Learning About Evolution in an Informal Setting: Implications for Lifelong Learning

Based on an ongoing study that investigated how families use an interactive and media-based exhibition on pre-evolutionary concepts, and how adults and children learned from their experiences in the museum, this presentation will explore strategies for lifelong learning opportunities to improve evolution literacy in the general public that are afforded by informal settings. Focusing on ideas of choice and control, and notions of personal relevance and situated identity, we will discuss how informal or free-choice learners may approach and subsequently engage with complex scientific topics such as evolution. This presentation builds on a broad understanding of informal learning that suggests multiple entry points to engage learners, appreciates the highly social nature that underlies much of informal learning, and that is built on lifelong learning pathways in which learners repeatedly revisit a subject matter. A recent report on informal learning by the National Research Council defined six interwoven “strands” or objectives for science learning: Sparking interest and excitement; understanding scientific content and knowledge; engaging in scientific reasoning; reflecting on science; using the tools and language of science; and identifying with the scientific enterprise. These six strands outline what learners do when learning science as well as what it means to become proficient in science. They serve as guidelines for developing effective informal science education experiences that are of relevance to informal evolution education as well. Research results indicate that individual informal science learning experiences do not have to convey a whole or even entirely correct scientific explanation of a complex phenomenon, so long as the learner has been moved along a path of awareness and understanding that is likely to lead to further engagement, questioning, and revisiting of prior knowledge in light of new evidence.