Bringing scientific knowledge to the community : young people's changing perspectives towards science in view of the first Maltese edutainment centre

Abstract

With the increasing emphasis on the informal aspect of education where students are no longer treated as empty receptacles to fill with knowledge but as individuals who can be aided to discover knowledge on their own, new approaches to learning have been developed. These approaches can not only be used in established educational institutions but also in recreation and leisure centres commonly frequented by students. Within these parameters, a new approach that merges education and entertainment was developed during the last two decades and is currently referred-to as edutainment. This notion gave rise to the establishment of centres that present alternative means of entertainment that are also educational. Some of these are science discovery centres and are widely diffused worldwide. One of these centres opened in Malta in November 2000 as part of the Bay Street complex in St. George's Bay. The Discovery Centre, as it is called, is a commercial enterprise that aims to present science in an innovative and interactive way. The study, which is the first local work of its type, is aimed at exploring the impact of the new centre on young people with emphasis on science education. The first part of the study introduces the project whilst a literature research on the main issues related to informal education and edutainment is presented in the second part. The third part gives an overview of the new centre together with its displays and the fourth section contains an analysis of the displays at the centre with reference to their educational value and suitability. Research work done with young people visiting the centre is presented in the fifth section whilst the conclusion contains a general overview of the results of the study together with recommendations in view of the findings.