In this paper, Pedro J.E. Casaleiro of the University of Leicester, Department of Museum Studies, discusses research that considers the investigation of evidence in mass media other than museums to help define a communications policy that bears the visitor in mind. In doing so, Casaleiro aims to broaden understanding about audiences' concerns with science, recognizing the presence of shared symbolic values created by both museums and traditional mass media. Casaleiro cites findings from studies of Portuguese newspapers and a natural history museum to support his claims.
In this paper, Lisa McIntosh discusses how quick-change info boards are used by staff and visitors at the Vancouver Aquarium. McIntosh also provides an overview of the Aquarium's unique interpretive approach.
In this paper, Ellen Stokes shares experiences at the St. Louis Zoo related to how guest services can influence the visitor studies agenda. Stokes discusses three issues: Part of the guest services director's job is to be an advocate for appropriate and appealing visitor services, the guest services perspective must view the institution as a whole (as contrasted with looking at one exhibit at a time), and this holistic approach to the institution can perhaps guide visitor studies into new directions.
The National Zoological Park, a component of the Smithsonian Institution, proposes transforming three traditional zoo exhibit buildings into centers for informal science learning. Based on current knowledge about learning, the proposed project will feature interactive elements as well as the greater use of human interpreters to help visitors examine animals, handle objects and play games. The project is to be a collaborative effort by the National Zoological Park, the Dallas Zoo and Zoo Atlanta, with the National Zoo developing the materials and making and shipping copies to Dallas and Atlanta as centers for tryout and evaluation, with the results of the studies going to other zoos in way of encouraging them of the importance of interactive science education.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Judith WhiteJames MurphyDale MarcelliniJeffrey Swanagan
The Family Science Learning Project is comprised of a research study and subsequent program development designed to fundamentally improve family science learning in museums. The endeavor will be carried out in the Philadelphia area by PISEC, a partnership of The Academy of Natural Sciences, The Franklin Institute, the Thomas H. Kean New Jersey State Aquarium at Camden and the Philadelphia Zoo, joined for this project by the University of the Arts. To achieve the goal of fostering science literacy by encouraging families to engage in successful learning strategies while visiting science museums, PISEC has identified the following objectives for the project: - To increase understanding of the processes and potential of science museum-based family learning. - To apply this understanding to the development and implementation of effective program and exhibit enhancements in four science museums. - To involve existing staff so that evaluation and research become an ongoing component of program and exhibit development in the participating museums. - To utilize a multi-institution team approach designed to maximize impact, be cost-effective and be replicable in other regions across the country. The project has three phases. First, a research study using ethnographic data collection and focus groups will be conducted at the participating museums. This study will lead to the formulation of a set of criteria for successful family science learning and hypotheses about what is needed to facilitate this behavior. Second, utilizing these findings, the four institutions will develop four distinct programs and/or exhibit enhancements designed to foster positive family learning experiences. Formative evaluation and inter-museum collaborative will be integral parts of this process. Finally, the summative findings of the individual efforts will be compared to look for constants in successful programming across the sites. Results will be assembled in a handbook which will be widely disseminated to the field. In carrying out this study, the project will fill in the body of existing museum-based family learning research. The knowledge gained will give science museum professionals a new set of tools which can be used to increase the frequency of positive learning experiences in their facilities, and to broaden the diversity of visiting families as well. Because the subject matter under investigation represents a wide range of scientific disciplines, the results of the projects should prove applicable to many different types of informal science learning environments, including science centers, natural history museums, zoos, aquariums and botanic gardens. The collaborative nature of the project will serve as a model for similar partnerships among cultural institutions and universities in other large metropolitan areas.
The San Francisco Zoological Society will use this planning grant to involve representatives of their audience in the development of the learning experiences that will be encorporated into their new exhibit program "ZooWEB: Worldwide Education for Biodiversity." They will bring together an Advisory Panel made up of representatives of a broad spectrum of potential and current zoo visitors (traditionally underserved groups, formal education specialists, people with special needs, family groups, scientists) and science educators to meet with the zoo's Planning Team who are developing the master interpretive plan called ZOO Web. ZooWEB will adapt ecological themes and topics from the section of Systems and Interactions in the California State Science Framework for Public Schools. The planning activity is a modification of a business model designed to understand and meet customer needs by constant improvement of product and service quality pioneered by W. Edwards Deming. This is a considerable departure from the traditional manner in which zoo interpretation is developed. Thus, the Zoo will implement a new approach to exhibit development, one that begins with focusing on visitors' interests in science, their needs, learning styles, perceptions of zoos, etc. Data will be gathered by a number of techniques including focus groups, interviews, and surveys. Results of the planning activity will be broadly disseminated.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Diane Demee-Benoit
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Museum of Life and Science will use this planning grant to bring together zoo, botanical garden, and science center professionals to a) assess the feasibility of an "interactive zoo," b) identify animals species that exhibit behaviors in a zoo environment that provide natural opportunities for related interactive exhibits, and c) generate a White Paper reviewing relevant exhibits in zoos and science centers and proposing design criteria for the interactive exhibits. The planning activities include: the development of a "White Paper" that will include a review of key research findings in developmental psychology and visitor behavior as they apply to playgrounds, zoos, and interactive exhibit environments, an overview of relevant exhibit techniques and technologies, and case studies of existing exhibits; a 2-day meeting to discuss the issues; and travel to exemplary museums, zoos, aquaria, and botanical gardens. These results will be used in the development of interactive exhibits in an outdoor setting included in the museum's Master Plan 2000. They have proposed the analogy of a field research station in their approach to learning in an outdoor setting. They envision three thematic "field stations": "Down to Earth," "Watery Worlds," and "Catch the Wind." The specific exhibit plans will be finalized after the completion of the planning grant. Although the Museum of Life and Science will be the primary beneficiary of this planning activity, the background information gathered, the issues discussed, and the critical appraisals will be relevant to other museums with and interested in developing exhibits in an out-of-door setting. The results will be broadly disseminated by means of publications and presentations at professional meetings.
The Wildlife Conservation Society will use this one year award to move forward their planning for the "Rain Forest Trail and the Living Treasures of the Congo Gallery." This is the first phase of an ambitious $29M, 6 acre outdoor exhibit area focusing on the Congo Rain Forest and an indoor Environmental Education Complex. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) conducts extensive field research in a number of central African sites and has an important living collection of tropical African wildlife in the New York facility. The Congo Rain Forest/Environmental Education Center will include three major interpretive areas and an educational resource area. NSF is being asked to support two components of the Congo Rain Forest complex which are the Rain Forest Trail and Living Treasures of the Congo Gallery. The Rain Forest Trail, with both indoor and outdoor elements, will be a total immersion exhibit where visitors will be surrounded by a replication of an African rain forest and will have the opportunity to encounter a variety of its living inhabitants, and experience how its ecosystem functions. They will have the experience of making scientific observations thus gaining insight into how scientists work. The goal of this design technique "is to move beyond the limited scope of traditional zoo exhibits (which simply portray the 'animal as object')", toward a presentation of animal and plant communities as they interact within an ecosystem. The Living Treasures Gallery will be a 4000 sq. ft. space which is dedicated to the introduction of the diversity of rain forest inhabitants, their environmental adaptations, and complex interrelationships. The gallery will be divided into four areas: Adaptations for Survival, The Forest of the Megavertebrates, The Interconnected Forest, and Seeing the Unseen. Numerous interactive devices will be developed to engage the visitor in hands-on activities and materials will be developed that link the themes of the exhibit with the agenda of formal education for both teacher and students.
The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) will develop an interdisciplinary national traveling exhibition about raptors (birds of prey). Created in collaboration with The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota (TRC) and the Museum Magnet School of the St. Paul School District, this exhibit and its related programs will explore themes of biodiversity, ecology, and human relationships with the natural world. It will help visitors understand raptors as diverse, charismatic, biologically-complex animals whose continued survival is linked to fundamental questions of public policy, economics, and environmental ethics. combining the perspectives of the sciences with those of the humanities, the exhibit will present science in a real-world context of human values and actions. Opening at SMM in the summer of 1944, the 5,000-square-foot exhibit will travel for five years or more to other large museums, nature centers, and zoos throughout the U.S. Using specimens, models, artifacts, dioramas, audiovisual programs, and interactive components and supported by theater, demonstrations, and a variety of other on-site programs, it will provide a compelling mix of informal learning experiences for families, school groups, and other general audiences. Beyond the museum walls, the themes of the project will reach schools and other important outreach audiences through videotapes, teacher training programs, educational materials, and other programs. SMM will also produce a scaled-down version of the exhibit that will tour to smaller museums, nature centers, and zoos.
Zoos have the opportunity to reach a large audience and to improve public understanding of biological principles. Zoos can go beyond creating an appreciation for nature by actively encouraging their visitors to apply these principles and take action on behalf of the environment. Tropic World: A Primate's View will improve the interpretation of an existing exhibit at Brookfield Zoo by encouraging visitors to experience a tropical rainforest from a non-human primate's perspective. Visitors will be challenged, by interactive forms of interpretation, to explore the similarities and differences between themselves and other primates. This experience will provide a framework for visitors to consider their own relationship with their environment. The project objectives are: 1. To improve public understanding that , like all organisms, primates use and depend on their environment. However, humans ar the only primate species that can choose how they impact their environment over extended time and space. 2. to motivate people to act on behalf of the natural world through conservation. 3. To contribute to the body of knowledge of how informal education affects people's knowledge of natural science topics, as well as the behavior of people in relation to conservation issues.