Science learning occurs throughout people's lives, inside and outside of school, in formal, informal, and nonformal settings. While museums have long played a role in science education, learning in this and other informal settings has not been studied nor understood as deeply as in formal settings (i.e., schools and classrooms). This position paper, written by learning researchers in a science museum engaged in equity and access work, notes that while the researchers consider the ethics of their work regularly and deeply, little formal guidance exists for the ethical challenges they routinely face in studying science learning. To explore this, the paper first shares contexts of studying informal science education at the Science Museum of Minnesota, including epistemological understandings of both science and research, a commitment to justice‐based equity, and existing ethical guidance and processes. Drawing on three research projects, it explores ethical issues pertaining to (a) museum visitors and (b) museum staff and community members engaging in participatory research. First, as visitors do not generally come to a museum to be part of a research study, learning researchers must consider sampling, representation, and data collection methods, balancing these with a museum‐goer's desires for their visit. Second, when using participatory methodologies with staff, community members, and young people as co‐researchers, ethical considerations involve building relationships, redefining (unanticipated) risks, and data collection and dissemination practices that do not extend existing social inequities or work hierarchies. Ultimately, this position paper argues for expanded or revised ethical guidance that meets the needs of this work, surpasses current guidelines or institutional review board practices, draws on epistemologies outside of a supposedly neutral, individualistic Western framework, and places participants at the center of the work. Such a discussion could enhance the ethical study of science learning across settings.

中文翻译：

---

关于在科学博物馆进行道德学习研究时需要扩大指导的需求

科学学习发生在学校内部和外部的人们的生活中，包括正式，非正式和非正式的环境。博物馆长期以来一直在科学教育中发挥作用，但在这种和其他非正式环境中的学习却没有像在正式环境（例如学校和教室）中那样得到深入研究或理解。这份由研究人员在一家从事公平和获取工作的科学博物馆中的研究人员撰写的立场文件指出，尽管研究人员定期且深入地考虑其工作的道德操守，但对于他们在学习科学学习中经常遇到的道德挑战却几乎没有正式的指导。为了对此进行探讨，本文首先分享了在明尼苏达州科学博物馆学习非正式科学教育的背景，包括对科学和研究的认识论理解，对基于正义的公平的承诺，以及现有的道德指导和程序。它基于三个研究项目，探讨了与（a）博物馆参观者和（b）参与研究的博物馆工作人员和社区成员有关的道德问题。首先，由于参观者通常不会来博物馆参加研究，因此学习型研究人员必须考虑采样，表示和数据收集方法，以平衡博物馆参观者的参观欲望。其次，在与员工，社区成员和年轻人作为共同研究人员一起使用参与式方法时，道德考量涉及建立关系，重新定义（无法预料的）风险以及不会扩大现有社会不平等或工作等级制度的数据收集和传播实践。最终，本立场文件主张扩大或修订道德指导，以满足这项工作的需要，超越当前的指导方针或机构审查委员会的做法，在所谓的中立，个人主义的西方框架之外借鉴认识论，并将参与者置于工作​​的中心。这样的讨论可以增强跨环境的科学学习的道德研究。