In this article, Robert Kiihne, Director of Exhibits at the USS Constitution Museum, describes the planning and research process associated with the "Sailors Speak" and "A Sailor's Life for Me!" exhibitions. The team studied how to encourage Family Learning through hands-on, minds-on, exhibit elements. This article describes research results and makes recommendations about how to better engage multi-generational groups in the educational experience.
This article features critiques of the "Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear" exhibit at the Liberty Science Center. Brenda Cowan, Chairperson of the Graduate Exhibition Design program at SUNY/Fashion Institute of Technology, Paul Orselli, Chief Instigator of Paul Orselli Workshop, and Martin Weiss, Science Interpretation Consultant at the New York Hall of Science, share their analysis of the exhibition and assess its strengths and weaknesses.
In this article, Minda Borun, Director of Research and Evaluation at The Franklin Institute Science Museum, discusses how and why exhibit designers need to design experiences for multi-age groups (families) not individual users. Borun sites exemplars from the field who've successfully created immersive experiences for multi-generational visitors.