There has been little work done on the early experiences of children looking at plant exhibits in botanical gardens. This project, a parallel study to one carried out in zoos, sought to establish what the groups talked about and whether there were differences in content when adults were present and between single sex and mixed groups. The conversations were collected during primary school visits to the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, England, whilst the groups looked at plant specimens. Transcripts of the conversations were analysed using a systemic network. The results show that children talked
Classroom tasks should develop a spirit of inquiry and a sense of delight in discovery that will become part of the individual's learning style. Yet in the traditional elementary classroom, the use of worksheets, lectures and basal reading tasks to the exclusion of hands-on, participatory opportunities fails to encourage a child's construction of knowledge. By setting up a problem to be solved, demanding interaction, producing effects from direct actions and allowing variations of approach, cognitive development in children is enhanced. Hands-On Children's Museums encourage contextually
My thesis is that museum exhibitions developed according to Freirean praxis would constitute a better learning opportunity for visitors, facilitate the process of evaluation, and enact the favoured museum principles of dialogic communication and community-building. This project constitutes a cross-fertilisation of adult education, cultural studies and museum practice. In the last few decades, museum professional practice has become increasingly well informed by cultural critique. Many museum institutions have been moved to commit to building communities, but the question of how to do so via
This article characterizes the relationship between the museum and its visitors as a dialogic process that enables a play between the public narratives of the museum and the private narratives of the viewers. The museum is presented as a performative site where its dominant socially and historically constructed pedagogy engages in a critical dialogue with the viewer's memories and cultural histories. Five pedagogical strategies are provided to comprise a critical performative pedagogy in museums: performing perception, autobiography, museum culture, interdisciplinary, and performing the
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Charles Garoian
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Although cooperative, interorganizational networks have become a common mechanism for delivery of public services, evaluating their effectiveness is extremely complex and has generally been neglected. To help resolve this problem, we discuss the evaluation of networks of community-based, mostly publicly funded health, human service, and public welfare organizations. Consistent with pressures to perform effectively from a broad range of key stakeholders, we argue that networks must be evaluated at three levels of analysis: community, network, and organization/participant levels. While the three
This article presents six reasons why giant screen films are educational. (1) They are an experiential medium. (2) They support active learning. (3) They support different learning styles. (4) They support formal education. (5) They support family learning. (6) Giant screen viewers want to learn and be inspired.
This article discusses museum field trips and a study that investigated teacher approaches to visiting out-of-school learning environments for science education. This article describes teachers' and (adolescent) students' differing experiences of field trips, and discusses the need for 'museums' to communicate more effectively with teachers and students prior to school field trips.
This article discusses the goals, methods, and findings of a research study conducted by staff at the Monterey Bay Aquarium to evaluate their revised sea otter feeding program. The study evaluated the success of the volunteer training and peer coaching program as well as the effectiveness of the new program format in promoting the aquarium's mission.
This article discusses the development of the "New Heart of the Zoo" exhibit project at the San Diego Zoo. Old monkey cages and a bird yard from the 1930's will be replaced with multispecies habitats representing both Asian and African rainforests. This article outlines goals, methods and findings of a three-week formative evaluation for the new exhibit.
This article discusses the ways in which museums can serve people with all types of disabilities,beyond making doorways, entrances, elevators, parking, and restrooms accessible. It outlines how museums can improve intellectual access to all.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mackenzie Massman
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this brief article, Nina Jensen, Director of the Museum Education Program at Bank Street College of Education, responds to the question about the role of internships in preparing professionals for a museum career. Jensen also advises what one should look for in an internship.
In this article, Christine L. Brandenburg, of Rice University's Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning, discusses her research of the use of computer technology in children's museums. Bradenburg focuses on the research methods used to address how and why visitors use computer technology in children's museums. The first section of the article presents the research methods, placing them in the context of the naturalistic inquiry design of the research. The second section discusses the research methods with respect to visitor studies and to studies of computer technology in museums.