National Science Museum, Science Sharing Camp Changes from Overnight to Day Visit Format

"For Mitigating Science Education Gaps Among Social Classes in the COVID-19 Era"

▲National Science Museum.
Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The National Science Museum announced on the 22nd that it will newly operate a science sharing camp for children at local children's centers and special schools in celebration of Science Month in April.

This camp has been operated as a 1-night, 2-day overnight camp by inviting students from science experience education underserved areas without science museums to the museum. However, this year, to alleviate educational disparities between social classes that may arise due to COVID-19, the scope of education has been expanded to support vulnerable students who, despite being close to the science museum, had difficulty accessing the museum's experiential education.

The curriculum is centered on software-related experiences and practice, which are essential in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution. University students belonging to the KAIST Midam Scholarship Association serve as mentors and directly visit five local children's centers and two special schools to conduct classes. Instead of the 1-night, 2-day overnight experience, they visit each institution five times to allow focused experiences on selected topics.

Yoo Guk-hee, director of the National Science Museum, said, "The gap in science education among students may widen due to COVID-19," and added, "Through the expansion of on-site visits and non-face-to-face science experiences, the National Science Museum will strive more actively to ensure that anyone can enjoy science regardless of their living environment or residential area."

The National Science Museum plans to operate a hybrid course combining face-to-face and non-face-to-face methods for youth in science experience education underserved areas such as the mountainous regions of Gangwon Province in the second half of the year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.