ABOUT
UPCLOSE is an academic home for informal learning. We explore what it means to learn in informal settings. We tinker with innovative designs to support informal learning. We document how museums and community organizations learn and change. And we bring research and practice together through collaboration and field-building initiatives.
RESEARCH TOPICS
parent-child museums creativity robots community web design professional development informal science education family islands of expertise blitz studies prototyping technology research partnerships discourse analysis museum learning youth programs signage learning on the web dinosaurs science observation art sustainability strategic planning conversations early childhood interests
TRAINING
Open post-doc position
Ph.D. programs in Learning Science and Policy, Cognitive Studies, or Cognitive Psychology
Undergraduate internships
Courses we teach
ACTIVE PROJECTS
City as Learning Lab: Spreading Technological Fluency Through Creative Robotics
Understanding the student and community impact of arts-based youth programs
Mapping the Educational Ecology of Pittsburgh
Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE)
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BOOKS
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ARTICLES
Knutson, K. (2008, July). Expertise and experience: Museums, a place for talk. Position Paper for the National Academies: Future of Libraries and Museums in the 21st Century, Washington DC., 7-8 July 2008.
Eberbach, C. & Crowley, K. (in press). From Everyday to Scientific Observation: How Children Learn to Observe the Biologist’s World. Review of Educational Research.
Bernstein, D. & Crowley, K. (2008). Searching for Signs of Intelligent Life: An Investigation of Young Children’s Beliefs About Robot Intelligence. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 17:2, 225-247.
DiSalvo, B.J., Crowley, K. & Norwood, R. (2008). "Learning in Context: Digital games and young black men." Games and Culture 3, 131-141.
Bernstein, D., Crowley, K. & Nourbakhsh, I. (2007). Working with a robot: Exploring relationship potential in human-robot systems. Interaction Studies, 8 (3), 465-482.
Fender, J. G. & Crowley, K. (2007). How parent explanation changes what children learn from everyday scientific thinking. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 28, 189-210.
Palmquist, S.D. & Crowley, K. (2007). From teachers to testers: Parents’ role in child expertise development in informal settings. Science Education, 91(5), 712-732.
Sanford, C., Knutson, K., & Crowley, K. (2007). We Always Spend Time Together on Sundays: Grandparents and informal learning. Visitor Studies, 10(2), 136-151.
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