https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3931-3824
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ABSTRACT
This paper examines the praxeology of informal educational practices (i.e. how participants produce setting-specific practices to make a tour happen) in the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra through close analysis of a video-recorded excerpt of a guided tour. Guided visits in informal science settings are important educational events that take place every day in many institutions. Even so, research addressing these activities in detail remains scarce. It is assumed that tours are “structured” interactions, having a stable format in which participants follow predetermined actions. Nonetheless, the results of this study show that the guided tour observed here is highly interactive, with educational practices being co-accomplished by participants (guides and students) with different levels of astronomical expertise. The present study aims to contribute to our understanding of guided tours, and in so doing shows the importance of methods for data analysis sensitive to naturally occurring events.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) of Macau under Grant 0054/2019/A. The authors would like to thank the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra, Portugal, for their availability and permission in collecting and using the data.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. By informal education we refer, in a broad sense, to flexible education, with a degree of organisation and planning. It can occur in different settings, like museums, observatories or public spaces. It is collaborative and non-linear depending on the context where it occurs (Marques and Freitas Citation2016, Citation2017).
2. By structured interactions, we mean interactions conducted by a guide, rather than unstructured ones, where the public visits or conducts activities on their own.
3. Written consent for the use of these data for research purposes was given.
5. Every single event is unique because the participants, the setting, the conditions are never exactly the same. However, this does not mean that we cannot find patterns in these interactions. Although their production is unique, single events exhibit ethno-methods that are massively present in people’s daily work. In other words, they exhibit common practices that escape our attention if not observed in detail, in just that specific moment in which it is produced.
6. Observations of the Sun are possible but are contingent upon the use of special filters. However, at the time of filming, the filter was not available. This was explained by the guide some moments earlier, which is unchallenged by visitors. For the practical purposes of the guided tour, this is a professionally acceptable account.
7. see for clarification of the spatial configuration.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Joana B. V. Marques
Joana B. V. Marques holds a BA in Physics, and a MPhil and PhD in Science Education. She is a researcher in Informal Education and Astronomy Education and has a wide experience working in museums, planetariums and other informal science education institutions.
Andrew P. Carlin
Andrew P. Carlin is a research consultant. He has taught ethnomethodology and sociology, and currently teaches space and design in academic and public environments. He has published on astronomy education, ethnography, ethnomethodology, information work and public space.
Ricardo Moutinho
Ricardo Moutinho is an Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Macau. He explores issues in the field of Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis focusing on the “Sequential and Categorial Analysis of Interaction” and “Learning Moments in Formal and Informal Educational Environments”