Challenges and opportunities for informal physics learning in the COVID era

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted every aspect of academic activity, including the informal education and public engagement efforts of physics departments and institutions. As part of a large-scale national survey of the landscape of informal physics education programs, we have conducted a...

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Autores principales:	Michael B. Bennett, Kathleen A. Hinko, Dena Izadi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Physical Society 2021
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/30501c876d634fb797a445b3d755befe
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:30501c876d634fb797a445b3d755befe2021-12-02T16:40:44ZChallenges and opportunities for informal physics learning in the COVID era10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.0231022469-9896https://doaj.org/article/30501c876d634fb797a445b3d755befe2021-07-01T00:00:00Zhttp://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.023102http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.023102https://doaj.org/toc/2469-9896The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted every aspect of academic activity, including the informal education and public engagement efforts of physics departments and institutions. As part of a large-scale national survey of the landscape of informal physics education programs, we have conducted a series of short interviews with directors and facilitators for a variety of programs in order to create a snapshot of whether and how programs have been able to adapt to the challenges and risks of the pandemic. Broadly, we find that programs are struggling to maintain any activity at all, and that those programs still in operation have relied largely on the efforts of individual director or facilitators to make substantial adaptations. Additionally, we find that those programs that have been most successful in maintaining activity benefit from strong, ongoing institutional support; we present the findings of this study both to complement existing research on formal spaces and to advocate for the continued support of informal physics education, which continues to play a crucial role in connecting departments to the public.Michael B. BennettKathleen A. HinkoDena IzadiAmerican Physical SocietyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691PhysicsQC1-999ENPhysical Review Physics Education Research, Vol 17, Iss 2, p 023102 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999 Michael B. Bennett Kathleen A. Hinko Dena Izadi Challenges and opportunities for informal physics learning in the COVID era
description	The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted every aspect of academic activity, including the informal education and public engagement efforts of physics departments and institutions. As part of a large-scale national survey of the landscape of informal physics education programs, we have conducted a series of short interviews with directors and facilitators for a variety of programs in order to create a snapshot of whether and how programs have been able to adapt to the challenges and risks of the pandemic. Broadly, we find that programs are struggling to maintain any activity at all, and that those programs still in operation have relied largely on the efforts of individual director or facilitators to make substantial adaptations. Additionally, we find that those programs that have been most successful in maintaining activity benefit from strong, ongoing institutional support; we present the findings of this study both to complement existing research on formal spaces and to advocate for the continued support of informal physics education, which continues to play a crucial role in connecting departments to the public.
format	article
author	Michael B. Bennett Kathleen A. Hinko Dena Izadi
author_facet	Michael B. Bennett Kathleen A. Hinko Dena Izadi
author_sort	Michael B. Bennett
title	Challenges and opportunities for informal physics learning in the COVID era
title_short	Challenges and opportunities for informal physics learning in the COVID era
title_full	Challenges and opportunities for informal physics learning in the COVID era
title_fullStr	Challenges and opportunities for informal physics learning in the COVID era
title_full_unstemmed	Challenges and opportunities for informal physics learning in the COVID era
title_sort	challenges and opportunities for informal physics learning in the covid era
publisher	American Physical Society
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/30501c876d634fb797a445b3d755befe
work_keys_str_mv	AT michaelbbennett challengesandopportunitiesforinformalphysicslearninginthecovidera AT kathleenahinko challengesandopportunitiesforinformalphysicslearninginthecovidera AT denaizadi challengesandopportunitiesforinformalphysicslearninginthecovidera
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Challenges and opportunities for informal physics learning in the COVID era

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