Guided by contextual and constructivist perspectives, this study situates museumgoing in the everyday lives of children, exploring how children perceive their experiences in museums in relationship to the other places they visit. Children tended to categorize places by their relationship to them, placing museums most frequently in groupings organized by quality descriptors, when they visit, and social context. They perceive and value museums as places to look at unique, special things of interest to them. Most children prefer visiting museums with family and friends, with control of their
This paper discusses objectives, methods, and findings from a 1992 comprehensive evaluation of the Children's Museum, part of the Canadian Museum of Civilization. This classical program evaluation aimed to inform the planning and designing of an expansion project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Nancy StaiseyHarry Needham
resourceresearchMuseum and Science Center Programs
In this paper, Florence Bramley of The Graphics Group presents an exercise and research that encourage gentler approaches to warning messages used in museums or zoos.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Amy Cota and Stephen Bitgood address the following evaluation questions: (1) Would label reading decrease when the number of labels is increased? (2) Do groups who visit in families behave differently than groups composed of adults only? and (3) Do label readers view exhibit objects longer than nonreaders? The researchers share findings from a study that evaluated these questions in the Egyptian Mummy gallery at the Anniston Museum of Natural History.
Almost every metropolitan area has an informal science setting, such as a natural history museum, zoo, science center or planetarium (Laetsch et al, 1980). Visitor demographics over the years have consistently shown that family groups constitue approximately 60% of all visitors to these settings (Bickford et al, 1992; Balling et al, 1985; Alt, 1980; Laetsch et al, 1980; Ham, 1979; Borun, 1977; Cheek et al, 1976). U.S. Bureau of the Census statistics in 1984 indicated that museum-going was rapidly becoming the single most popular, out-of-the-home family activity in American and this was
The Exploratorium is developing a model program that demonstrates the vital role science museum exhibits can play in supporting formal science education reform. The development of exhibitions and enhancement activities is based on the Science Framework for California Public Schools and the emerging National Science Education Standards. The project includes: A series of four museum exhibitions (with a total of 60 exhibits) based on the Science Framework themes of Patterns of Change, Stability, Scale and Structure, and Systems and Interactions Publications (Exhibit Guides and Pathways) for each collection A series of workshops and evening events for teachers, families and students A symposium, video and Internet resource for museum and education professionals An important feature is an information desk and resource kiosk to inform teachers, parents and the general public about science education reform efforts. The project aims at 5,000 teachers, 32,000 parents and caregivers, 140,000 students and 1,320,000 members of the general public.
The National Science Outreach Network will provide school children, teachers, and the general public with highly accessible interactive exhibits dealing with popular topics in science and technology. The network, initiated as a partnership between regional science centers and public libraries, will be modeled after the highly successful statewide Oregon Library Exhibits Network established in 1987. Through this smaller network, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, a nationally recognized pioneer in science exhibitry and outreach programming, circulates small hands-on exhibits to rural population centers through installations in public libraries, where school groups and families have free and convenient access. This national dissemination project will be initiated in five regional sites across the country (Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee, and Oregon) to further establish the model in rural, inner-urban, economically disadvantaged, and culturally diverse regions. With support from both the NSF and the regional networks, The National Science Outreach Network will design and duplicate six exhibits for circulation to dozens of local communities in each designated region. Over the next seven years, over six million individuals, many of whom do not currently frequent a local science center, will be introduced to popular science in a non-threatening, resource- rich setting. This will encourage further exploration and possible future visits to an accessible science center, and ultimately establish an ever-expanding network of museum and non-museum partners providing science and technology learning opportunities to millions of individuals each year.
The Family Science Learning Project is comprised of a research study and subsequent program development designed to fundamentally improve family science learning in museums. The endeavor will be carried out in the Philadelphia area by PISEC, a partnership of The Academy of Natural Sciences, The Franklin Institute, the Thomas H. Kean New Jersey State Aquarium at Camden and the Philadelphia Zoo, joined for this project by the University of the Arts. To achieve the goal of fostering science literacy by encouraging families to engage in successful learning strategies while visiting science museums, PISEC has identified the following objectives for the project: - To increase understanding of the processes and potential of science museum-based family learning. - To apply this understanding to the development and implementation of effective program and exhibit enhancements in four science museums. - To involve existing staff so that evaluation and research become an ongoing component of program and exhibit development in the participating museums. - To utilize a multi-institution team approach designed to maximize impact, be cost-effective and be replicable in other regions across the country. The project has three phases. First, a research study using ethnographic data collection and focus groups will be conducted at the participating museums. This study will lead to the formulation of a set of criteria for successful family science learning and hypotheses about what is needed to facilitate this behavior. Second, utilizing these findings, the four institutions will develop four distinct programs and/or exhibit enhancements designed to foster positive family learning experiences. Formative evaluation and inter-museum collaborative will be integral parts of this process. Finally, the summative findings of the individual efforts will be compared to look for constants in successful programming across the sites. Results will be assembled in a handbook which will be widely disseminated to the field. In carrying out this study, the project will fill in the body of existing museum-based family learning research. The knowledge gained will give science museum professionals a new set of tools which can be used to increase the frequency of positive learning experiences in their facilities, and to broaden the diversity of visiting families as well. Because the subject matter under investigation represents a wide range of scientific disciplines, the results of the projects should prove applicable to many different types of informal science learning environments, including science centers, natural history museums, zoos, aquariums and botanic gardens. The collaborative nature of the project will serve as a model for similar partnerships among cultural institutions and universities in other large metropolitan areas.
The Magic School Bus Museum Collaborative, requests through Discovery Places, Inc., NSF support for six science museums and Scholastic Productions, Inc., to develop science education materials that capitalize on the interest and excitement in the forthcoming Magic School Bus television series and the Magic School Bus books. Over a three year period the collaborative will provide basic science education activities and demonstrations through museum educational programming. The collaborative will provide tools and support for teachers to use the Magic School Bus themes in their science curriculum and provide hands-on science classroom experiences using mobile museum exhibits. Working with the National Urban League, ASPIRA, the AAAS Black Church Project, and other youth serving organizations, the collaborative will encourage multi-ethnic participation in these museum programs. The numbers of children and their families who will be reached by the Magic School Bus Museum Collaborative are significant. The components of the project are a planetarium program (100 copies), two 1200 square feet traveling exhibits, and activity and programming guide, table-top exhibits and program, and 2 teacher enhancement workshops. Collectively, these components can reach conservatively over 5 million museum visitors in the first year. Coupled with the new television series, the Magic School Bus can have a tremendous impact on the education of young people in the sciences.
The Brooklyn Children's Museum (BCM) is requesting $242,753 from the National Science Foundation to introduce a traveling version of the Museum's award-winning, interactive science exhibit, ANIMALS EAT: DIFFERENT FEASTS FOR DIFFERENT BEASTS. ANIMALS EAT was designed to assist children in the formation of their concept of a living thing. The exhibition specifically focuses on familiar animals, and on eating in order to illustrate this complex idea. Throughout the exhibit, where appropriate, human parallels demonstrate the interrelatedness of all living things. The touring exhibit will incorporate the in-depth research, development and extensive evaluation that went into the installation at BCM. It will encompass approximately 2,000 square feet and will travel to at least ten locations over a perior of two-and-one-half years, offering hundreds of thousands of children and families a unique and exciting way to learn important natural science concepts. As part of the touring package, the Museum will also circulate Evi"Dents," a science curriculum kit developed for grades 3-5. Using activity books, natural science specimens and investigation tools, Evi"Dents" provides an interactive seven-week study of teeth for teachers and students that develops students' scientific and research skills. Through loans to local schools at the tour sites, Evi"Dents" will complement and extend the educational potential of the exhibition.
In the Fall of 1994 The New York Botanical Garden will begin its second 100 years of commitment to science education with the opening of the Children's Adventure Garden and the Children's Adventure Trails. As two components of the Children's Adventure Project , these informal science education facilities will use participatory discovery to engage urban children and their families in learning botanical science, inquiry skills, positive attitudes towards science, and the methods of scientists. In the 1.5 acre Adventure Garden children will interact with living plants and fabricated exhibits to discover fundamental principles of plant biology; and in the one mile of Adventure Trails they will closely observe interdependencies of complex ecosystems using the framework of these fundamental principles. To expand visitor understanding of plant biology and the ways that scientists study it, Investigation Stations, integral components of each facility, will be placed so that visitors will handle, sense, and observe living plants in situ and interact with fabricated exhibits and scientific tools. The Project will be developed by NYBG staff educators and scientists with on-going participation of a broad spectrum of advisors and consultants, including exhibition designers, evaluators, community school teachers, and environmental education specialists.
The Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary requests $58,414 from the Informal Science Education Program of the National Science Foundation to infuse an environmental education message with innovative approaches to visitor self-instruction, through the two elements which comprise our Communities and Connections in the World of Nature project. This $364,097 project is an ambitious attempt to introduce and involve BBWS visitors with the fascinating interactions of life which hold all living communities together. Fine and coarse grain examination of 11 ecological concepts (e.g., habitat, human impacts, energy flow, etc.) central to these interactions is achieved through a creative blend of innovative public programs, museum-style interactive exhibits, engaging graphics and habitat-oriented live animal displays. Specifically, NSF funding will allow BBWS to: 1) Develop and conduct participatory educational programs (Jr. Naturalist/ages 5-8, Jr. Ecologist/ages 9-12) that introduce ecological themes and concepts to families and school groups. 2) Develop and produce a 180 sq. ft. computer-based interact exhibit (Habitat Puzzle) that encourages visitors to explore ecological concepts of habitat composition in depth.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Tyrus William BaumannKimberly KasterMichael Reed