Biosphere 2 as an informal learning platform to assess motivation, fascination, and cognitive achievement for sustainability

Educational outreach facilities provide unique opportunities to learn sciences at the forefront of research. An example is Biosphere 2, a site of environmental and ecological research, which is coupled to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Research facilities can evoke the relevance of sciences in everyday life. This is important in secondary schooling to increase students’ engagement in sciences, while environmental challenges continue to expand. We therefore examined the role of fascination and motivation on learning with 5th to 12th grade students who participated in a half- to full-day on-site education program. Our data confirmed the construct of fascination through Rasch and factor analysis, revealed substantial knowledge gains, showed effects of motivation and fascination on knowledge scores, and suggested that authentic learning enhanced science engagement. Results further indicated that both instruments measure an analogous construct, while motivation appeared to have more predictive power on cognitive achievement.