The following document summarizes results from a literature review conducted in Fall 2004 to inform the development of a nationwide research project that will explore universal access to the learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in museums. Through this project, the Museum of Science, with four collaborating institutions, will further the industry's knowledge and understanding of ways to create museum exhibitions that are inclusive of the learning needs of all museum visitors, including those with disabilities. Guiding the literature review was a topical
Overarching evaluation questions focus on continuous improvement, the degree to which the Salmon Camp project achieves its objectives with regards to students' skills and attitudes, as well as implementation and outcome questions. Evaluation activities are designed to probe five major areas: 1. Student Knowledge and Skills. To what extent do students gain experience with digital tools, field research, and workplace skills? 2. Student Attitudes. How are students' attitudes and self-efficacy as science students changing with involvement in Salmon Camp? How are career interests changing or
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Phyllis AultOregon Museum of Science and Industry
Multi-Touch technology provides a successful gesture based Human Computer Interface. The contact and gesture recognition algorithms of this interface are based on full hand function and, therefore, are not accessible to many people with physical disability. In this paper, we design a set of command-like gestures for users with limited range and function in their digits and wrist. Trajectory and angle features are extracted from these gestures and passed to a recurrent neural network for recognition. Experiments are performed to test the feasibility of gesture recognition system and determine
Multi-touch gestures have become popular on a wide range of touchscreen devices, but the programming of these gestures remains an art. It is time-consuming and error prone for a developer to handle the complicated touch state transitions that result from multiple fingers and their simultaneous movements. In this paper, we present Gesture Coder, which by learning from a few examples given by the developer automatically generates code that recognizes multi-touch gestures, tracks their state changes and invokes corresponding application actions. Developers can easily test the generated code in
Assessing the Impact of a Visit to a Zoo or Aquarium: A Multi-institutional Research Project will create a functional taxonomy of zoo/aquarium visitors' entering knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. This taxonomy, in conjunction with data about the specific experiences visitors have during their visit, will enable investigators to understand and predict the contribution of zoos and aquariums to the public understanding of animals and their conservation. The results will clarify the role of zoos and aquariums as centers of informal learning and point to ways to strengthen their educational impact. The AZA convened a national advisory committee that commissioned and completed a thorough review, confirming a critical need to conduct more research, particularly research that attempts to ask broad questions, collect data systematically, and includes sufficient number and types of institutions to permit community-wide generalizations. Twelve AZA institutions of various sizes, geographic regions and types will participate in the study. The net result of the study will be a descriptive model of zoo and aquarium visitor learning experiences and development of a set of diagnostic tools to help zoo and aquaria staff understand and enhance the nature and extent of their public impact.
In this article, Eugene Dillenburg, an Exhibit Developer at The Science Museum of Minnesota, shares a collection of stories from colleagues about their experiences in the museum field. The stories relate to defining moments in their career paths including how they began in the museum field, early experiences, witnessing the impact of their work, dealing with controversy, powerful interactions with objects, and career mobility and shifts.
In this article, Joyce Cheney, independent exhibit developer and curator of HELP's Apron Strings exhibit, and Edana McSweeney, co-director of the Hands-on Experiential Learning Project (HELP), describes how the project, created by the Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA), provides customized, on-site training to institutions without disrupting daily museum operations or community access. The authors also describe the impact of HELP on a small institution--The Depot Museum--in Henderson, Texas.
This article highlights four controversial exhibits from various institutions who, in the end, used controversy to their advantage. The authors include Kimberly Louagie, Curator of Exhibits at the Outagamie County Historical Society in Appleton, Wisconsin, Saudia Muwwakkil, Public Information Officer at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, Diane Perlov, Senior Vice President for Exhibits at the California Science Center, and John Russick, Curator at the Chicago Historical Society.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Kimberly LouagieSaudia MuwwakkilDiane PerlovJohn Russick
In this article, Caitlin McQuade, an interpretive project developer, describes how four small history museums in St. Louis operate on tighter budgets while still fulfilling their missions. Through creative partnerships and comprehensive historical research, the leaders of these institutions have found ways to overcome the challenges of limited resources.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Caitlin McQuadeNational Association of Museum Exhibition
In this article, four panelists examine changes in exhibit design, identify the trends and currents that are feeding these changes, encourage more nuanced understanding of these implications, and evaluate the impact on the field. Panelists include Phyllis Rabineau, Deputy Director for Interpretation and Education at the Chicago Historical Society, Maeryta Medrano, Principal Director and President at Gyroscope, Inc., Paul Martin, Director of Exhibits at The Science Museum of Minnesota, and Lou Casagrande, President and CEO at the Boston Children's Museum.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Lou CasagrandePaul MartinMaeryta MedranoPhyllis Rabineau
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This article presents examples of practical strategies for developing a positive and productive working relationship between museum clients and outside design firms contracted to develop exhibits. Authors include Donna R. Braden, Lead Experience Developer at The Henry Ford, Joseph Hines, Owner and Principal/Designer of Project Arts & Ideas, and Sharon Klotz, Director of Exhibitions at the Brooklyn Children's Museum.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Donna BradenJoseph HinesSharon Klotz
In this article, Paul Orselli, President and Chief Instigator of POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop), examines the value and process of prototyping for exhibit development. Orselli provides advice on how to make the most of the prototyping process.