Thunderbolt hunt. Educational Program for Students from 5 to 9 Years Old in the Archaeological Museum of Ioannina

Abstract

The present study aims to improve the quality and the effectiveness of Science Education in early grades along withthe goals of UNESCO’s emerging agenda for sustainable development and the 4th goal about quality in education. Itexamines the interaction between formal and non-formal education in designing and organizing complete educationalprograms directly connected with science education curriculum and utilizing innovative tools targeting to anattractive and rich context for science education. According to the second Science Centre World Summit (SCWS,2017), museums promote scientific knowledge which is considered a pure cultural component and as such it isstudied under the prism of cultural historical activity theory. Activity Theory is used in this research as a theoreticalframework for the design and analysis of educational activities, with an emphasis on active and interactive learningprocesses. It is a predominantly socio-cultural theory offering a broad scope of design and implementation forlinking science with culture and society. The educational program developed, “Thunderbolt hunt”, is different fromthe usual educational programs offered because, although it cultivates scientific method skills, it is implemented inthe Archaeological museum of Ioannina which constitutes a non-formal learning environment of general interest.The process of designing such programs is based on a number of principles and on numerous fields: thesocio-cultural theory of activity, the science education and the museum education. The museum thus becomes afacilitator of scientific knowledge while at the same time functions as a dynamic meeting place for students withtheir social, cultural and historical environment. The preliminary results of the study are presented in this paper.