Hiša eksperimentov (The House of experiments)
The first Slovenian "hands-on" center

Aims

The house of experiments is a place where a society of open-minded people with the  spirit of curiosity is created ; people who are not afraid to admit that there may be something  they do not know about, and who are ready to learn what they do not know.  Through personal experiences, acquired by experimenting and through the free exchange of ideas between individuals and society the individual's knowledge is enriched. Hiša eksperimentov (HE) aims towards building up personal experience, opening up the free flow of information in the mission to promote science and sustainable learning,  encouraging a positive way of thinking,  with a vision  to become a key factor in building the knowledge based society and  to become a linking place of knowledge, education, economy and media.

Argument for inclusion

Demonstrators - the human interface between the visitors and the policy makers.
© Branko Čeak

The activities of House of Experiments are very broad and they include visits of groups of very first “scientists” children from kindergarten,
primary and secondary education level students, 

teachers, university students, families, couples  and elderly people.  The House of Eperiments  collaborates with teaching and research institutions, fosters innovative thinking and communication between scientists, pupils and teachers, in order to support permanent collaboration among the three parties.

Relevant information in short

Context and conditions

The House of experiments was founded in 1995 by a physicist, Miha Kos. Through well established collaboration with higher educational system – the University of Ljubljana and the research partners, institute “Jožef Stefan” and the Institute for Chemistry, the different Slovenian schools can benefit in establishing connection and direct collaboration. Through practical experiments young people are motivated towards Science Studies, they start questioning and discussing social issues and  participating in debates.

Activities and Contents

Hands-on« exhibits - learning by
experimenting.
© Miha Kos

The main activities are “hands-on” exhibits, where you can test yourself on more than 40 interactive experiments from diverse fields of science. The exhibits are safely constructed, interactive, attractive and scientifically transparent.  The important phase however is also the development of the experiments. Some students from the pedagogical department of Physics department of the University of Ljubljana gained their academic degree by elaborating and writing new science adventures that are performed inside the H.E.
 In order to keep a strong connection with the curriculum, high school teachers are also involved in the process of developing new experiments. In this way the Universities are connected to the high school environment. The participants, after independently constructing and conducting the experiments, become more familiar with natural laws, science and technology, in a straightforward way.

Through discussions between researchers in the field of natural sciences, teachers and secondary school pupils, the researchers most frequently talk to the pupils about their work and the decisions which led them to scientific studies and to carrying out their present profession. Teachers are encouraged to continue such discussions based on events in the H.E, also at school within the curriculum. In this way the activity serves as a bridge building service between science, higher and elementary education.

One of the most important topics in connecting science and educational system are Science Adventures -  science shows, where the “lecturers” adapt themselves to the public, whether children from  kindergarten, primary and secondary education level students,  teachers, university students, families, couples or elderly people. The themes are chosen from different scientific areas. The lecturers are students from the university as well as researchers from HE and  university. Some example of Science Adventures: Gassology, Ligthology, Colourology, Centre of Gravitology,  Eggology,  Bubbleology, etc.

Science Adventures - Science dialogue with the visitors
© Branko Čeak

Scientific questions and answers in public transportation    © Branko Čeak

The Science Adventure program works  well beyond the confines of of premises of HE through visits to Slovenian towns, where adventures are organized for primary school pupils, for primary or secondary school teachers and for local residents.  In this way collaboration and discussion as a basis of a research way of thinking are fostered.

Methodologies  and Curriculum relevance

In all activities, scientific problem-solving methods and methodologies are implemented.

The participants analyze the problem, set the hypothesis, check it through  experiments and analyze the results. The work is interactive and team building and team spirit is encouraged.  “Hands on” exhibits as well as Science adventures are planned in the way to encourage and stimulate interdisciplinary thinking.

Activities are interdisciplinary and interlinked with the primary and secondary schools curriculum. In the planning and decision making process, teachers are contacted and encouraged to take an active part. Through constantly updating web page, suggestions are collected and after being evaluated they are applied in practice as a part of the research education process.

Mutual benefits

A very good communication and exchange of ideas has been established between the H.E. and other educational institutions mostly with the faculty, primary and secondary schools, Ministry of Higher Education and Science and others. By combining formal, informal and non formal education, the participants of the activities get a multilayered and multi-topic view through the curriculum. Experiments themselves initiate a much broader and innovative way of thinking in children and teachers and generate a flow of information from schools to the government and research and also vice-versa.

Through the 10 years of practice, many children who visited, later joined House of Experiments and worked as explainers in the Science Center. Some of them admitted that their choice of study was largely positively influenced by the visit of H.E.
 It is also very specific for our way of work to see families visiting the Science Center after the visit of the House of Experiments by their children with their class. One can notice the children explaining science to their parents. Parents on the other hand can deliver some knowledge from their experiences to the children. In this way yet another goal is reached, namely social aspect of communication within the family.

Evaluation/ educational research

Feedback from the visitors and collaborators, children or parents, teachers or researchers, are collected through several instruments (questionnaires, book of impressions, ...), carefully read and analyzed.  The teachers developing experiments also fulfill a special questionnaire that reflects their experiences in the Centre. Their suggestions and remarks are discussed during internal meetings and with the policy makers, regarding the Science Centre. This kind of experimenting is not a part of the official curriculum; however, some attempts have been made to systematize hands-on experiments as part of the choice in the school program.

Limits and possibilities

It is necessary to systematize the way of financing the HE. The small premises do not meet the expectations of  the public as well as number of new ideas and activities. Due to the limited space the house is typically booked out 5 months in advance. The schools are demanding more exhibits and activities. To fulfill these expectations, it is necessary to find ways to systematize financing, enlarge the Center and increase the manpower.