Informal Learning in Museums and Out-of-School Environments

Supervising Faculty:

Kevin Crowley

 

Contact: 

Kevin Crowley
822 LRDC
(412) 624-8116
crowleyk@pitt.edu

 

Area of Research:  Informal learning in museums and out-of-school environments

 

Description of Research:

Students who join our projects will work with us on studies of how children and adults learn about subjects such as science, math, technology, the arts, and history as they visit museums, surf the web, or engage in everyday family activities. We work in partnership with informal learning organizations to conceptualize, support, and assess learning in these out-of-school settings. We are working to build and use a practical theory of informal learning. We are most interested in work that pushes on current understandings of what it means to learn and change as a result of informal educational experiences.

 

Duties of Students:

Assisting in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. Duties may include recruiting, videotaping, and helping to interview participants as well as digitizing, transcribing and coding data.

 

Additional Requirements:

  • 3.0 or higher GPA
  • Able to work ten to twenty hours each week
  • Able to work some weekends
  • Able to work independently and manage their time well
  • Must be detail-oriented, flexible, sociable, comfortable with computers, and good typists

 

Terms offered: fall, spring and summer

 

Number of Students: varies

Additional Information: http://upclose.lrdc.pitt.edu/