This article presents the results of a study carried out in Italy by the Permanent Observatory on science communication through the media. The aim of this research project coordinated by the staff of the Masters Degree in Science Communication, ISAS, Trieste, in collaboration with Ilesis S.r.l., Rome, is to monitor and analyse systematically the amount of scientific information on TV and in the press.
There is no use denying it: whenever a scientist gets a piece of news in a newspaper or on television concerning his own field of research, eight times out of ten he feels irritated. The reason does not solely depend on the fact that, in his opinion, the news given to the public is often rather inaccurate or centred on secondary aspects, sometimes even distorted. There is actually something more? Something deeper that the scientist can hardly grasp.
Theatrical action can bring out the value of the exhibits of a museum, while creating a new way of experiencing the exhibitions. Theatrical actions link education and entertainment, consequently becoming a highly effective didactic instrument. The advantages of theatre are briefly outlined, considering it as an interpretative technique to communicate science from the point of view of the goals pursued by museums, of epistemology and of theatrical research.
What information are virtual visitors looking for on museum Web sites? This paper is a first step in a larger investigation into the informational value of museum Web sites. Scholars, teachers, students, museums staff, and museum visitors are the main categories of visitors examined in this study. Questions were asked of these museum audiences about their use of museum Web sites, museum databases, and other aspects of virtual visits.
Designs for CSCL (Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) applications usually presume a desktop or laptop computer. Yet future classrooms are likely to be organized around Wireless Internet Learning Devices (WILD) that resemble graphing calculators, Palm, or Pocket-PC handhelds, connected by short-range wireless networking. WILD learning will have physical affordances that are different from today’s computer lab, and different from classrooms with 5 students per computer. These differing affordances may lead to learning activities that deviate significantly from today’s images of K-12 CSCL
Women in the United States are underrepresented in science, mathematics, and engineering (SME) educational programs and careers. One cause is the dramatic and disproportionate loss of women who intended in high school to pursue science-related careers. This article uses the longitudinal survey responses of 320 male and female SME summer program students to assess the ways in which their social relationships and experiences affect their involvement in science and technology. The issues are framed in terms of identity theory. Structural equation models support the identity framework; emotionally
This study examined the long-term impact of the Summer Science Exploration Program (SSEP), a 2-week inquiry-based science camp, conducted at Hampshire College Amherst, MA from 1992 to 1994. The goal of the program was to stimulate greater interest in science and scientific careers among middle-school students. One hundred fifty-eight students were selected from a pool of applicants to attend the program using stratified random sampling procedures. In 1996, 22 participants were selected to participate in follow-up interviews using stratified random sampling procedures. Two quantitative surveys
Museums are excellent locations for testing ubiquitous systems; the Exploratorium in San Francisco offers a unique and challenging environment for just such a system. An important design consideration is how users switch between virtual and physical interactions.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Margaret FleckMarcos FridEamonn O'Brien-StrainRakhi RajaniMirjana Spasojevic
We used meta-analysis to review 55 evaluations of the effects of mentoring programs on youth. Overall, findings provide evidence of only a modest or small benefit of program participation for the average youth. Program effects are enhanced significantly, however, when greater numbers of both theory-based and empirically based "best practices" are utilized and when strong relationships are formed between mentors and youth. Youth from backgrounds of environmental risk and disadvantage appear most likely to benefit from participation in mentoring programs. Outcomes for youth at-risk due to
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David DuBoisBruce HollowayJeffrey ValentineHarris Cooper
There are few studies concerning museum visitors' understanding of skeleton exhibits and whether such exhibits increase their understanding of the zoology displayed. An exhibition focused on the diversity of vertebrate skeletons and arranged according to the mode of locomotion was set up in Naturalis, the National Natural History Museum of The Netherlands, in Leiden. A prototype explaining the principal components of the skeleton was designed for each type of locomotion, for example, wrigglers, flyers, walkers, crawlers, swimmers. In addition, a panel provided in front of the exhibit case for
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sue TunnicliffeManon Laterveer-de Beer
This report provides a critical overview of impact evaluation in the museums, archives and libraries sector. The study, funded by Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, consisted largely of a review of the literature published during a five year retrospective period, with a particular emphasis on impact evaluations conducted within the UK. An advisory group, representing all three domains, was also established. The methodologies used in, and the evidence obtained from, these evaluation studies are discussed critically within the broad context of social, learning and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Caroline WavellGraeme BaxterIan JohnsonDorothy Williams