Teaching Science in Out-of-School Settings

This book explores pedagogical approaches used by informal science educators and botanic garden educators in particular, when teaching science to visiting students (7-12 years old). More specifically, it draws on the sociocultural perspective of learning, and highlights the importance of discourse in learning processes. It examines the interactions between four botanic garden educators (BGEs) and their students, focusing on how the students' contributions to the talk are followed up on by the BGEs. Moreover, it includes an investigation into which kinds of teaching behaviours on the part of BGEs can best support learning.

Chapter 1 Introduction. - Chapter 2 Botanic Gardens as Teaching and Learning Environments. - Chapter 3 A Sociocultural Perspective of Teaching and Learning in Formal and Informal Science Settings. - Chapter 4 Research Design and Methodologies. - Chapter 5 Multiple Perspectives of Botanic Garden Educators' Pedagogical Practices. - Chapter 6 The Pedagogical Behaviours of Botanic Garden Educators. - Chapter 7 Discussion, Reflections and Implications.