Cracking the Maya Code is a one-hour PBS/NOVA adaptation of the two-hour feature documentary Breaking the Maya Code, based on the book of the same title by Michael D. Coe. Major funding for the project - which included website, eduational and outreach components - was provided by the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Knight Williams Research conducted a summative evaluation of Cracking the Maya Code. The evaluation examined the appeal, clarity, and educational impact of the program, focusing on educating Viewers about: The basic principles that underlie
With funding from Atlantic Philanthropies, the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to evaluate the Traveling Through Time (TTT) program, a 90-minute fieldtrip program facilitated by museum educators that explores the early history of New York City through objects and inquiry. The study explores whether and to what extent the TTT program affects students' attitudes about history and history museums, history knowledge, and history-related skills. In the last 30 years, there has been little rigorous research that investigates the outcomes
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Randi Korn & Associates Inc.Museum of the City of New York
The Minnesota Historical Society contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a summative evaluation of the Minnesota's Greatest Generation exhibition (MGG), which was on view at the Minnesota History Center. The exhibition traces the lives of a generation of Minnesotans born in the 1910s and 1920s through the Depression, War, and Boom. RK&A trained staff and volunteers to conduct 50 interviews with adult visitors to MGG; interviews were audio recorded and transcribed to facilitate analysis. The interview explored visitors' experiences with exhibit components (such as with the
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Minnesota Historical Society
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this article, Phyllis Rabineau, Vice President for Interpretation and Education at the Chicago History Museum, explores the tensions that are unique to history exhibitions. Rabineau shares highlights from conversations with Chicago History Museum colleagues, who have been in the field for 10 years or longer.
In this article, Alan Jacobson, President of ex;it and BAJdesign, shares the lessons he learned in Rwanda, while building a memorial to the 1994 Genocide, in which 1,000,000 people died in 100 days. Jacobson recounts his personal journey in Rwanda as well as how this experience reshaped his core design principles.
In this article, Linda Norris, Managing Partner of Riverhill, recalls her experience as a teaching Fulbright Scholar in Ukraine. Norris focused on professional development in museums through workshops and direct consultations with museums throughout Ukraine. This article summarizes Norris's findings about the state of museums in Ukraine and her personal revelations about museums and museum work.
In this article, Julie Packard, executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, shares her experience launching the Center for the Future of the Oceans policy and advocacy center, in hopes that the story may serve as a useful roadmap for other institutions considering expanding their role in conservation efforts. Packard describes how the center came to fruition, the goals of the institution, public response, recommendations for future work, and implications for the broader museum community.
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Julie Packard
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Board on Science Education (BOSE) of the NRC is a standing committee of the National Academies. This proposal requests core support for BOSE so that it can continue to provide national leadership in science education. Specifically, BOSE (1) improves the knowledge base for science education; (2) identifies critical issues in science education policy and practice; (3) translates research and disseminates evidence-based information; and (4) builds an interdisciplinary community of scholars to bring knowledge to bear on important issues in science education. To carry out its mandate, BOSE conducts studies, sponsors workshop and works with government representatives to surface emerging policy issues. The Board has identified the following priorities for the next few years: intersection on research on learning and science education, cyber-enabled learning and teaching, analysis of the Education System to enable implementation and scale-up, reaching diverse populations, intersection of science and science education The core support enables two two-day Board meetings each year, coordination with DBASSE and other units of the Academy, and regular meetings between NSF and the Academies.
This project comprises the NSF-funded portion of the renovation of a 25,000 sq. ft. natural history gallery called "CHANGING CALIFORNIA." ORIGINAL PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) will develop, implement, and evaluate Hotspot California, a research-based natural science gallery transformation that will explore the educational potential of wildlife dioramas to engage the public in urgent environmental issues. The exhibition will showcase five real places in California that exemplify high biological diversity and complex environmental issues. Innovative approaches to interpretation will emphasize personal connections to these places and infuse static dioramas with visualization technologies that illustrate environmental change over time. The project will explore how such enhancements to dioramas might help visitors develop place-based connections to the natural world. The project has four major deliverables: 1) an innovative 25,000 sq ft gallery exhibition installation featuring five specific California places where California's unique biodiversity is threatened; 2) an application and evaluation of a new participatory exhibit design model involving community contribution, collaboration, and co-design; 3) a two-day "synthesis symposium" for informal science education professionals to consider broad applications of project findings for the field; and 4) "Diorama Dilemmas: A Source book for Museums," synthesizing relevant literature, case studies, and findings from the project's research and evaluation generalizable to the field. The project has evolved since the NSF award, but it remains aligned with its original goals. The team increased the number of California places from five to seven and worked to add a strong human presence within a gallery previously devoted almost entirely to other species. Innovative reuse of OMCA's dioramas and habitat cases continues to be the project's core, but the team's approach has emphasized re-contextualizing rather than revising those exhibits. New elements include iconic artifacts and environments reflecting recent human impact on California, relevant objects from OMCA's art and history collections, digital visualizations of dynamic natural phenomena, and spaces for hands-on investigation. Community focused elements include multiple co-created exhibits and media programs offering inspiring encounters with Californians deeply involved in these seven places.
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) will partner with the City of Portland's Office of Sustainable Development, Metro Regional Government, Portland Community College, Verde, and the Coalition for a Livable Future, to create a series of informal science education experiences on the theme of Sustainability. For this project, sustainability is defined in terms of a triple bottom line of economic, social, and environmental needs. The project responds to calls for broad environmental education of the public in response to environmental crises (such as climate change), and specific research suggesting that even museums that do provide information about such issues rarely help their visitors learn to make the comparisons necessary to make more sustainable choices. For the public audience, the project team will create a 1,500 sq. ft. bilingual (Spanish/English) exhibition to encourage the public to develop skills in making personal choices that affect the sustainability of their community. They will also create 25-40 bilingual cell phone tags that will provide listeners who dial the phone numbers with information, personal perspectives, current STEM research, invitations to contribute ideas or vote on issues, interactive phone-based activities, and links to websites, all in service of helping them make intentional and informed personal decisions on sustainability. The cell phone tags will be located at approximately 100 locations in the Portland area, including predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods, public transit locations, public works, and community projects. The team will also create a bilingual website and will offer quarterly bilingual events at the museum on the topic of sustainable living. For the professional audience, the team will create a set of tools and indicators for assessing the sustainability of exhibit-development processes, using the triple bottom line of financial, environmental, and social impacts. For example, a Green Exhibit Guide will provide resources and a checklist for exhibit development projects, and will propose field-wide standards analogous to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system for green buildings. Regional workshops will engage exhibit developers, designers, fabricators, and administrators in using the tools in their own institutions. The project will create a coordinated set of resources to inform the public about the science of sustainability and to engage them in making informed choices in their daily lives, both in the museum and beyond. The topic of sustainability is timely and important, and the use of cell phones as a mobile technology linked to web resources and an exhibition constitute an innovative synergy of media to create impacts on a city-wide scale. The project serves underrepresented Hispanic audiences through its creation of bilingual materials, placement of cell phone tags, and community involvement in the development process. Finally, the project advances the ISE field in proposing and broadly disseminating a set of standards for green exhibit design, along with developing resources and tools for assessing sustainability. Created in collaboration with other organizations, this work has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of museums while providing highly visible examples of sustainable practices for visitors.
Arizona State University is conducting a May 2010 two-day workshop that will bring together "Next Generation" (NextGen) science communicators (writers, journalists, bloggers, documentary filmmakers, museum professionals); NextGen scholars/researchers in science and technology policy; and publication editors. The goals are: to help improve the communications skills of these professionals, to encourage collaborations of communicators and scholars, and, ultimately, to help the public gain a better understanding of the policy dimensions of STEM by encouraging more effective communications about STEM and policy issues that affect their lives. The workshop provides direct experience in a writing genre called "narrative nonfiction" or "creative nonfiction," a domain in which Gutkind has been a leader. The co-PI, Guston, is a scholar in science and technology policy and an active partner of the NSF-funded Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network. In addition, the Spring 2011 issue of Issues in Science and Technology will include works by the collaborating communicators/scholars. This workshop precedes and informs a larger conference on science policy, The Rightful Place of Science?," funded by others, including NSF's Science, Technology, and Society program.
"Genes to Ecosystems" is a Communicating Research to Public Audiences (CRPA) proposal based upon the Dr. Thomas Whitham's NSF funded research (#0425908 "Frontiers in Integrative Biological Research (FBIR): Ecological Genomics and Heritability: Consequences of Extended Phenotypes"). "Genes to Ecosystems" has two main educational objectives: to introduce a wide sector of the public to new ways of looking at ecosystems, and to show how science happens, with practical outcomes that are meaningful to the public. The CRPA request will support the production of a one-hour documentary film, podcasts, a stand-alone DVD, and radio segments for "Earth Notes." These deliverables are targeted to informal learners and public television viewers in the western United States. The documentary will follow a research project begun in 1982 which demonstrates how genetic variation within a foundation species--in this case cottonwood trees--impacts community members ranging from microbes to mega-fauna. The concept of genes-to-ecosystems has introduced new ways of understanding ecosystems which have practical implications for conserving biodiversity, ecological restoration, coping with climate change, and other public policy issues. The project will be managed by the PI, Dr. Thomas Whitham, and co-PI, Daniel Boone, both at Northern Arizona University.