Kim Myeong Ji, Kang Da Yeon, Martin Sonya N
Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Cult Stud Sci Educ. 2022;17(2):341-354. doi: 10.1007/s11422-021-10073-5. Epub 2022 Mar 18.
Science museums have long been heralded as important informal science education sites where people can engage in voluntary and experiential science learning. In this paper, we identify and raise questions about how science museum responses to a global pandemic could impact on accessibility of informal science education for the public. To explore these issues, we examined the response of the Gwacheon National Science Museum (GNSM) to COVID-19 in South Korea using publicly available data from the museum website and museum YouTube video channel. Analysis shows that the pandemic has increased and diversified the GNSM's provision of science content for the general public via online platforms, such as YouTube and the museum website. In addition, GNSM educators are preparing special outreach education projects for deaf and blind visitors, who have often been excluded from informal science learning opportunities. By discussing these changes, we seek to raise questions about the potential for a global pandemic, like COVID-19, to affect informal science learning opportunities for a diverse group of people.
长期以来，科学博物馆一直被誉为重要的非正式科学教育场所，人们可以在这里参与自主的体验式科学学习。在本文中，我们识别并提出了一些问题，即科学博物馆对全球大流行的应对措施如何影响公众获得非正式科学教育的机会。为了探讨这些问题，我们利用韩国果川国立科学博物馆（GNSM）网站和博物馆YouTube视频频道上公开的数据，研究了该博物馆对新冠疫情的应对情况。分析表明，疫情通过YouTube和博物馆网站等在线平台，增加了GNSM为公众提供的科学内容，并使其多样化。此外，GNSM的教育工作者正在为失聪和失明游客准备特别的外展教育项目，这些游客往往被排除在非正式科学学习机会之外。通过讨论这些变化，我们试图提出一些问题，即像新冠疫情这样的全球大流行对不同人群的非正式科学学习机会产生影响的可能性。
