This report proposes a comprehensive study to answer the question: How does conversation as a socially mediating activity act as both a process and an outcome of museum learning experiences? The study will examine museum learning across six kinds of museums and across different kinds of visiting groups. This proposal describes a model of museum learning that puts conversation among different kinds of coherent conversational groups at the core of museum learning. It focuses on ways that conversations are elaborated, enriched, and extended as a consequence of museum activity. The model recasts
This article describes the front-end evaluation process for the Exploration Zone project at the Field Museum of Natural History. It discusses the value of front-end meta-analysis and who should perform such research.
In this article, John W. Lightner, associate professor at Lansing Community College and doctoral student at Michigan State University, discusses motivation theory. Lightner traces changes in motivation theory from the Behaviorist Era to recent perspectives, from reward and punishment to a view of human learners as self-regulated. Lightner also relates this topic to museum practice.
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John Lightner
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this paper, Paulette M. McManus discusses the practice of visitor studies and evaluation, including the tradition of visitor observation, at institutions in the United Kingdom. Specifically, McManus compares evaluation practices at large museums and small- and medium-sized museums, examines the problem of student evaluation and studies as well as the impact of the National Lottery, and finally reports on audience advocacy.
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Paulette M. McManusVisitor Studies Association
In this paper, C. Dufresne-Tasse of the University of Montreal discusses three characteristics of the methods French-Canadians conduct research on museum visitors in Québec. Dufresne-Tasse also offers an example of a study conducted by researchers at two Québec universities, which evaluated the psychological functioning of the adult observing objects in an exhibition room.
The Milwaukee Public Museum will develop Adventures in Science: An Interactive Exhibit Gallery. This will be a 7250 sq. ft. interactive exhibit with associated public programs and materials that link the exhibit with formal education. The goal of Adventures in Science is to promote understanding of biological diversity, the forces that have change it over time, and how scientists study and affect change. The exhibit will consist of three areas. "Our Ever-Changing World" will feature "dual scene" habitat dioramas that will convey at-a-glance how environments change over time. "The Natural History Museum" will be a reconstruction of a museum laboratory and collections area to protray behind-the-scenes scientific and curatorial activities that further the study of biological diversity, ecology and systematics. An "Exploration Center: will bridge these two areas and will be designed to accommodate live presentations, group activities and additional multimedia stations for Internet and intranet access. Using interactive devices, visitors will be encouraged to make hypothesis, examine evidence, compare specimens, construction histories of biological and geological changes, and develop conclusions about the science behind biodiversity and extinction issues. Visitors should also come away with an increased understanding of the role of systematic collections in understanding biological diversity. Information on MPM research programs will be highlighted in "The Natural History Museum" section and will be updated frequently. Annual Teacher Training Institutes for pre-service and in-service teachers will present strategies for using the gallery's multimedia stations, lab areas, and Web site links. Special attention will be given to reaching new audiences including those in the inner city and people with disabilities.
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Allen YoungJames KellyPeter SheehanSusan-Sullivan BorkinRolf JohnsonMary Korenic
In this article, the authors review a collaborative project between two developmental psychologists and the staff of Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. Under the broad agenda of studying the development of scientific literacy, they have been exploring the hypothesis that the guidance of parents is an important bridge between the intentions of the exhibit designer and the experience and knowledge of the child. Their research is guided by a framework inspired by a combination of socio-cultural and information-processing theories of how children learn. In the first section of this article
It has been argued that visitors' pre-visit “agendas” directly influence visits. This study attempted to directly test the effects of different museum visit agendas on visitor learning. Two new tools were developed for this purpose: (1) a tool for measuring visitor agendas; and (2) a tool for measuring visitor learning (Personal Meaning Mapping). Visitor agenda was defined as having two dimensions: motivations and strategies. Personal Meaning Mapping is a constructivist approach that measures change in understanding along four semi-independent dimensions: extent, breadth, depth, and mastery
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John H FalkTheano MoussouriDouglas Coulson
This report summarizes the evaluation of the first 20 months of the National Science Foundation-funded tour of the Traveling Experiment Gallery. The Traveling Experiment Gallery is the touring version of Science Museum of Minnesota's successful core science hall, the Experiment Gallery. The evaluation of the Traveling Experiment Gallery was conducted using naturalistic inquiry methodology. Depth interviews were conducted with 28 staff and six volunteers at the five museums and science centers which have hosted the exhibition. The evaluators also spent almost 30 hours observing visitors, floor
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) collection features artists from Nova Scotia, as well as Canadian, American, British, and European works. As at many art museums, the issue of whether or not to include written material (extended labels) in exhibitions, and the related issue of who was responsible for the writing, editing, and presentation of labels created tension among educators, curators, and artists. Thus a Labels Project at the AGNS was intended to address this issue, and stimulated a summative evaluation study during 1996. The visitor study reported is a portrait of an institution of
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Barbara SorenArt Gallery of Nova Scotia
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 Minnesota Children's Museum, in collaboration with the American Library Association will develop a project to engage children ages two through seven years old and their parents in exploring mathematics through hands-on, book-based math activities in libraries and children's museums across the country. The main elements of the project are: 1. A 1200 square foot exhibit at the Minnesota Children's Museum; 2. A traveling exhibit to ten children's museums over a six month period; 3. Five smaller versions of the exhibit will travel to 75 libraries sponsored by the American Library Association. Each library that apply for the exhibit must present a plan in which 50 percent of their exhibit audience will be children and families of the under-represented, lower income groups, and racial and/or ethnic groups. 4. Programs and materials will be designed to provide parents with the means to actively participate in their children's math education. The collaboration of the Minnesota Children's Museum and the American Library Association draws together two organizations whose natural constituencies are parents with young children. Project 1,2,3 is designed to be national in scope and creates multiple formats within which families can enjoy exploring math. Its goals and objectives reflect four messages: start early, math is everywhere, parental involvement and get into books. The project Principal Investigator (PI) Ms. Jeanne W. Vergeront received her Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Science in Child and Family Studies and Environmental Design, respectively from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Currently, she serves as the Vice President, Educational Projects at the Minnesota Children's Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota.