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THE ROLE OF PUBLIC AQUARIA IN ENHANCING SCIENCE EDUCATION:
CASE STUDIES OF PRACTICE
by
Joy Naomi Kobashi
____________________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
December 2006
Copyright 2006 Joy Naomi Kobashi
Object Description
| Title | The role of public aquaria in enhancing science education: case studies of practice |
| Author | Kobashi, Joy Naomi |
| Author email | JoyKoba@aol.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Education (Curriculum & Instruction) |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2006-07-05 |
| Date submitted | 2006 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2006-12-04 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | McComas, William |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Colbert, Joel A. Kaplan, Sandra N. |
| Abstract | Interest in informal science learning as a means to support formal science education has grown within the past nine years. Guidelines have been established, reports have been published, committees have been formed, and grants have been awarded in the area of informal science education. Informal environments encourage visitors to explore, discover, and question, promoting inquiry-based science which is limited in our current educational system. Research exists which examine learning in informal environments, however, very few focus specifically on aquaria. This study investigated three questions pertaining to how public aquaria enhance science education: (1) What specific types of science education programs are provided by the aquarium for the public generally and for school programs in particular?; (2) How is internal evaluation of the institution's educational programs conducted and are positive results being achieved?; (3) What is the nature, amount, and kind of resources that the institution exhibits in support of science education?; In this qualitative investigation, four public aquaria in California were selected to participate in the study. Various types of data (interviews with chief executive officers, aquarium education directors, education staff, and volunteers/docents, documents created by the aquaria such as educational programs brochures, member newsletters, texts, evaluations, surveys, websites, lesson plans and activities, and copies of annual reports) were collected and triangulated to create a comprehensive case study for each aquarium and to ensure validity and reliability. Six key findings arose from comparing the various data sources: (1) Extensive age and grade level appropriate educational programming exists for both school and public groups. (2) School programs are aligned with the California State Standards. In the case of Birch Aquarium, programs are also aligned with the National Science Standards. (3) Programs exist which introduce marine science careers to visitors early in life. (4) Evaluation of educational programs exists on formal and informal levels. (5) The "Criteria Checklist for Instructional Materials" was not an appropriate tool for evaluating informal science programs. (6) Critical resources for science education that were common to all four aquaria included funding, staff, space, andtime. |
| Keyword | informal education; science education; aquaria education; free choice learning; education |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m215 |
| Rights | Kobashi, Joy Naomi |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/ |
| Filename | etd-Kobashi-20061204 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume14/etd-Kobashi-20061204.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | THE ROLE OF PUBLIC AQUARIA IN ENHANCING SCIENCE EDUCATION: CASE STUDIES OF PRACTICE by Joy Naomi Kobashi ____________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION December 2006 Copyright 2006 Joy Naomi Kobashi |
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