Deborah Corrigan Bücher

This volume considers the future of science learning - what is being learned and how it is being learned - in formal and informal contexts for science education. To do this, the book explores major contemporary shifts in the forms of science that could or should be learned in the next 20 years, what forms of learning of that science should occur, and how that learning happens, including from the perspective of learners. In particular, this volume addresses shifts in the forms of science that are researched and taught post-school – emerging sciences, new sciences that are new integrations, “futures science”, and increases in the complexity and multidisciplinarity of science, including a multidisciplinarity that embraces ways of knowing beyond science. A central aspect of this in terms of the future of learning science is the urgent need to engage students, including their non-cognitive, affective dimensions, both for an educated citizenry and for a productive response to the ubiquitous concerns about future demand for science-based professionals. Another central issue is the actual impact of ICT on science learning and teaching, including shifts in how students use mobile technology to learn science.

This book presents research involving learning opportunities that are afforded to learners of science when the focus is on linking the formal and informal science education sectors. It uses the metaphor of a "landscape" as it emphasises how the authors see the possible movement within a landscape that is inclusive of formal, informal and free-choice opportunities. The book explores opportunities to change formal school science education via perspectives and achievements from the informal and free-choice science education sector within the wider lifelong, life-wide education landscape. Additionally it explores how science learning that occurs in a more inclusive landscape can demonstrate the potential power of these opportunities to address issues of relevance and engagement that currently plague the learning of science in school settings. Combining specific contexts, case studies and more general examples, the book examines the science learning landscapes by means of the lens of an ecosystem and the case of the Synergies longitudinal research project. It explores the relationships between school and museum, and relates the lessons learned through encounters with a narwhal. It discusses science communication, school-community partnerships, socioscientific issues, outreach education, digital platforms and the notion of a learning ecology.