Last weekend, Dr. Emily Kalnicky traveled to the Maryland Science Center for a National Living Lab introductory meeting. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Living Laboratory is nationally-recognized model for research that takes place inside museums and other informal learning institutions. These researchers then work with museum educators to communicate the questions and methods of their work to visitors through innovative activities and one-on-one interactions with the researchers themselves. Participants and viewers alike learn how science is applicable to their own lives, how research is conducted, what scientists look and act like and how to answer tough questions using the scientific method.
Dr. Kalnicky is attending the meeting with other academics and museum educators to learn more about opportunities to highlight children’s learning and development in museum settings through the Living Laboratory model. The first day of this event provided an overview of Living Laboratory and other models of collaboration in which museums host active child development research and researchers in their halls. The second day engaged participants in learning about how to create and utilize “research toys” for educator-led museum activities that engage caregivers in learning about child development. Dr. Kalnicky also had time to share about our current collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University’s Discovery Process Lab and gather more information about how to make our program even better!
To learn more about our current research collaborations with Carnegie Mellon University, check out this blog post.
To learn more about the importance of museums in early learning, check out this post.
The above photos were taken by Becki Kipling and Emily Kalnicky.
Phipps Conservatory Science Education and Research 