Preparing Informal Science Educators Perspectives from Science Communication and Education

Patricia Patrick
received her MEd and PhD from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She is an Assistant Professor in Cultural Foundations and Leadership at Columbus State University and an Associate Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick. In cooperation with the Houston Zoo, Dr. Patrick developed a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction for Informal Science Education. She has published numerous articles related to informal science learning, with a focus on sociocultural theory. Her work focuses on the importance of social interactions and the importance of those interactions within families. She published the book
Zoo Talk
. She has been a guest speaker at the Chester Zoo (England), University College London Institute of Education (England), Sao Paulo Zoo (Brazil), and San Diego Zoo where she discussed questioning skills and preparing science communicators. She has been a Visiting Researcher at the Museum fur Naturkunde inBerlin as a researcher on the development of a new Heinz Sielmann exhibit. Her research interests are in informal science education, preparing informal educators, and the influence of family culture and science knowledge on science learning.