In this article, Pete Conroy, Curator of Natural History at the Anniston Museum of Natural History (Anniston, AL), summarizes an article written by George Weiner (Supervisory Exhibits Editor at the Smithsonian) in 1963 about writing exhibit labels.
In this article, Gary Clarke, Director of the Topeka Zoo, describes the opening of Gorilla Encounter, a fascinating gorilla exhibit. Clarke's account of the opening day is important because of the successful planning that made standing in line almost a pleasant experience for visitors.
In this article, Steve Bitgood, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Jacksonville State University, presents general principles that can be used to guide exhibit designers, facility planners, and decision-makers of exhibit-type facilities. Bitgood offers two principles of visitor behavior that deal with physical qualities of the exhibit object or spieces.
Six museum education and learning researchers discuss the need to study how people learn and behave in museums and what kind of current research studies should be undertaken. Mary Ellen Munley, in "Back to the Future: A Call for Coordinated Research Programs in Museums," describes the differences between the terms "evaluation,""audience research," and "education research" and recommends establishing major systematic programs of museum-based research that are similar to ones initiated in the 1920s and 1930s. In "Educational Exhibitions: Some Areas for Controlled Research," C. G. Screven
Millions of people visit science museums every year (Kimche, 1978; Koran & Dierking-Shafter, 1982). Accordingly, a great deal has been written in the last few years about hte value of out-of-school learning experiences, museum experiences in particular, for enhancing scientific literacy (c.f. Kimche, 1978; Koran & Baker, 1978; Tressel, 1980; Falk, 1982a). In this paper, [the authors] will discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of museums as agents for science learning.
The St. Louis Science Center is a major metropolitan science museum serving a population of 2.3 million people. One year ago they moved into a new facility at a new location and attendance at the museum has tripled, reaching 600,00 visitors this past year. The center will develop a "Science Playground" in order to teach basic science principles and process through a series of 45 outdoor participatory exhibitions around the major areas of motion, energy, light, sound and the natural environment. The physics of motion will be explored through exhibits such as a friction slide, lunar gravity swing, double-axis human pendulum, etc. Energy exhibits will provide experiences with watermills and water power, fulcrum leverage and solar energy. Light exploration includes a solar column, prisms and rainbows, soundwheel and whisper discs. A weather station will have a rain gauge, anemometer, a variety of barometers, etc. This contemporary playground concept was developed as a response to limitations of indoor facilities and to extend use of outdoor space in a creative manner. The exhibit will be a model for extending science learning opportunities for schools, parks, other science museums and similar institutions. The center surveyed 31 science centers, 82 parks and 85 school districts to gauge interest in use of science playground exhibits, and found a clear interest in this type of project by all sectors surveyed. Exhibit designs will be published and furnished at cost to any facility wishing to replicate all or any part of the exhibition.
The Association of Science-Technology Centers, representing some 170 science museums, receives regular requests for information on the status of science museums, their education programs, exhibits and other activities. To respond to this need, the organization will collect and analyze data on the status and activities of both member and non-member science museums. The material will be published as three reports and made available on computer disks for further study. The information is particularly useful to communities considering new museums, and to trustees and contributors to current museums and others who have an interest in the priorities and policies of education and exhibits programs. The project will be assisted by an advisory committee and Dr. Sue Smock, Director of the Center for Urban Studies, Wayne State University.
The American Psychological Association, in cooperation with the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), will develop a series of exhibits on psychology using a discovery room/science laboratory approach. The exhibition will, for the first time, offer museum visitors a first hand opportunity to explore the tools, methods, and concepts of psychology in such areas as thinking and feeling, dreaming and sleeping, perceiving and communicating. The exhibition will travel to eight museums over 30 months through the ASTC traveling exhibition service and will reach over a million visitors. A wide selection of additional materials and resources such as films, seminars, lectures and workshops will be offered to the participating museums to extend the impact of the exhibition. Plans of the exhibits will be made available to other museums. NSF support represents less than 50% of the total cost of the project.
The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (MMNS) will develop a program over the next two years aimed at teachers and students in grades 3-7. The project will develop teacher kits and "hands-on" exhibits tied to the new state curriculum and to the science television series "3-2-1 Contact". The MMNS is a division of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Conservation and is designated as the official natural science museum by the State Legislature. The Museum has been in operation for 50 years and, since its inception, has served as a resource for classroom teachers. Mississippi has approximately 500,000 public school students attending about 1,000 schools. One third of these children are considered to live below the poverty level and 50 percent are from minority groups--a priority for the NSF. The MMNS has had success with a small pilot project which coordinates science concepts taught in the television series "3-2-1 Contact" with exhibit programs at the Museum. Over the next two years MMNS will expand their "hands-on" exhibits and develop science kits for use in the classroom in coordination with the new state curriculum and the television series. The kits will include museum objects, suggested activities and a teacher's guide. During the first year a series of "Contact Days" will be held with teachers and students across the state to develop and test the effectiveness of the project along with a lecture program by minority and women scientists. During the second year the exhibits will travel to schools across the state.
The New York Hall of Science will develop a major exhibition on quantum theory--one of the most important developments in physical science in this century and one which has not been significantly treated by science museums. This exhibition will be the first major museum program to introduce quantum theory and its applications to the public. Elements of the exhibit will include models of the atom, the puzzle of light, applications of the theory and, finally, the human story of the creation of a new theory. Numerous participatory exhibits will be developed in conjunction with the project so that visitors can learn by doing. Formative evaluation will be an integral part of this exhibit. This technique has recently been adopted by museums as a way to test exhibit prototypes with museum visitors and then redesign as necessary. A workshop will be held for museum personnel and a guidebook, Improving Exhibits Through Formative Evaluation, will be produced. This book will be the first complete description of the formative evaluation process and will be a valuable addition to the museum field.
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.
The New England Aquarium will develop an "inquiry-driven" gallery for the study of aquatic sciences in a move to go beyond the "naming" experiences in biology and environmental education. The project will focus on seven conceptual themes: 1) adaptation and evolution; 2) habitat; 3) life cycles; 4) development and metamorphosis; 5) species interactions; 6) energy flow: and 7) signals and senses. The exhibits will challenge the visitor with questions, puzzles and games. Curriculum materials will be developed for teachers along with a users guide for visitors. Outreach activities are planned, aimed at minority students and visitors. The Aquarium serves approximately 155,000 students and over one million visitors every year. The redesigned gallery will house eight tanks, ranging from a series of small tanks with accompanying video clips that display seldom seen behaviors such as the "birth" of seahorses, lobster molting, etc. to three 250-gallon tanks that will display ancient fishes and a variety of species showing different kinds of locomotion, color and sound. A 2500- gallon tank housing a school of fish will demonstrate different ways terrestrial and aquatic animals sense their surroundings. A 4000-gallon floor to ceiling tank will display a salt marsh on one side and a mangrove forest on the other and a 6000-gallon tank will house large groupers, moray eels and small gobies. The NSF award represents $273,971 out of a project total of $857,986.