Scientific literacy education outside the classroom #ecil2018

Radovan  Vrana from the university of Zagreb presented on the use of places other than the classroom for teaching and learning, and the focus was on public libraries in Croatia. An online questionnaire was distributed to public library managers, and there was a 35% response rate. 89% were familiar with the term “scientific literacy”, and 47% had one librarian providing science related activities. Lectures and workshops were the most popular activities, followed by debates. The biggest group of “users” of these services were elementary school children, but the second biggest group was adults seeking additional education. Librarians identified that increased funding and increased employees were critical factors for improving science education, and also additional science trading for librarians. There was recognition that learning is a lifelong activity, and that formal education is not enough.