In this article, Dottie Miles, Exhibition Manager at Longwood Gardens and Lecturer at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, explores the lessons learned from the collaborative and creative approaches of museum studies programs that might enrich the practice of museum professionals. Miles compares her experience as a graduate student in Museum Exhibition Planning and Design to that as a working professional. Miles concludes that the elements of critique and collaboration, which are mainstays of the graduate experience, should be important elements of the field at large.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Dottie Miles
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this article, Barbara Punt, Principal of Punt Consulting, outlines ways to write effective Request For Proposals. Punt emphasizes the importance of clearly conveying your request and considering the respondents' point of view.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Barbara Punt
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this article, Eugene Dillenburg, an Exhibit Developer at The Science Museum of Minnesota, examines the relationship between the exhibit profession and professional training. Dillenberg surveyed exhibit workers--department chairs, commercial contractors, museum studies professors, and program graduates--to better understand the influence of museum studies on exhibit practice.
This article presents examples of how cross-department relationships can facilitate the development of new and unique educational content to engage audiences. Authors include Dave Becker, manager of the Hamill Family Play Zoo at the Brookfield Zoo, Rich Faron, President of Museum Explorer, Inc., Diane Gutenkauf, Chief Business Developer at Exhibit Works, Inc., and Marcia MacRae, Interdisciplinary Art Specialist at the DuPage Children's Museum.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Dave BeckerRich FaronDiane GutenkaufMarcia MacRae
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this article, James Jensen, Director of Project Management at Boston Children's Museum, shares thoughts and advice about the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) and Request for Proposals (RFP) processes. Jensen outlines best practices based on his experience at the Boston Children's Museum and the Connecticut Historical Society Museum.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
James Jensen
resourceevaluationProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Nanoscale Education Outreach (NEO) workshop participants were interviewed 6+ months after their attendance to determine the effect of the workshop on the participants' professional capacity and to determine the effect of the participants' involvement in the broader NISE Network. 33 of the 87 total participants were interviewed over several months.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Scott Ewing
resourceevaluationProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Fresno Metropolitan Museum (FFM) contracted with Wendy Meluch of Visitor Studies Services to design and conduct an evaluation of its Inquiry Workshop (workshop) which took place in April of 2005. All workshop participants completed Pre- and Post-workshop Surveys (13 and 12 respectively). Nine teachers also participated in a follow-up focus group in June of 2005. By all measures, the Fresno Metropolitan Museum's Inquiry Workshop is resounding success for participating teachers. They become energized about teaching and credit the workshop with making them better teachers across the board
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Wendy MeluchFresno Metropolitan Museum
The Monarch Butterfly Larval Monitoring project is a collaborative Citizen Science Project in which informal science education (ISE) institutions participate in research to measure the distribution and abundance of monarch butterfly larvae throughout the US, addressing the lack of knowledge about the breeding phase of the annual cycle. This project seeks to create links among ISE institutions (nature centers, museums, state and national parks, and environmental learning centers) from across the US, and also between these institutions and university scientists, citizens, and K-12 educators. The
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Carol FreemanUniversity of Minnesota
This white paper is the product of the CAISE Formal-Informal Partnerships Inquiry Group, which began work during a July 2008 ISE Summit organized by CAISE. Their examination of what the authors call "the hybrid nature of formal-informal collaborations" draws on relevant theoretical perspectives and a series of case studies to highlight ways in which the affordances of formal and informal settings can be combined and leveraged to create rich, compelling, authentic, and engaging science that can be systematically developed over time and settings.
The Parents Involved/Pigeons Everywhere (PIPE) project is a collaboration between KCTE-Community Television of Southern California, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. They are developing a three-year model project to engage parents in science education with their children through Project PigeonWatch, a citizen-science program run by Cornell University. The PIPE project will develop videos and written materials for use in a series of parent workshops designed for libraries and community science centers. The materials and workshops will be targeted to low-income parents with children in grades three through five and will be tested at 27 pilot sites around the country. A PIPE leader's Web Site will link all of the pilot sites. At the end of the pilot stage, the video and print materials will be widely available and the applicants will produce a publication that indicates strategies for using and building on PIPE and will provide assistance to new sites that wish to implement the program.
The Institute for Research on Learning is undertaking a multifaceted effort to help parents become more involved in the mathematics education of their children. This project establishes a Design Consortium; develops new materials and collaborative activity structures; provides outreach, training, and technical assistance to communities; and disseminates these products to the educational community. The design consortium creates contexts for raising parent participation in communities where it is most needed and uses these contexts to plan and construct mathematics materials based on issues parents face in everyday life. The outreach activities include planning support and workshops for schools, community organizations, and parent groups. Dissemination is done through presentations and talks and through research articles.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Shelley GoldmanJennifer Knudsen
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In 1988 and 1989, ASTC offered a seven-day institute for founders of new science centers, funded by the National Science Foundation. The impact of these institutes was profound, making the difference between success and failure for several, and helping many others clarify and strengthen their plans. Since then demand for technical assistance to new science centers has increased rather than decreased. Building on its experience, ASTC proposes a 3-1/2 year multiple-strategy program to provide knowledgeable, supportive guidance to the founders of new science centers. The elements are: (1) a 4-day workshop on how to start a science center; (2) a resource book on starting and operating science centers; (3) a network for new science centers which meets at the ASTC annual conference for mutual support and information sharing; (4) one-day workshops held in Conjunction with the ASTC conference and planned by the steering committee of the New Science Center Network; (5) increased coverage in the ASTC Newsletter; (6) an annual progress report on new science centers; and (7) on-going, individualized technical assistance.