Researcher(s):
Mika Mandeville
ENVS course(s): 400 Initiated: September 2016 Completed: May 2017 Go to project site
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In order to explore the relationship between formal and informal learning environments, I sought to speak with representatives from a range of informal learning environments in Portland. Through these conversations, I also investigated the barriers that schoolteachers face when accessing and incorporating informal learning experiences.
The framing question that guided my methodology was: To what extent are informal and formal learning environments independently influential on a student’s environmental education, and what potential do relationships between the two have to enhance this education? From this, my focus questions developed into: How do the organizations that constitute informal learning environments initiate and foster relationships with formal learning environments? I argue that in order to foster coherence between formal and informal education, a platform to increase the availability of information about informal learning environments, with specific attention to how their resources and opportunities connect to school curriculum, must be developed.