There are few studies concerning museum visitors' understanding of skeleton exhibits and whether such exhibits increase their understanding of the zoology displayed. An exhibition focused on the diversity of vertebrate skeletons and arranged according to the mode of locomotion was set up in Naturalis, the National Natural History Museum of The Netherlands, in Leiden. A prototype explaining the principal components of the skeleton was designed for each type of locomotion, for example, wrigglers, flyers, walkers, crawlers, swimmers. In addition, a panel provided in front of the exhibit case for
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Sue TunnicliffeManon Laterveer-de Beer
This paper describes the integration of handheld computer technology into an existing web-based educational platform, the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) and the synergy it produces. This solution facilitated a research program that explores how handheld computers (PDAs, palmtops, etc.) can expand the scope and functionality of inquiry activities in K-12 science and mathematics curriculum. The paper presents the WISE software and curriculum and explains how combining it with handheld technology creates unique educational opportunities. It then goes on to describe the system that
We know that giant screen films put viewers in places where they have never been, show them amazing things they will never see in everyday life and engage them in a visceral way as no other film experience can. But this is not enough. How can giant screen films combine popular appeal with lifelong learning experiences?
"Birds in the Hood" or "Aves del Barrio" builds on the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's (CLO) successful Project Pigeon Watch, and will result in the creation of a web-based citizen science program for urban residents. The primary target audience is urban youth, with an emphasis on those participating in programs at science centers and educational organizations in Philadelphia, Tampa, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Participants will develop science process skills, improve their understanding of scientific processes and design research projects while collecting, submitting and retrieving data on birds found in urban habitats. The three project options include a.) mapping of pigeon and dove habitats and sightings, b.) identifying and counting gulls and c.) recording habitat and bird count data for birds in the local community. Birds in the Hood will support CLO's Urban Bird Studies initiative by contributing data on population, community and landscape level effects on birds. Support materials are web-based, bilingual and include downloadable instructions, tally sheets, exercises and results. The website will also include a web-based magazine with project results and participant contributions. A training video and full color identification posters will also be produced. The program will be piloted at five sites in year one, and then field-tested at 13 sites in year two. Regional dissemination and training will occur in year three. It is anticipated that 5,000 urban bird study groups will be in place by the end of the funding period, representing nearly 50,000 individuals.
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Rick BonneyJohn FitzpatrickMelinda LaBranche
In April 2001, the Museum of Science in Boston launched the Current Science & Technology Center, an effort to address leading edge research for school and public audiences and to provide depth and context for science and technology stories in the news within a museum context and through various outreach methods. The Museum of Science (MOS), in collaboration with the Institute for Learning Innovation (Institute), has initiated a multi-year evaluation effort designed to support the Current Science & Technology Center and its Health Science Education Partnership through (1) the monitoring and
This article transcribes remarks given by Willard L. Boyd at the Visitor Studies Association Annual Conference in Orlando on August 3, 2001. Boyd discusses the complexities and challenges of museums as centers of public learning based on his experience as the director of the Field Museum in Chicago.
This article discusses a study that investigated whether visitor or visit variables were the best predictors of satisfaction, and whether the predictive power of these variables would differ in different types of visitor institutions. Also studied was whether higher ratings of satisfaction would result in specific visitor intentions. Data were collected from adult visitors at three different institutions: Denver Art Museum, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and Colorado's Ocean Journey, an aquarium.
In this essay, researchers from King's College London, Work, Interaction and Technology Research Group, discuss a particular approach to the analysis of social interaction in museums and galleries, focusing on video-based field studies. The authors also give a few suggestions as to why it might be important to take verbal and physical interactions more seriously when designing, developing and evaluating exhibits and exhibitions.
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Dirk vom LehnChristian HeathJon Hindmarsh
In this article, exhibit developer Hallie Gilbert discusses findings from her master's project in museum studies at John F. Kennedy University. Gilbert investigated the phenomenon of the immersive exhibition, looking specifically at why and how these exhibitions are being developed in increasing numbers in American natural history and science museums. This article summarizes Gilbert's study of why museum professionals are developing immersive exhibitions, what summative evaluations have revealed about this exhibition technique and where the field might go in the future.
There is no single right way to learn things, and no single place or even moment in which we learn. All learning happens continuously, from many different sources, and in many different ways. There are three main educational sectors, the formal education sector of schools and universities, the workplace, and the free-choice learning sector. Of the three, the most frequently over-looked is the free-choice learning sector. The free-choice learning sector includes museums, television, radio, the Internet, magazines, newspapers, books, parks, community organizations of all types: youth, adult
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Institute for Learning InnovationJohn H Falk
The Educational Broadcasting Corporation (WNET) is researching and testing an experimental, short-format television broadcast and Web project entitled "Science InSight." The goal of this experimental research is to determine if short-format television segments can successfully increase Americans' understanding of -- and interest in -- new research in science and technology and, if they can, which of several possible formats is likely to be most successful. During this research and development phase, WNET will test the viability of the project model and develop and refine the model for use in a selected group of media venues such as the forthcoming PBS weekly public affairs program,"Public Square." The specific activities to be undertaken in the research phase include: -assembling an expert board of up to six advisors with expertise in science, science journalism and media; -producing three, experimental, short-format, "program concept" video segments of varying lengths for use as science information pieces in other media programs; -conducting formal and informal testing and evaluation of these test formats for appeal, credibility, clarity and comprehensibility of style and content; and -identifying additional key potential distribution partners from television media, print, Web and science centers outlets.
SoundVision Productions is developing and distributing a series of ten, hour-long public radio documentaries that will explore the turbulent boundary between science and the humanities, capturing the present moment of tremendous scientific and scholarly ferment with the unique and intimate power of radio. By introducing the radio audience to the thoughts and voices of some of the world\'s most accomplished scientists, in conversations with the counterparts in the humanities, the series will look at recent developments in science including physics, molecular and cell biology, environmental science, cognitive psychology and neuroscience, and the multiple disciplines of the life sciences reflecting the increasingly subtle and widespread application of evolutionary theory. In each program, a careful account of new scientific ideas and discoveries will be placed within the context of historical and contemporary thought about the human and natural worlds. Barinetta Scott, the Executive Producer, has most recently been the Executive Producer for the highly regarded NSF funded NPR series, "The DNA Files." In developing this project, she will work closely with an advisory committee that includes: John Avise, Research Professor, Dept. of Genetics, University of Georgia Samuel Barondes, Professor and Director of the University of California San Francisco\'s Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry Terrence Deacon, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Boston University Anne Foerst, Professor of Computer Science and Theology, St. Bonaventure University Ursula Goodenough, Dept. of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis William Irons, Professor of Anthropology, Northwestern University Gordon Kane, Professor of Physics, University of Michigan Jim Miller, Senior Program Associate for the AAAS Program of Dialogue Between Science and Religion W. Mark Richardson, Episcopal Priest, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, General Theological Seminary Holmes Rolston, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Colorado State University Michael Ruse, Professor of the Philosophy of Biology and Ethics, at Florida State University Mary Evelyn Tucker, Professor of Religion at Bucknell University Dorothy Wertz, Senior Scientist; Social Science, Ethics, and the Law; The Shriver Center.