ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

Hi Everyone,

I'm in the midst of making some decisions about furthering my formal
education, and this is the place to find out if what I'm pondering
fits reality.

I do love the informal science education industry, and I'd like to
gain a graduate degree that will be relevant to the field as well as
have applications in "the rest of the world."  For this reason, I
have ruled out a degree in Museum Studies.  I think its focus is too
narrow for my purposes.

I've been looking at degrees in Cognition, focusing on *how* and *why*
people learn.  Please note this is *not* a "Cognitive Studies" degree
that you'd
find in a computer department, but rather a more interdisciplinary
subcategory within the Education department, and my final goal is
*not* be to a classroom teacher.

I guess I'm trying to find out if I'm shooting myself in the foot by
pursuing a more academic degree as opposed to a more applied degree.
For the time being, I'd like to work towards continuing along my path
in science education, creating effective learning tools.  As for the
future....well, this is why
"Museum Studies" didn't make the cut for me.

If you have thoughts/experiences about graduate school in general, or
about how graduate school was the best thing (or the worst thing)
ever in terms of your career (or in terms of anything else), I
welcome all input.

Please feel free to email me directly at:  [log in to unmask]

Thanks very much,
Julia Berger

PS:  Here's the program that is at the top of my list:
http://depts.washington.edu/cogstudy/

***********************************************************************
More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]