Serendipitous Engagement in Science: A Family Ethnographic Study

• In Event: 72.066 - Poster Session 16
  In Poster Session: 72.066-9 - Surrounded by Science: Informal Learning in Museums, Media, and After-School and Everyday Contexts

Abstract

This family ethnography aims to conceptualize and characterize children’s serendipitous science engagement (SSE), i.e., their spontaneous free-choice engagement in undesigned environments. Ethnographic observational data was collected from the author's own family, including 305 audio-recorded engagement episodes (30 seconds to 66 minutes long), 90 of which were analyzed for this study. The analysis combined Falk and Dierking's (2000) Contextual Model with a data driven approach, yielding a characterizing model which considers contextual, personal and socio-cultural aspects and consists of 11 facets of engagement. A micro-analysis of one exemplar episode, pointed to three emerging processes (altering information source, affect and practices), which intertwined with SSE instigation, sustainment and extinction, illustrating the models' utility in describing and investigating SSE dynamics.

Author

• Dana Vedder-Weiss, Ben Gurion University of the Negev