The Lawrence Hall of Science

The public science center of the University of California, Berkeley.

Science Learning

Sunstones at The Lawrence

Peaks and Valleys: A landscape study of environmental literacy implementation in and out of California’s TK-12 classrooms
Children playing on the DNA sculpture at the Lawrence

A review of augmented reality for informal science learning: Supporting design of intergenerational group learning

Designing for and facilitating intergenerational group learning is an important objective of informal science institutions as most visitors in those settings engage with scientific thinking in the context of a group. New, deeply engaging, and interactive technologies such augmented reality (AR) have been shown to have positive outcomes in educational settings, but their implications have yet to be investigated for the purpose of intergenerational group learning design.

Two children and a staff member are working together during a science activity.

Scientific sensemaking supports science content learning across disciplines and instructional contexts

Science consists of a body of knowledge and a set of processes by which the knowledge is produced. Although these have traditionally been treated separately in science instruction, there has been a shift to an integration of knowledge and processes, or set of practices, in how science should be taught and assessed. We explore whether a general overall mastery of the processes drives learning in new science content areas and if this overall mastery can be improved through engaged science learning.

The Lawrence Hall of Science

How science learning activation enables success for youth in science learning experiences

Expanding on recent advances in science education, cognitive and social psychology, and sociocultural studies, the paper explores a construct called science learning activation and a theoretical framework that describes the characteristics, function, and impact of this construct. Authors define science learning activation as a set of dispositions, skills, and knowledge that commonly enable success in proximal science learning experiences and are in turn influenced by these successes.