshipsamong informal learning environments, teaching procedures and scientific reasoning ability,International Journal of Science Education, 23:5, 535-549

AbstractInformal learning experiences have risen to the forefront of science education as being beneficial tostudents’ learning. However, it is not clear in what ways such experiences may be beneficial to students;nor how informal learning experiences may interface with classroom science instruction. This studyaims to acquire a better understanding of these issues by investigating one aspect of science learning,scientific reasoning ability, with respect to the students’ informal learning experiences and classroomscience instruction. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to investigate possible differences instudents’ scientific reasoning abilities relative to their informal learning environments (impoverished,enriched), classroom teaching experiences (non-inquiry, inquiry) and the interaction of these variables.The results of two-way ANOVAs indicated that informal learning environments and classroom scienceteaching procedures showed significant main effects on students’ scientific reasoning abilities. Studentswith enriched informal learning environments had significantly higher scientific reasoning abilitiescompared to those with impoverished informal learning environments. Likewise, students in inquirybasedscience classrooms showed higher scientific reasoning abilities compared to those in non-inquiryscience classrooms. There were no significant interaction effects. These results indicate the need forincreased emphases on both informal learning opportunities and inquiry-based instruction in science.

JANETTE GRIFFIN (2004) Research on Students andMuseums: Looking More Closelyat the Students in School Groups, Sci Ed 88(Suppl. 1):S59– S70, 2004ABSTRACT: This paper surveys research over the past decade on school group visitsto museums. By shifting attention to students’ views about field trips, to their sociallynegotiated learning behaviors during field trips and the interaction between learning in theclassroom and in the museum, this research has afforded a deeper understanding of thenature of learning in these contexts. This paper explores these aspects through a look atwhat the literature tells us about the similarities and differences between how families andstudents learn in museums, then investigates this further through the voices of adults andstudents in museums. The impact of the valuing and definition of learning in museumsby students and teachers leads to discussion of boundary crossings between museums andschools.

Annemarieke Hoekstra , Douwe Beijaard , Mieke Brekelmans & FredKorthagen (2007) Experienced teachers’ informal learning from classroom teaching, Teachers andTeaching, 13:2, 191-208AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to explore how experienced teachers learn informally, and more specifically,how they learn through the activities they undertake when teaching classes. Regarding theseactivities we studied four aspects: behaviour, cognition, motivation and emotion. During one year,data were collected through observations of and interviews with four experienced teachers. For theanalysis we used Eraut’s distinction into three types of learning which differ in the degree ofconsciousness that is involved. We found several activities that represented each of these types oflearning. The findings demonstrate how cognitive, affective, motivational and behavioural aspectsare interrelated in classroom teaching and that learning from classroom teaching occurs at severallevels of awareness. Hence, we argue that a theory of teacher learning should account for activitiesinvolved in the alignment of behaviour to plan and for the role of motivation and emotion. The findingssuggest that fruitful development of the quality of teaching requires more attention for the relationbetween teachers’ cognition, emotion, motivation and behaviour, and for promoting teachers’awareness of their implicit beliefs and behavioural tendencies.

Mary Leou1, Pamela Abder1, Megan Riordan1 and Uri Zoller (2006) Using ‘HOCS-Centered Learning’ as a Pathway to Promote Science Teachers’ Metacognitive Development, Research in Science Education (2006) 36: 69–84DOI: 10.1007/s11165-005-3916-9AbstractAn element of current reform in science education worldwide is the shift from the dominant traditionalalgorithmic lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS) teaching, to the higher-order cognitive skills(HOCS)-promoting learning; that is, the development of students’ capabilities including those ofquestion asking (QA), critical/system thinking (CST), decision making (DM), problem solving (PS),

conceptualisation of fundamental concepts (CFC) and the transfer of these within both the sciencedisciplines and real life interdisciplinary situations. Accordingly, an innovative metacognitionpromotingscience teacher professional development course, integrating formal and informal scienceeducation, was developed and implemented within a traditional model, focusing on the HOCS skillsof QA, PS, and CFC. The HOCS promoting teaching and assessment strategies of this course notonly enabled participants to reflect on their own learning, but also facilitated their self-reflectiveassessment, utilising a pre–post designed research-based methodology. The results suggest that such,or similarly appropriate, metacognition-oriented courses can contribute positively to the developmentof science teachers’ HOCS capability.

Clare Madge , Julia Meek , Jane Wellens & Tristram Hooley (2009) Facebook,social integration and informal learning at university: ‘It is more for socialising and talking to friendsabout work than for actually doing work’, Learning, Media and Technology, 34:2, 141-155, DOI:10.1080/1743988090292360

AbstractWhilst recent studies suggest that over 95% of British undergraduate students areregularly using social networking sites, we still know very little about how thisphenomenon impacts on the student experience and, in particular, how itinfluences students’ social integration into university life. This paper explores howpre-registration engagement with a university Facebook network influencesstudents’ post-registration social networks. Research was conducted with first yearundergraduates at a British university using an online survey. Students reportedthat they specifically joined Facebook pre-registration as a means of making newfriends at university, as well as keeping in touch with friends and family at home.The survey data also illustrate that once at university, Facebook was part of the‘social glue’ that helped students settle into university life. However, care must betaken not to over-privilege Facebook: it is clearly only one aspect of students’more general social networking practices and face-to-face interrelationships andinteractions remain important. Students thought Facebook was used mostimportantly for social reasons, not for formal teaching purposes, although it wassometimes used informally for learning purposes.

Philip Bell, Bruce Lewenstein, Andrew W. Shouse, and Michael A. Feder,Editors (2009), Committee on Learning Science in Informal Environments,National Research CouncilLearning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places, and PursuitsISBN 978-0-309-11955-9, 352 pages, 7 x 10, HARDBACK (2009)Science is shaping people’s lives in fundamental ways. Individuals,groups, and nations increasingly seek to bolster scientific capacity in thehope of promoting social, material, and personal well-being. Efforts to enhancescientific capacity typically target schools and focus on such strategiesas improving science curriculum and teacher training and strengthening thescience pipeline. What is often overlooked or underestimated is the potentialfor science learning in nonschool settings, where people actually spend themajority of their time.Beyond the schoolhouse door, opportunities for science learning abound.Each year, tens of millions of Americans, young and old, explore and learnabout science by visiting informal learning institutions, participating in programs,and using media to pursue their interests. Thousands of organizationsdedicate themselves to developing, documenting, and improving sciencelearning in informal environments for learners of all ages and backgrounds.They include informal learning and community-based organizations, libraries,schools, think tanks, institutions of higher education, government agencies,private companies, and philanthropic foundations. Informal environmentsinclude a broad array of settings, such as family discussions at home, visits tomuseums, nature centers, or other designed settings, and everyday activitieslike gardening, as well as recreational activities like hiking and fishing, andparticipation in clubs. Virtually all people of all ages and backgrounds engage

in activities that can support science learning in the course of daily life.[vedere anche il resto]

Oblinger (2005) leading the transition from classroom to learning spaces, Educause quarterly, 1.

Heather L. Ainsworth, M.Sc. and Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D. (2010)Editor: Jacquelyn ClydesdaleFormal, Non-formal and Informal Learning in the SciencesThis research report investigates the links between formal, non-formal and informallearning and the differences between them. In particular, the report aims to link thesenotions of learning to sciences and engineering in Canada and the United States.Philosophical underpinnings of this research are:• There is value in learning of all kinds.• Learning is a lifelong endeavour.• An interdisciplinary approach is valuable.

Notions of formal, non-formal and informal learning may be briefly outlined as:(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development / Organisation de Coopération et de DéveloppementEconomiques (OECD), n.d.; Werquin, 2007)Examples are given for each of these types of learning in different scientific contexts,including basic scientific literacy at one end of the scale and professional organizations atthe other end of the scale.Formal learning This type of learning is intentional, organized and structured.Formal learning opportunities are usually arranged byinstitutions. Often this type of learning is guided by acurriculum or other type of formal program.Non-formal learning This type of learning may or may not be intentional or arrangedby an institution, but is usually organized in some way, even ifit is loosely organized. There are no formal credits granted innon-formal learning situations.Informal learning This type of learning is never organized. Rather than beingguided by a rigid curriculum, it is often thought of experientialand spontaneous.

Mike Sharples, Inmaculada Arnedillo-S´anchez, Marcelo Milrad and Giasemi Vavoula (2009)Mobile LearningSmall Devices, Big IssuesIn N. Balacheff et al. (eds.), Technology-Enhanced Learning,DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-9827-7 14, C _ Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009

Tali Tal, Orly Morag (2007) School Visits to Natural History Museums: Teaching or Enriching?, JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING VOL. 44, NO. 5, PP. 747–769 (2007)Abstract: This article describes a 3-year study of school visits to four natural history museums andaddresses the research agenda with regard to out-of-school learning. More specifically, the findings focus onthe process of learning in museums. Comprehensive data collection allowed for an analysis of patterns ofguided visits, the way the scientific content was conveyed to students, and the extent and types of socialinteractions thus enabled. Observations of 42 guided visits (grades 3–11) indicates that the main visitationpattern consisted of guide-centered and task-oriented activity. Analysis of questions asked by museumguides reveals that most of these questions required mainly lower-order thinking skills. A commonquestioning pattern was to ask rhetorical questions as a means of carrying on the lecture. Detailed analysisof the scientific vocabulary used by the guides indicates that they used much scientific jargon, with limitedexplanation. There was only limited social mediation provided by teachers and museum guides. A minorityof teachers were involved in the activities or in helping the guide to clarify or in helping the students tounderstand the explanations. The overall data indicate limited opportunities for meaningful learning,suggesting that the museums should shift from the traditional knowledge-transmission model of teachingto a more socioculturally contextualized model.

Cross J (2003) Informal Learning – the other 80%, Internet Time Group, This paper addresses how organizations, particularly business organizations, can get more done. Workers who know more get more accomplished. People who are well connected make greater contributions than those who are not. Employees and partners with more capacity to learn are more versatile in adapting to future conditions. The people who create the most value are those who know the right people, the right stuff, and the right things to do.

It’s all a matter of learning, but it’s not the sort of learning that is the province of training departments, workshops, and classrooms. Most people in training programs learn only a little of the right stuff, are fuzzy about how to apply what they’ve learned, and never address who are the right people to know.

People learn to build the right network of associates and the right level of expertise through informal, sometimes even accidental, learning that flies beneath the corporate radar. Because organizations are oblivious to informal learning, they fail to invest in it. As a result, their execution is less than it might be.

Let’s look at what informal learning is and what to do to leverage it.

AllyBrownGreeenhow & RobeliaHopstein, RosenfeldLeeCrossShauble, Leinhardt, MartinFenichel

Some references to using toys, and discrepant events

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