Thoughts on improvable objects, contradiction and object/tool reciprocity in a study of zoo educator professional development

In this forum we discuss three aspects designed to clarify and extend Kelly and Kassing’s paper. These are the roles of improvable objects, contradiction and object/tool reciprocity. In each case we cite relevant literature and pose questions to the field. Our goal is to seed ideas for future discussions concerning the role of activity theory in our current and future research in informal learning settings.