This article examines how and why museums fail to engage visitors in cultural dialogue. Author D. Neil Bramer, executive director of the Elmhurst Art Museum, argues that empathy is the key and that museum professionals, including visitor researchers, must use empathy to better understand and respond to the needs of visitors.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
D. Neil Bramer
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This article discusses a new visitor studies group in the UK designed to meet the growing demand for networking and support in the visitor studies field. The article describes how the "Visitor Studies Group" came to be and the value of membership to professionals in the UK.
This article examines the effect of one government policy, the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), on museums (and other institutions as defined broadly by AAM). The article discusses how the increased emphasis on outcome evaluation in GPRA, and from funders in general, will be passed on to grantees, and how they need to respond.
This article is a review of the statistics program SigmaStat 2.03. It is an easy-to-use program, particularly useful for formative and remedial work where one may be doing a number of different tests of labels, interactive displays, orientation materials, and/or short exit surveys.
This article focuses on the setting factors associated with live animal exhibit design from the visitor perspective. Setting includes the physical features and events occurring in both the animal enclosure and the visitor areas.
This article discusses research conducted among families and museum visitors in the Midwest from 1996-1998. The study found that women, more often than men, initiate family museum visits and that a mother's parenting strategies are strongly related to her ideas about the nature of knowledge and how she comes to know and understand herself and the world.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sally Stanton
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This article describes an informal study study that investigated what it means to be a audience advocate. The author examines this question by describing the role in metaphorical terms.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ben Gammon
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In order for the United States to maintain the global leadership and competitiveness in science and technology that are critical to achieving national goals, we must invest in research, encourage innovation, and grow a strong and talented science and technology workforce. This book explores the role of diversity in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce and its value in keeping America innovative and competitive. According to the book, the U.S. labor market is projected to grow faster in science and engineering than in any other sector in the coming years, making
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TEAM MEMBERS:
National Research CouncilCommittee on Underrepresented Groups and the Expansion of the Science and Engineering Workforce PipelineCommittee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP)Policy and Global Affairs (PGA)National Academy of SciencesNational Academy of EngineeringInstitute of Medicine (IOM)
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This book describes the similarities and differences between scientific inquiry in education and scientific inquiry in other fields and disciplines and provides a number of examples to illustrate these ideas. Its main argument is that all scientific endeavors share a common set of principles, and that each field including education research develops a specialization that accounts for the particulars of what is being studied. The book also provides suggestions for how the federal government can best support high-quality scientific research in education.
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National Research CouncilRich ShavelsonLisa Towne
This report combines the views of education researchers, technology developers, educators, and researchers in emerging fields such as educational data mining and technology-supported evidence-centered design to present an expanded view of approaches to evidence. It presents the case for why the transition to digital learning warrants a re-examination of how we think about educational evidence. The report describes approaches to evidence-gathering that capitalize on digital learning data and draws implications for policy, education practice, and R&D funding.
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U.S. Department of EducationOffice of Educational Technology
This report is the National Education Technology Plan (NETP) submitted by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to Congress. It presents five goals with recommendations for states, districts, the federal government, and other stakeholders. Each goal addresses one of the five essential components of learning powered by technology: Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure, and Productivity. The plan also calls for "grand challenge" research and development initiatives to solve crucial long-term problems that the ED believes should be funded and coordinated at a national level.
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U.S. Department of EducationDaniel AtkinsJohn BennettJohn Seely BrownAneesh ChopraChris DedeBarry FishmanLouis GomezMargaret HoneyYasmin KafaiMaribeth LuftglassRoy PeaJim PellegrinoDavid RoseCandace ThilleBrenda Williams
In this article, Robert Eisenberger, professor of psychology at the University of Delaware, reviews two fundamental philosophical conceptions of motivation that influence contemporary views, show how these world views are embedded in current motivational theory, and consider how recent motivational findings can be applied to museum visitors. Then Eisenberger provides a visitor questionnaire that may be helpful in finding ways to increase visitor motivation.