1 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Achiam et al. (eds.), Addressing Wicked Problems through Science
Education, Contributions from Science Education Research 8,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74266-9_1
Chapter 1
The Role of Out-of-School Science
Education in Addressing Wicked
Problems: An Introduction
Justin Dillon, Marianne Achiam, and Melissa Glackin
On Genealogy
This book is part of the European Science Education Research Association
(ESERA) Science Education Research Series. The aim of the series and the way in
which the aim is realised is outlined on the ESERA website, as follows:
The aim of the series is to enhance the quality and impact of research in science education
in Europe. To achieve this, books present and discuss, for the beneft of the scholarly com-
munity and other users of research, the fndings of high-quality research in the domain of
science education and in-depth explorations of specifc methodological strands in science
education research. The series aims to publish books that are innovative in the issues they
explore, or the methods they use, or the ways in which emergent knowledge in the feld is
represented. It includes edited collections of chapters on a specifc theme, monographs and
handbooks. (ESERA, n.d.)
ESERA has a number of Special Interest Groups (SIGs). This book emerges
from the work of one of them – ‘Science Education in Out-of-School contexts’. The
SIG members carry out research in a range of contexts including museums, science
centres, aquaria, zoos, botanical gardens, natural open or green spaces and science
fairs and competitions. The three editors of this volume were the frst coordinators
of the SIG. When we were planning this book, all SIG members were invited to
contribute. Several years later, here it is.
J. Dillon (*)
Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
e-mail: j.s.dillon@exeter.ac.uk
M. Achiam
Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
M. Glackin
School of Education, King’s College London, London, UK