Abstract All students are able to learn something about astronomy when they participate in a school visit to a site of informal learning such as a science centre. I examined how children from four schools experienced presentations and participated in activities about astronomy during a two to four hour visit to either the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory or the Johannesburg Planetarium in South Africa. The case study involved observing thirty-four 12- to 14-year-old students at the science centre and interviewing them about astronomy concepts including those based on personal meaning maps they drew prior to and after their visit. The data were analysed using a human constructivist framework to determine both what and how students learnt during their visit. Despite a lack of teacher involvement I show how students collectively and individually learnt about concepts in astronomy, which I categorised into a set of seven Big Ideas: gravity, stars and the Sun, size and scale, the Solar System, day and night, Moon phases and parabolic dishes. Collectively, there was an improvement in their knowledge of Big Ideas dealt with at the study sites, including gravity, stars, the Sun, size and scale, and parabolic dishes. The students showed little change in their knowledge of day and night or the phases of the Moon. Individually, all students learnt principally by incremental addition of knowledge, while some students also demonstrated greater knowledge restructuring. Students with the least prior knowledge added additional basic facts to their repertoire, while those with greater prior knowledge were able to reorganise their knowledge and achieve greater understanding. All students also showed that the affective domain (for example enjoyment and wonder) contributed to their learning by encouraging interest in astronomy. Some students demonstrated examples of conative learning in which their experiences prompted them to further action after their visit. While the visit changed the misconceptions of some students, it made little difference to others, and promoted misconceptions in a few. Methodological findings included the value of using personal meaning maps, the importance of using models during the interview process and observations of how students used language in their description of astronomical processes. The study suggests that students learn best from a range of activities clustered around a central theme, and that enjoyable activities appear to enhance learning. I recommend that the astronomy presented at the centres focus on a limited number of concepts in astronomy, and that presentations and activities be structured around those Big Ideas. Science centresshould provide teachers with guidelines for their visit. I also propose that activities aim to recall students’ prior knowledge and provide situational interest to encourage motivation in the topic of astronomy and the subject of science. Finally I suggest that science centres should combine cognitive learning with affective fun, as recommended by students participating in the study. Keywords Astronomy, Astronomy Education, Constructivism, Human Constructivism, Informal Learning, Museum, Planetarium, Science Centre.

In the last few decades, the workplace has been increasingly recognised as a legitimate environment for learning new skills and knowledge, which in turn enables workers to participate more effectively in ever-changing work environments. Within the workplace there is the potential for continuous learning to occur not only through formal learning initiatives that are associated with training, but also through informal learning opportunities that are embedded within everyday work activities. Somewhat surprisingly however, there have been relatively limited empirical investigations into the actual processes of informal learning in the workplace. This may in part be due to the particular methodological challenges of examining forms of learning that are not structured or organised but incidental to daily work activities. There remains, therefore, a clear need to better understand how learning occurs informally in the workplace, and most importantly, to gain insight into workers’ own accounts of informal learning experiences. This thesis addresses this issue by examining workers’ personal experiences of informal learning, and how these contributed to better participation in their regular workplace activities. Four bodies of literature were reviewed as directly relevant to this research, adult learning, organisational learning, informal learning, and a sociocultural perspective on learning. Together, they provide complementary perspectives on the development of learning in the workplace. A conceptual framework, grounded in the sociocultural perspective, was developed to address the issue of how informal learning leads to better participation in the workplace, and reciprocally, how better participation leads to continuous informal learning. Consistent with the sociocultural perspective, the workplace was conceptualised as a complex social system in which co-workers, who constitute that social system, are assumed to co-regulate each other’s learning opportunities. Social interactions, therefore, are considered as creating a context in which informal learning is afforded or constrained. Understanding what role workplace culture and socialisation play in affording or constraining informal learning opportunities is therefore crucial. This is because the relationships between co-workers is assumed to influence how both new and established co-workers participate in and experience the socialisation process and how they see their respective roles. The framework developed for the study generated two main research questions: How do co-workers learn informally in the workplace? and How does the workplace, as a social system, afford or constrain informal learning in the workplace? The methodology chosen for this empirical study was consistent with key concepts from the sociocultural perspective, namely that individuals and their social context must be studied concurrently as learning is assumed to be part of a social practice where activities are structured by social, cultural and situational factors. Accordingly, qualitative research methods were employed to gain knowledge and understanding of informal learning in the workplace from the perspective of co-workers. Co-worker’s reflections on their informal learning experiences and participation in the workplace are presented in narrative form and their accounts interpreted from the sociocultural theoretical perspective. The narrative format provides a useful way of presenting data in a way that immerses the reader in the phenomenon, with enough concrete details that the reader can identify with the subjective experiences of informal learning of each participant. The study highlighted how the nature of some relationships between new and established co-workers afforded opportunities for informal learning, while other relationships constrained such opportunities. These afforded or constrained opportunities were by nature spontaneous, planned, intentional or unintentional. The study also revealed that personal and organisational factors co-contributed to creating these social affordances or constraints. Common across groups was the importance given to the quality of relationships between co-workers. The way new and established co-workers participated and interacted in the workplace was found to represent important sociocultural processes that impacted on the effectiveness of informal learning. Overall, this study draws attention to the complexity of participation and interaction in the workplace. A major implication is that opportunities for informal learning are, potentially afforded or constrained by the social context. The study also highlighted conceptual and methodological issues in identifying and interpreting how co-workers learn informally in the workplace. Future research should establish how opportunities for effective informal learning might be fostered further through the design of more enabling workplace practices. The significance of perceived and expected roles between new and established co-workers also deserves further empirical attention, at the level of everyday informal practices but also at the level of organisational processes and structures that provide the broader context.

This thesis examines how drama facilitators adapt and assess their praxis so that it can be applied effectively in different learning contexts. This research analyses the good praxis of established facilitators with comparatively little documentation to disseminate their approaches. MED Theatre, Magic Carpet, the Shakespeare Schools Festival and West Exe Technology College employ facilitators who adopt a personalised approach to their praxis, transitioning across the spectrum of formal and informal learning to engage a diverse range of learners. The concepts of formal and informal learning are defined at the outset and the particular problems they can present drama facilitators are contextualised. Finding the right tools and assessment procedures is a significant challenge in a pedagogic landscape characterised by conflicting theories, a broad range of learner needs, and multiple perceptions of what actually counts as evidence of learning to justify praxis. With an increasing number of facilitators sustaining themselves by operating within a variety of learning settings there is an emerging need to identify what skills, knowledge and considerations support the process of becoming this kind of extended professional. Initiating my investigation, I explore how the role of a drama facilitator has emerged through movements in the fields of education, Community Theatre and the arts in Chapter One. The main pedagogic theories and approaches to assessment that a drama facilitator must engage with to personalise praxis are presented in Chapter Two. Supporting the development of this expanding field of praxis, the four case studies analysed illustrate how facilitators have sustained careers as extended professionals whilst negotiating educational policy, different learners, and assessment criterion. This thesis contributes to the argument for sustaining and developing links between formalised learning and informal social learning. I challenge the competitive perception of system-centred and learner-centred approaches, re-framing them as inter-related processes in cases of good practice. Finally, I identify how facilitators are attempting to forge further community links, interrogating how this emerging field 4 may be developed by drama facilitators who share a commitment to developing the quality of learning opportunities offered in the UK.

The auditing environment is in a period of innovation, and auditors need to maintain their financial reporting commitment to financial statement stakeholders. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional survey study was to examine the impact of auditors' perceptions of informal workplace learning contexts on the external auditing profession using a perceived organizational support lens. Organization support theory includes four aspects used to explore informal workplace learning: management support, peer support, supportive organizational culture, and access to work resources. These aspects were used to examine the impact of informal learning on auditors' engagement and performance. Multiple linear regression was used to examine data from a survey of 103 auditing professionals in Connecticut. Data showed that access to work resources, including time and technology, were significant in each model in relation to impact and its subcomponents engagement and performance. This indicated that auditors' access to the resources necessary to stay current has a positive impact in the auditing profession. This study fills the gap in the existing literature on the impact of informal learning on the auditing profession where there is continual change and informal learning is heavily relied upon to diffuse knowledge and skills in a highly knowledge-based environment. Better-qualified auditors can help businesses keep up with ever-changing societal expectations. The accounting profession is in a period of innovation that requires professionals of all levels to adapt to keep pace with the quickly changing globalized organization.

<p>South Africa has undergone major transformation after the election of the first democratic government in 1994. The acceptance of a humane constitution as well as equal rights for all its citizens necessitated the banning of corporal punishment in all schools under the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996. Accordingly, this change in the education policy as well as a change in society regarding equal rights for all citizens required teachers to adjust and improve their practices related to classroom management and discipline. The abolition of corporal punishment in 1996 (South African Schools Act 84 of 1996) can thus be regarded as such a changed aspect which required teachers to find alternative ways of keeping discipline in schools. It is expected from teachers to manage learning in classrooms, while at the same time practise and promote a critical, committed and ethical attitude towards the development of a sense of respect and responsibility amongst learners. It is with this in mind that one should remember that classroom locations and environments are complex as well as dynamic. Learners can now use their rights in a court of law while at the same time become more unruly, disruptive and at times even violent. Teachers on the other hand are left with limited alternative procedures or guidelines to manage unruly learners. As such, teachers now rely on their own informal learning in order to deal with such learners since alternatives to manage ill-disciplined learners are not included in formative teacher training courses. This study therefore concerns itself with the way teachers acquire classroom management skills in the absence of corporal punishment and learn how to deal with behavioural problems in order to carry on with day-to-day classroom activities. This is essentially viewed as informal learning. Because of the absence of much-needed training and support from educational authorities, teachers adjust and improve their practice, relying on hands-on experience in classrooms since they only incidentally receive opportunities to engage in ongoing formal professional development. This study explores the nature and content of informal/incidental as well as nonformal (courses not leading to formal accreditation) teachers&rsquo / learning related to managing classroom discipline in the absence of corporal punishment and investigates how skills, to manage classroom discipline, impact on the learning and teaching enterprise. A qualitative approach within the interpretive paradigm was followed throughout this study. Unstructured interviews were used to gather data which resulted in the gaining of rich detailed descriptions of participants&rsquo / responses to acquiring classroom management skills. This qualitative investigation included a literature review that explored and analysed different perspectives on the learning process. This study confirms that teachers acquire classroom management and discipline skills through workplace learning, initiated by themselves as well as collaboratively through interaction with colleagues and learners. Learning within the workplace was possible due to the opportunities they were afforded within the working context they found themselves in.</p>

<p>South Africa has undergone major transformation after the election of the first democratic government in 1994. The acceptance of a humane constitution as well as equal rights for all its citizens necessitated the banning of corporal punishment in all schools under the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996. Accordingly, this change in the education policy as well as a change in society regarding equal rights for all citizens required teachers to adjust and improve their practices related to classroom management and discipline. The abolition of corporal punishment in 1996 (South African Schools Act 84 of 1996) can thus be regarded as such a changed aspect which required teachers to find alternative ways of keeping discipline in schools. It is expected from teachers to manage learning in classrooms, while at the same time practise and promote a critical, committed and ethical attitude towards the development of a sense of respect and responsibility amongst learners. It is with this in mind that one should remember that classroom locations and environments are complex as well as dynamic. Learners can now use their rights in a court of law while at the same time become more unruly, disruptive and at times even violent. Teachers on the other hand are left with limited alternative procedures or guidelines to manage unruly learners. As such, teachers now rely on their own informal learning in order to deal with such learners since alternatives to manage ill-disciplined learners are not included in formative teacher training courses. This study therefore concerns itself with the way teachers acquire classroom management skills in the absence of corporal punishment and learn how to deal with behavioural problems in order to carry on with day-to-day classroom activities. This is essentially viewed as informal learning. Because of the absence of much-needed training and support from educational authorities, teachers adjust and improve their practice, relying on hands-on experience in classrooms since they only incidentally receive opportunities to engage in ongoing formal professional development. This study explores the nature and content of informal/incidental as well as nonformal (courses not leading to formal accreditation) teachers&rsquo / learning related to managing classroom discipline in the absence of corporal punishment and investigates how skills, to manage classroom discipline, impact on the learning and teaching enterprise. A qualitative approach within the interpretive paradigm was followed throughout this study. Unstructured interviews were used to gather data which resulted in the gaining of rich detailed descriptions of participants&rsquo / responses to acquiring classroom management skills. This qualitative investigation included a literature review that explored and analysed different perspectives on the learning process. This study confirms that teachers acquire classroom management and discipline skills through workplace learning, initiated by themselves as well as collaboratively through interaction with colleagues and learners. Learning within the workplace was possible due to the opportunities they were afforded within the working context they found themselves in.</p>

Magister Educationis - MEd / South Africa has undergone major transformation after the election of the first democratic government in 1994. The acceptance of a humane constitution as well as equal rights for all its citizens necessitated the banning of corporal punishment in all schools under the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996. Accordingly, this change in the education policy as well as a change in society regarding equal rights for all citizens required teachers to adjust and improve their practices related to classroom management and discipline. The abolition of corporal punishment in 1996 (South African Schools Act 84 of 1996) can thus be regarded as such a changed aspect which required teachers to find alternative ways of keeping discipline in schools. It is expected from teachers to manage learning in classrooms, while at the same time practise and promote a critical, committed and ethical attitude towards the development of a sense of respect and responsibility amongst learners. It is with this in mind that one should remember that classroom locations and environments are complex as well as dynamic. Learners can now use their rights in a court of law while at the same time become more unruly, disruptive and at times even violent. Teachers on the other hand are left with limited alternative procedures or guidelines to manage unruly learners. As such, teachers now rely on their own informal learning in order to deal with such learners since alternatives to manage ill-disciplined learners are not included in formative teacher training courses. This study therefore concerns itself with the way teachers acquire classroom management skills in the absence of corporal punishment and learn how to deal with behavioural problems in order to carry on with day-to-day classroom activities. This is essentially viewed as informal learning. Because of the absence of much-needed training and support from educational authorities, teachers adjust and improve their practice, relying on hands-on experience in classrooms since they only incidentally receive opportunities to engage in ongoing formal professional development. This study explores the nature and content of informal/incidental as well as nonformal (courses not leading to formal accreditation) teachers learning related to managing classroom discipline in the absence of corporal punishment and investigates how skills, to manage classroom discipline, impact on the learning and teaching enterprise. A qualitative approach within the interpretive paradigm was followed throughout this study. Unstructured interviews were used to gather data which resulted in the gaining of rich detailed descriptions of participants responses to acquiring classroom management skills. This qualitative investigation included a literature review that explored and analysed different perspectives on the learning process. This study confirms that teachers acquire classroom management and discipline skills through workplace learning, initiated by themselves as well as collaboratively through interaction with colleagues and learners. Learning within the workplace was possible due to the opportunities they were afforded within the working context they found themselves in. / South Africa

Museums are rich and complex learning experiences, using a variety of interactive approaches to engage their audiences. However, the largely unstructured nature of free-choice learning calls for alternative approaches that can effectively engage groups of school age students with diverse cultural backgrounds. In these informal learning spaces employing digital content, classroom-size student groups do not get adequate exposure to content and if they do, it is either through individual interactions with digital exhibits or in a passive style instruction offered by a museum docent to the whole group. This research aims to identify which elements of collocated group collaboration, virtual environments, and serious games can be leveraged for an enhanced learning experience for small and large groups of middle school students. We created a conceptual framework based on the Contextual Model of Learning in museums (John H. Falk and Dierking, 2000) and the most effective educational elements of Virtual Environments (VEs) and Serious Games, in order to increase engagement and social presence and facilitate learning. We then developed C-OLiVE (Collaborative Orchestrated Learning in Virtual Environments), an interactive virtual learning environment supporting group collaboration, which we used as a testbed to respond to our research questions. Our overall hypothesis is that synchronous, collocated, group collaboration will afford greater learning and an improved game experience compared to the conventional approaches used in these spaces so far. We ran three experiments and a case study with 790 students in private and public middle schools, summer camps, and museums both in the US and in Greece. Findings partly supported our hypothesis, mainly during our small group interaction experiments, in which simultaneous interaction of students was found to be associated with increased learning. Guidance of a passive experience was effective in facilitating the more cognitively challenged group of students in a Greek museum. Our audience interaction studies revealed increased retention of information two days after the game. Agency was found to significantly predict learning in all our studies. Engagement and social presence were mostly correlated with higher levels of involvement and agency in the game. / Ph. D. / Museums are rich and complex learning experiences, using a variety of interactive approaches to engage their audiences. However, the largely unstructured nature of free-choice learning calls for alternative approaches that can effectively engage groups of school age students with diverse cultural backgrounds. In these informal learning spaces employing digital content, classroom-size student groups do not get adequate exposure to content and if they do, it is either through individual interactions with digital exhibits or in a passive style instruction offered by a museum docent to the whole group. This research aims to identify which elements of collocated group collaboration, virtual environments, and serious games can be leveraged for an enhanced learning experience for small and large groups of middle school students. We created a conceptual framework based on a theoretical model from museum studies, called the <i>Contextual Model of Learning</i>, and the most effective educational elements of Virtual Environments (VEs) and Serious Games, or learning games, in order to increase <i>engagement</i> and <i>social presence</i> (i.e., the feeling of interconnectedness between participants) and facilitate learning. We then developed an interactive virtual learning environment supporting group collaboration, which we used as a testbed to respond to our research questions. Our overall hypothesis is that synchronous, collocated, group collaboration will afford greater learning and an improved game experience compared to the conventional approaches used in these spaces so far. We ran three experiments and a case study with 790 students in private and public middle schools, summer camps, and museums both in the US and in Greece. Findings partly supported our hypothesis, mainly during our small group interaction experiments, in which simultaneous interaction of students was found to be associated with increased learning. Guidance of a passive experience was effective in facilitating the more cognitively challenged group of students in a Greek museum. Our audience interaction studies revealed increased retention of information two days after the game. Agency (or level of control) in the game significantly predicted learning in all our studies. Engagement and social presence were correlated with higher levels of involvement and agency.

This thesis aims to contribute new understandings of community sustainability through a detailed case study of public sector and community relations within Cornwall. The Look Group Network is a multi-layered public sector and community adult informal learning partnership project which sought to connect Tate St Ives, a national art gallery operating in the far west of the UK, with new audiences. The case study situates together informal learning, community and sustainability and explores their interdependence. The study comprised participant observation with the Look Group members, semi-structured partner interviews, contextual research including a review of the social and political theory of community and an evaluation of relevant sustainable community and informal learning policy. The research aims to identify the underlying conditions which contributed to the sustainability of the Look Groups over a four year period and to assess to what extent these conditions could be transferred to other communities. The original contribution of this project to the existing research literature is in the application of Complexity Theory to empirical data to enable an understanding of the systemic dynamics that contribute to sustainability and in the development of method in the consideration of community and group dynamics.

The purpose of this study was to understand online users’ behavior, preferences and perceptions in a museum’s online environment in order to design systems that support users' needs. The setting of my study was the New York Museum of Modern Art's online learning program. The study participants were undergraduate and graduate art education students enrolled in a large university in the Southeast. Several issues concerning web design emerged from the study, including the following categories: the navigational structure, content design, search engines, and the museum’s educational mission. This study used a case study methodology, which allowed me to gain direct access to participants’ behavior, preferences, and perceptions as they navigated through the museum online website.