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Dr. Lynn D. Dierking

Year Hired

2006

Specialty:

Science Education with a focus in free-choice Learning, elementary and early childhood

Research interests:

  • The study of learning in free-choice learning settings (with particular focus on museums)
  • Understanding the role of socio-cultural factors in free-choice learning
  • Research & development in family/ youth / community-based learning efforts
  • Investigating how to meaningfully engage under-served communities in free-choice learning (e,g., girls, low-income, and racially-ethnically diverse
    groups)

Recent Publications:

Books
Falk, J.H., Dierking, L.D., & Foutz, S. Eds. (2007) In Principle-In Practice: Museums as Learning Institutions. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

C. Yao, L. D. Dierking, P. Anderson, D. Schatz and S. Wolf. Eds. (2006). The Handbook of Small Science Centers. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

Articles & Chapters
Dierking. L.D. (2007). Linking after-school programs and STEM learning: A view from another window. Position paper for the Coalition for After-School Science. New York, NY.

Dierking. L.D. (2007). Evidence & categories of informal science education impacts. (Ed.) A. Friedman. A Framework for Evaluating Impacts of Informal Science Education Projects. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation.
Dierking. L.D., Storksdieck, M. & Falk, J.H. (2007). Evaluation of learning in informal learning environments. Position paper for the Learning Science in Informal Environments National Committee. Washington, DC: National Academies of Sciences.

Ellenbogen, K.M., Luke, J.J. & Dierking, L.D. (2007). Family learning research in museums: Perspectives on a Decade of Research. In Falk, J.H., Dierking, L.D. & Foutz, S. (Eds.). In Principle, In Practice: Museums as Learning Institutions. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

Astor-Jack, T., Whaley, K.K., Dierking, L.D., Perry, D. & Garibay, C. (2007). Understanding the complexities of socially-mediated learning. In Falk, J.H., Dierking, L.D. & Foutz, S. (Eds.). In Principle, In Practice: Museums as Learning Institutions. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

Falk, J.H., Dierking, L.D. & Storksdieck, M. (2007). Investigating public science interest and understanding: Evidence for the importance of free-choice learning. Public Understanding of Science, 16(4).

Ballantyne, R., Packer, J., Hughes, K. & Dierking, L.D. (2007). Conservation learning in wildlife tourism settings: Lessons from research in zoos and aquariums. Environmental Education Research.

Dierking, L.D. (2006) Understanding the nature of science learning. K. Tobin & Wolff, M.R. The Culture of Science Education: Historical and Biographical Perspectives. Science & Mathematics Education Series (Series Editor-- Wolff-Michael Roth). Sense Publishers.

Falk, J.H., Dierking, L.D., Rennie, L.J., & Williams, G.F. (2006). FORUM: Communication about science in a traditional museum - visitors' and staff's perceptions. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 2 (1).

Falk, J.H., Dierking, L.D., & Adams, M. (2006). Living in a learning society: Museums and free-choice learning. In: S.J. Macdonald (ed.) Blackwell Companion to Museums. London: Blackwell Publishing.

Dierking, L.D. (2005). Museums, affect & cognition: The view from another window in S. Alsop, Ed. Affective Dimensions of Learning. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Press. In the Science and Technology Education series (Bill Cobern, Ed.). Vol. 29.

Haley Goldman, K. & Dierking, L.D. (2005). Setting a course for research in the virtual science center. in Tan, W. H. & Subramaniam, R. (Eds.). E-learning and the Virtual Science Center. Hershey, PA: Idea Press.

Falk, J.H., Dierking, L.D. & Storksdieck, M. (2005). Lifelong science learning research. In J. Moon, (ed.). Informal Science Research. Washington, DC: Board on Science Education, National Academy of Science.

Groff, A., Lockhart, D. Ogden; J. & Dierking, L. D. (2005). An exploratory investigation of the effect of working in an environmentally-themed facility on the conservation-related knowledge, attitudes and behavior of staff. Environmental Education Research, 11(3).

Dierking, L. D., Andersen, N., Ellenbogen, K.M., Donnelly, C., Luke, J.J. & Cunningham, K. (2005). The Family Learning Initiative at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis: Integrating research, practice & assessment. Hand-to-Hand. Washington, D.C. Association of Children's Museums.

Dierking, L.D., Adelman, L.M., Ogden, J., Lehnhardt, K., Miller, L. and Mellen, J.D. (2004). Using a behavior change model to document the impact of visits to Disney's Animal Kingdom: A study investigating intended conservation action, Curator, 47(3), 322-343.
Ellenbogen, K.M., Luke, J.J. & Dierking, L.D. (2004). Family learning research in museums: An emerging disciplinary matrix? In Dierking, L.D., Ellenbogen, K.M & Falk, J.H. (Eds). In Principle, In Practice: Perspectives on a Decade of Museum Learning Research (1994-2004), Supplemental Issue. Science Education. 88: 48-58.

Dierking, L.D., Falk, J.H., Rennie, L., Anderson, D., & Ellenbogen, K. (2003). Policy statement of the "Informal Science Education" Ad Hoc Committee. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40(2), 108-111.

Dierking, L.D. & Falk, J.H. (2003) Optimizing out-of-school time: The role of free-choice learning. New Directions for Youth Development. 97 (Spring), 75-88.

Recent Grant/Funded Work

NSF #ESI-0452419. The Impact of Informal Science on Girls' Interest, Engagement, and Participation in Science Communities, Hobbies and Careers: A Research and Dissemination Project. 2005-2008. Co-Principal Investigator.

NSF#ESI-0318868 In Principle, In Practice: The Second Annapolis Conference on Museum Learning. 2003-2006. Co-Principal Investigator

NSF #ESI-9801940 Adults Supporting Kids with Science (ASK with Science). 1998-2002. Principal Investigator.

Courses Taught

SED 589 (Spring 2007) Role of Lifelong Science and Mathematics Learning in Building Sustainable Communities

SED 583 (Winter 2008) Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Free-Choice Learning

Committees and Honors:

Doctoral Advisor for SMED

Member, University Outreach & Engagement Council

Degrees:

BA Biology with Honors, magna cum laude, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 1978

M.A. Ed. University of Florida, Gainesville, 1981. Thesis Research: "The Relative Effects of Recessing as an Attention- Directing Device in a Museum Exhibit."

Ph.D. University of Florida, Gainesville, 1987. Thesis Research: "Parent-Child Interactions in a Free-Choice Learning Setting: An Examination of Attention-Directing Behaviors."

Office:

Weniger 235

Phone:

Weniger 235

Email:

dierkinl@science.oregonstate.edu