This is a summary of an article by W.G. Conway featured in "Curator" in 1968, which describes the narrative of a dream. In the dream, a devil called "M" takes the author through a bullfrog exhibit to demonstrate the unlimited possibilities of exhibitng even the most common type of species.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationW.G. Conway
In this article, Michael Pierce of the Anniston Museum summarizes D. Jenkins's research on interactive technologies featured in the "Proceedings of the 1985 American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums." Jenkins divides interactive exhibits into four types: comparisons, extending human senses, learning play, and conservation.
This is a brief summary of a 1982 report by Jacksonville State University researchers entitled "Research and Design at the Reid Park Zoo." This report outlines design research by describing an evaluation of the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson. The authors suggest three ways that careful design research benefits a facility and identify principles for better zoo design.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationJ MartinJ O'Reilly
This is a brief summary of the historical periods described in Jon Coe's 1986 article entitled "Towards a Coevolution of Zoos, Aquariums, and Natural History Museums." Coe traces the history of exhibit design in these three types of informal settings.
This is a brief summary of Jeff Hayward's article, "Research and Evaluation in Children's Museums: Negative, Positive Results" featured in the ILVS Review. This article discusses several aspects of evaluation.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationJeff Hayward
This is a summary of Roger Miles's 1986 article, "Lessons in 'Human Biology' - Testing a Theory of Exhibition Design," featured in "The International Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship." In this article, Miles described an attempt to apply 11 "initial working assumptions" based on current education and psychological research to the development of an exhibit.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationRoger Miles
In this article, researchers from Ohio State University discuss evaluation methods and findings of a study of the Old Woman Creek school visitor program. Researchers evaluated changes in knowledge, shifts in attitude, and enjoyment levels of the visiting schoolchildren.
This article summarizes methodology and key findings from research to determine the effectiveness of several aspects of the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve on Lake Erie visitor center for providing public information about the value of estuaries. Researchers investigated how knowledge and attitudes of adults change with each visit, the factors that contribute to differing visitor experiences, how types of exhibits, readability, and placement relate to knowledge changes, and if a computer can serve as a testing device in a visitor center.
In this article, Ohio State University researchers discuss the Importance-Performance analysis tool and its application in non-profit leisure settings such as a park.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gary W. MullinsBetsy L. Schultz Spetich
Plantations, the botanical garden and arboretum of Cornell University, is developing a model program of informal education for elementary (K-5) school children. Project LEAP, Learning About Plants, will integrate the academic resources of Cornell University and the informal setting of its botanic gardens with the teaching of mathematics and science in local elementary schools. The project contains five components: 1) a conceptually-based curriculum of biology, ecology and agriculture which will include some components of SCIS (Science Curriculum Improvement Study) and OBIS (Outdoor Biology Instructional Strategies); 2) a teacher training workshop to stimulate curriculum integration and modification; 3) multiple two-year visits between Plantations and local schools providing children with direct experience with plants and animals; 4) a quantitative program of curriculum development and evaluation based on learning theory; and 5) a plan for dissemination of the structure and instructional contents of this program. Because children will experience LEAP over a period of years, the complex and meaningful learning of concepts in science will be achieved in the earliest years of a child's education. Because LEAP is being designed to become a model program applicable to many institutions of informal education, two publications will be produced: a notebook which describes the overall structure of the program, and a handbook for teachers which presents the individual lessons of the curriculum and the theoretical background supporting the choice of curriculum material. The notebook will distinguish those elements of the program peculiar to Cornell and Plantations, and mechanisms through which the program can be adapted to other institutions. The project is being split-funded by the Instructional Materials Development and Informal Science Education Programs.
The California Academy of Sciences, a major natural history institution located in San Francisco, will develop Life Through Time, a large permanent exhibition on evolution that will inform and challenge visitors as they "walk through" a series of exhibits which encourages them to touch and explore. The exhibition will cover the history of life on earth, how scientists recognize and evaluate change through time, the scientific method and process of discovering, and the impact of evolution. A teacher's educational resource kit with hands-on materials will be developed for use in the schools along with teacher training courses. The exhibition will reach a substantial audience, over a million and a half visitors per year. Additionally, 44% of the San Francisco elementary school children are visited each year by Academy docents, the mobile classroom reaches 7,000 Bay Area residents, over 5,000 children and adults take classes at the Academy and 10,000 school children visit the museum each year.