The role of age and gender on implementing informal and non-formal science learning activities for children

Gabriella Tisza, Sofia Papavlasopoulou, Dimitra Christidou, Iro Voulgari, Netta Iivari, Michail N. Giannakos, Marianne Kinnula, Panos Markopoulos

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

    18 Citations (Scopus)
    103 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    There is a growing number of informal and non-formal learning activities worldwide related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subject areas - particularly, those related to coding and making. To understand the general aim and content of such activities, we conducted a survey addressing highly experienced instructional designers and instructors of informal and non-formal science learning activities in nine European countries (N=128). The goal of this paper is to investigate the relation between (1) the targeted age-group and (2) the gender of the participants in these activities, and (3) the gender of the activity leader experts and (I) the content and (II) the main goal of the activity. The results show that the gender and age of the participants and the gender of the activity leader experts are associated with regards to the underlined content and the goal of the activity. We introduce the revealed patterns that describe typical goals and content in association with the participant's gender and age along with patterns between the activity leader experts' gender and the content and the main goal of the activity. We discuss the study findings in detail, their implications and their value for the informal and non-formal learning communities.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationFabLearn Europe 2019
    Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the FabLearn Europe 2019 Conference
    Place of PublicationNew York
    PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
    Number of pages9
    ISBN (Electronic)978-1-4503-6266-5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 28 May 2019
    Event4th European FabLearn Conference on Creativity and Making in Education, FabLearn Europe 2019 - Oulu, Finland
    Duration: 28 May 201929 May 2019

    Publication series

    NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series

    Conference

    Conference4th European FabLearn Conference on Creativity and Making in Education, FabLearn Europe 2019
    Country/TerritoryFinland
    CityOulu
    Period28/05/1929/05/19

    Funding

    We are grateful to the anonymous experts for their participation in this study and all the consortium members of the COMnPLAY SCIENCE project who helped during the survey design and data collection process. Special thanks to Heather King and prof. Georgios Yannakakis for their practical help when writing the paper. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement NO 787476. This paper reflects only the authors' views. The Research Executive Agency (REA) and the European Commission are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

    Keywords

    • Age
    • Coding
    • Education
    • Gender
    • Informal
    • Making
    • Non-formal
    • Play
    • Science learning
    • STEM

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