Browsing by Author "Sainomaa, Aapo"

Informal learning is learning that takes place outside the school system. It happens in everyday situations that were not meant to be educational in the first place. Out-of-school environments are considered to produce positive effects on pupils’ interest, motivation and attitudes. The main aim of this study was to find out how math worth and interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education differed among 12-year-old pupils before and after visiting an Informal Math and Art Exhibition. Additionally, the aim was to find out if it is possible to utilize an out-of-school environment to teach 21st century skills. Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics (STEAM) pedagogy aims to improve pupils’ skills in innovation and creativity by combining elements from science and art. STEAM combines reality and education and aims to provide understanding of how things work while simultaneously guiding pupils’ technology skills. The learning context was a Math and Art Exhibition that was part of international CREATIONS-project. In this study, there were 256 12-year-old pupils from five different schools in Jyväskylä, Finland. The research material was gathered in 2 parts: pretests one week before the exhibition visit and posttests around a week after the visit. Nine out of ten students felt that the exhibition increased their interest in STEM. Boys who succeeded well in the Raven-test were the most interest in STEM. The increase in interest was, however, unrelated to gender or prior interest in STEM. Math worth was low among pupils who achieved low grades at school and scored low points on the Raven test. Math worth did not increase because of the exhibition visit, but differences in math worth were diminished. Pupils’ autonomous experience and situational interest were key factors regarding both math worth and interest. According to this study, even short-term out-of-school learning increases interest and evens out pupils’ math worth. In the light of this study the out-of-school learning environment can be seen as a fruitful and interesting way to learn that could also work as an excellent way to teach 21st century skills.