Informal science education (ISE) venues such as zoos, nature centers, parks, and natural history museums play a critical role in allowing the general public to learn scientific concepts (National Research Council, 2009; 2010). Most adult learning of scientific concepts takes place outside of classrooms and away from work (Rennie and Williams,…

Behavioral research supports informal education as fundamental to lifelong learning and responsible for much of what we know. Such learning occurs outside of formal schooling through venues such as the Internet, libraries, museums and planetariums. Unrestricted by the regulations of formal institutions, informal education can respond more quickly,…

The author, who has been a personal trainer for the past ten years, recently realized that all fitness centers are not equal. In February, he was able to participate in the grand opening of the Center for Independent Living of Central PA (CILCP), a fitness center that is designed to accommodate persons with disabilities living in the Central…

This paper describes the results of a qualitative analysis of video captured during a dual indoor/outdoor Augmented Reality experience. Augmented Reality is the layering of virtual information on top of the physical world. This Augmented Reality experience asked students to interact with the San Diego Museum of Art and the Botanical Gardens in San…

This article uses photographs as a springboard for mathematical inquiry to encourage readers to see patterns and relationships that they can think about and extend in a mathematically playful way. Herein, two photographs are presented along with a discussion of the meaning of slopes and their relationship to gradient and pitch. (Contains 6…

This study explored young children's understandings of targeted lunar concepts, including when the moon can be observed, observable lunar phase shapes, predictable lunar patterns, and the cause of lunar phases. Twenty-one children (ages 7-9 years) from a multi-aged, self-contained classroom participated in this study. The instructional…

This article features Sesame Place, the nation's only theme park based entirely on the award-winning television program "Sesame Street" located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Arranged through the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of Variety--The Children's Charity, Sesame Place has hosted over 200,000 guests associated with Variety and…

Research demonstrates that student engagement supports academic success (Kuh, 2001). Engagement is broader than the amount of time and effort that students devote to their studies. University curriculum, allocation of resources, educationally purposeful activities, and support services also facilitate the student experience and outcomes. Leaders…

The goal of the CAISE "Policy Study Inquiry Group" (PSIG) was to inventory and comment on policies (current or potential, organizational or governmental, explicit or implicit) which affect the capacity of informal science education to have an impact. This group represented a cross-section of organizations and entities that touch upon or…

To better understand key physical education program factors and policies that may affect Texas students' physical fitness, a 39-question survey, administered as part of the Texas Youth Fitness Study (TYFS), was sent to 5,651 Texas schools via e-mail. The survey consisted of five sections: (a) demographics, (b) physical education/recess frequency…

Lots of learning takes place in gymnasiums. A teacher's job is to direct that learning and funnel it toward what the profession deems important. This requires teachers to have a sound understanding of what constitutes learning and how learning is observable beyond the movement product. This article aims to make research-based best practices…

This study examined the relationship of student use of campus recreation facilities (CRFs) with retention and graduation rates at a large, public, Midwestern Carnegie doctoral-extensive university. Tinto's interactionalist theory of student departure provided the conceptual framework. An extensive review of the literature on the relationship…

Background: The implementation of service-learning as a teaching and learning method has been well grounded in education, yet the discipline of physical education teacher education (PETE) has been slow to establish itself in this experiential learning paradigm. This study examined the role that service-learning plays in teacher candidates'…

As a fourth-grade science teacher, the author wanted a project that was (a) yearlong in scope, (b) got her students outside more, and (c) laid the groundwork for a learning progression. In this article, she describes a project in which her fourth-grade students created digital field guides for visitors to their school's nature trail. In the…

This study explores how activities developed by science experts in partnership with middle school teachers were employed and interpreted. The goals of this partnership were to (a) help the science teacher meet earth science content standards in new ways, (b) expose students to "real world" experiences outside their school setting, and…