C.S.

I COLLEGE OF
EDUCATION, PARASSALA
EDU 09
THEORETICAL BASE OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE EDUCATION II

ON - LINE ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC :
INFORMAL LEARNING CONTEXTS
[UNIT :VII]
Instructional support and resource materials for teaching science

Submitted to,
Dr. Binitha Das D.B

Submitted by,

Asst. Prof. in Physical Science

Submitted on,

08/09/2015

Abeega Remya.A.D

INDEX

Content
Informal learning contexts Some informal learning contexts
* Parts and Museums
* Music Room
* Play Ground
* Historical mivements
* Planetarium
* Agency for non Conventional energy & rural technology (A
Environmental education
Biodiversity Conservation
Exilic conservation
Insitic conservation
References

Informal Learning Contexts

Informal learning is, by default, any learning that is not formal learning of nonformal learning. Informal learning is organized differently than formal and nonformal learning because it has no set objective in terms of learning outcomes and
is never intentional from the learners standpoint. Often it is referred to as learning
by experience or just as experience. For all learners this includes heuristic
language building, socialization, enculturation and play. Informal learning is a
persistent and pervasive ongoing phenomenon of learning via participation or
learning via knowledge reaction, in contrast with the traditional view of teachercentered via knowledge acquisition.

The term is often conflated, however, with non-formal learning, and self-directed
learning. It is widely used in the context of corporate training and education in
relation to return-in-investment (ROL). It is widely used when referring to science
education, in relation to citizen science, or informal science education. The
conflated meaning of informal and non-informal learning explicates mechanisms
of learning that organically occur outside the realm of traditional instructor-led
programs, e.g., reading self-selected books, participating in self-study programs,
music room, planetarium, navigating performance support materials and systems,
incidental skills practice, receptivity of coaching or mentoring, seeking advice
from peers, of participation in communities of practice, to name a few. Informal
learning occurs in community, where individuals have opportunities to observe
and participate in social activities.
Informal learning describes a lifelong process whereby individuals acquire
attitudes, values, skills and knowledge from daily experience and the educational
influences and remarket place, the library and the mass media. Informal learning is
the unofficial, unscheduled, in prompt way most of us learn to do our jobs.
Informal learning is like riding a bicycle: the rider chooses the destination and the
route. The cyclist can take a detour at a moments notice to admire the scenery of
help a fellow rider.
Informal education, which is composed of an individuals interaction with his/ her
environment and is not planners, scheduled or formal education in the
process of behavior change and gaining new behaviors. Research has suggested
that diversifying and increasing the frequency of activities that children are
interested in strongly affects the improvement of abilities they acquire at school.
Informal education programs whish are not organized in a short time and solely
with the aim of entertainment are possibly be more effective. Its effectiveness
possibly is increased when it is organized around predetermined set of goals and
the efficiency of the activities is considered.
Some informal learning contexts are:
Parks and Museums

Museums and other informal learning settings like parks, art gallery can
invite students to become engaged in exhibits and activities. Museums are designs
for learning. Whether intentionally of not, museums embody views about whats
worth learning and the way that artworks, objects, and historical material are
presented- from exhibitions to architecture to wall texts- embody views about how
learning happens. This in itself is nothing new: museums have always been
designed with edification in mind.
Music Room
Music Room is an innovative British television music series that presents classical
musicians and the pieces they play in a manner normally associated with popular
music programming. Filmed in a bare studio with only a scaffold cube for a set,
the program stripe away the glamour that often marks classical music as an elitist
art form. The series has also been broadcast in Canada and across South America.
Informal learning always starts with music, which the learners choose for
themselves. Therefore tends to be music which they already know and understand,
like enjoy and identify with it. This is distinct from most formal educational
settings. The music room project also has many aspects in common with the early
entrance of popular music in to the curriculum in the UK and many other countries
during the 1790s and 1980s. Popular music entered the curriculum partly in the
response to criticisms, the creative music movement was not pupil-cantered
enough because it overlooked the very music that pupil already knew and were
familiar with .In response to that criticism a number of educationalist and teachers
sought to reflect their identities by including popular music in their curricula.
Playground
Playgrounds are places where childrens play can take off and flourish. There are
two fundamental reasons why outdoor play is critical for young children. First,
many of the development tasks that children must achieve exploring, risk taking,
gain and gross motor development and the absorption of vast amounts of basic
knowledge can be most effectively learners through outdoor play. Second, our
culture is taking outdoor play. Second, our culture is taking outdoor play away
from young children through excessive TV and computer use, unsafe
neighborhoods, busy and tired parents, elimination of school recess and academics

into our early childhood programs, thus taking time away from play. Out door play
enables young children to learn lots and lots of things about the world.
Historical monuments
Teaching with historic places is a wonderful model to teach. It helps teachers to
reach some of the goals and standards for the Teaching of History. And it does so
because it allows students to develop thinking skills, reasoning skills, historical
thinking skills, interpretation, and the kinds of skills that they are going to need to
think through things in their future. The value of using historic places to teach
history even though we are not there at the site is that they help to bring a history
alive in a very, very specific and unique context. The historic environment
provided a focus and resource for lifelong learning about the human past and how
people have inhabited to landscape and used natural resources through time. This
aids teaching about our modern culture and our present environment. It contributes
significantly to our understanding of environmental change and the impact of
human activity on natural resources through time. Thats why Churchill Winston
says, We shape our buildings thereafter our buildings shape us.
Planetarium
A Planitarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and
entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial
navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium is the large dome-shaped
projection screen onto which scenes of stars, planets and other celestial objects can
be made to appear and move realistically to simulate the comples motions of the
heavens. The celestial scenes can be created using a wide variety of technologies.
The term planetarium is sometimes used generically to describe other devices
which illustrate the solar system, such as a computer simulation or an ornery.
Planetarium software refers to a software application that renders & threedimensional image of the sky onto a two dimensional computer screen. The term
planetarium is used to describe a member of the professional staff of a
planetarium.
Agency for Non commentional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT)
ANERT is an autonomus organization established during 1986 under Societies Act
by the Government of Kerala, now functioning under power dept, with its Head

Quarters at Thiruvananthapuram. The objective of the Agency is to gather and

disseminate useful knowledge in various fields of Non
Conventional and Rural Technology, conduct studies, demonstrate implement and
project in these fields and by deal with the problems arising out of the rapid
depletion of conventional energy sourees, update the introduce appropriate new
technologies with an aim to reduce drudgery, increase production and improve
quality of life.
Environment Education (EE)
To develop a meaningful definition for environment education we should develop
a broader meaning for environment. As is commonly defined, environment is not
only the sum of all the material things that constantly interact with each other and
constitutes the landscapes of the region. It also includes the economic structures
and the outlook and habits of peoples in different parts of the world. Thus an
accurate analysis of the environment must consider the impact of human beings
and their culture on all the surrounding elements and the ecological factors on
every aspect of human life.
Biodiversity conservation
Biodiversity is the variability among living organism and ecological complexities
of which they part, including diversity within and between species and
ecosystems. Biodiversity has direct consumptive value in food, agriculture,
medicine and industry. A scheme on biodiversity conservation was initiated earlier
to ensure co-ordination among various agencies dealing with the issues related to
conservation of biodiversity and to review monitor and evolve adequate policy
instruments for the same. The Conservation of Biodiversity (CBO) is one of the
key agreements adopted during the Earth summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, is
the first comprehensive global agreement which addresses all aspects relating to
biodiversity.
Conservating biodiversity outside the areas where they naturally occur is known as
exsitic conservation. Here, the animals and plants are reared or cultivated in areas
like ecological or botanical gardens or in parksg Reintroduction of an animal or
plant into the habitat form where it has become extinct is another form of existic

conversation. Planting of saplings of Chenkurunji (Gluta travenoria) into the

Shendurini sanctuary where they are on the verge of extinction is an example of
existic conservation. Seed hands maintained by Agricultural Universation and
Research Institutions where all species of a particular plant is conserved as seeds
is also an example for eristic conservation. Horticultural and recreational gardens
where the important plant species are planted and maintained are also important
centers of eristic conservation.
Conserving the animals and plants in their natural habitals known as institic
conservation. This includes the establishments of
National Parks and sanctuaries

Biosphere reserves

Reserved and protected forests

Reserved forests.
Reference :
1) Fundamental teaching Science (1989), Aravinda Chandra and Anupama Sah,
Sterling publication Pvt. Ltd Green Park extention, new Delhi (PP.no, 144 148)
.