The Museum of Science in Boston will develop exhibits and programs for visitors to use models as tools for understanding the world around them. It is the 4th stage of a six-part, long-range vision and plan that focuses on comprehending science as a way of thinking and doing. "Making Models" will serve over one million visitors per year, mostly families and school groups. The models to be featured include physical, biological, conceptual, mathematical, and computer simulation models. Four (4) specific science inquiry skills will be stressed, which are associated with making and using models: recognition of similarities, assessment of limitations, communication of ideas, and the creation of one's own models for developing personal understanding and appreciation of the world in which we live. In tandem with this new exhibit, some current exhibits and programs will be modified to meet these modeling goals. Demonstrating the application of these new exhibit techniques for other museums and science centers, and evaluating how visitors learn in this setting will also be performed, with the results disseminated on a national level. The Museum will collaborate with two (2) other nationally known sites in this development and evaluation of exhibit components, creation of new teacher development programs, and the development of models-related web resources.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Douglas SmithLarry BellPaul Fontiane
With a Small Grant for Exploratory Research, Georgia Tech Research Institute will identify and measure the properties of spatial layout that affect visitors' exploration and exposure to information in science museum exhibitions. It is the nature of museum learning that it is associated with movement in space. The ways in which displays are arranged in spatial sequences, the ability to simultaneously view different objects, the grouping of objects in space, the rate of change in directions, the relative distance between one display and another, all become powerful aspects of the presentation of knowledge that are far more important in the museum than they are in any other learning environment. This study will apply new techniques for spatial analysis to provide rigorous, quantitative descriptions of spatial layout. These descriptors will then be used to understand how layout affects visitor movement patterns in exhibitions.
The National Science Outreach Network will provide school children, teachers, and the general public with highly accessible interactive exhibits dealing with popular topics in science and technology. The network, initiated as a partnership between regional science centers and public libraries, will be modeled after the highly successful statewide Oregon Library Exhibits Network established in 1987. Through this smaller network, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, a nationally recognized pioneer in science exhibitry and outreach programming, circulates small hands-on exhibits to rural population centers through installations in public libraries, where school groups and families have free and convenient access. This national dissemination project will be initiated in five regional sites across the country (Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee, and Oregon) to further establish the model in rural, inner-urban, economically disadvantaged, and culturally diverse regions. With support from both the NSF and the regional networks, The National Science Outreach Network will design and duplicate six exhibits for circulation to dozens of local communities in each designated region. Over the next seven years, over six million individuals, many of whom do not currently frequent a local science center, will be introduced to popular science in a non-threatening, resource- rich setting. This will encourage further exploration and possible future visits to an accessible science center, and ultimately establish an ever-expanding network of museum and non-museum partners providing science and technology learning opportunities to millions of individuals each year.
The Education Development Center, Incorporated, requests $2,081,018 to create informal learning opportunities in science, mathematics, engineering and technology utilizing the study of the ancient African civilization of Nubia as context. Educational activities and resources will be developed based on the extensive ongoing archeological research on historical Nubia. The two main components of the project are a traveling exhibit with related educational materials and a website that will provide the target audience an opportunity to access extensive on-line resources and activities. The project will provide community outreach and professional development for educators in museums, community groups, schools and libraries. The project is designed for thirty-six months' duration. In year one, a network of collaborators in the Boston area will focus on research and development; in year two, project materials will be piloted and evaluated in six cities, and on-line professional development programs will be conducted; and in year three, project materials will be disseminated directly to 60 sites and more broadly via the internet.
The Exploratorium seeks support for a program designed to help approximately twelve new or expanding U.S. museums acquire quality, educationally provern interactive exhibits. Over a thirty-six month period, two groups of museums will work with the Exploratorium to select and produce an individualized set of exhibits. The museums will dedicate staff to participate in the exhibit production process, as well as in the development of exhibit-based educational programs. The production cost of the exhibits will be shared on a fifty/fifty basis, with NSF's portion being matched by funds raised independently by the participating museums. Participant museums will be able to acquire stimulating and proven exhibits at half cost, and make use of the Exploratorium's exhibit construction shops, staff and other resources in developing educational programs and materials that complement their chosen exhibit set. It is expected that each participants will receive between fourteen and twenty-four exhibits. The program will repeat, to include another six institutions, in the second eighteen months. Participants will select exhibits in an initial one week visit to the Exploratorium and then return for a minimum four-week period to assist in producing their exhibits. Participation staff, through their involvement with construction, will become conversant with their exhibits' technical and operational aspects. The program will give participants true hands-on training. In addition to individualized assistance, each participant museum will receive publications about exhibit construction and use, as well as a booklet that includes technical, maintenance, and educational information about their own exhibits.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Joe AnselRobert SemperThomas HumphreyRon HipschmanMartha Brown
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 Magic School Bus Museum Collaborative, requests through Discovery Places, Inc., NSF support for six science museums and Scholastic Productions, Inc., to develop science education materials that capitalize on the interest and excitement in the forthcoming Magic School Bus television series and the Magic School Bus books. Over a three year period the collaborative will provide basic science education activities and demonstrations through museum educational programming. The collaborative will provide tools and support for teachers to use the Magic School Bus themes in their science curriculum and provide hands-on science classroom experiences using mobile museum exhibits. Working with the National Urban League, ASPIRA, the AAAS Black Church Project, and other youth serving organizations, the collaborative will encourage multi-ethnic participation in these museum programs. The numbers of children and their families who will be reached by the Magic School Bus Museum Collaborative are significant. The components of the project are a planetarium program (100 copies), two 1200 square feet traveling exhibits, and activity and programming guide, table-top exhibits and program, and 2 teacher enhancement workshops. Collectively, these components can reach conservatively over 5 million museum visitors in the first year. Coupled with the new television series, the Magic School Bus can have a tremendous impact on the education of young people in the sciences.
The Science Museum of Minnesota would like to create a network of partnerships between the museum and small community-based science organizations (CBSOs). CBSOs will receive professional development workshops to increase their capacity to produce high quality exhibits and publications and offer effective science programming. A team from each science organization will participate in a 12-hour skills development workshop to cover such topics as exhibit development, audience research, science communication and program development. A workshop "tool kit" will capture the essence of the training workshops and be made available to other museums. Each team will develop a small traveling exhibit and supporting materials. Annual Science Summit programs will showcase the CBSOs to the general public, museum visitors and students, while a CBSO Roundtable will invite the participants to explore collaborations and programming strategies. An online database will be created and a complimentary printed resource guide of all local CBSOs will be available to the public. The model will be tested at two small science centers, the Kirby Science Discovery Center in Sioux Falls, SD, and at the Headwaters Science Center in Bemidji, MN. It is anticipated that 72 organizations and 450 CBSO staff members will be served by this project, in addition to over 5,000 members of the general public.
We propose to develop a series of 12 exhibits on the topic of feedback. We will create an introductory cluster of 4-5 exhibits situated in our "Patterns" section to introduce the basic concepts. We sill situate each of the remaining 708 exhibits in the area of the museum that suits it phenomenologically. A continuity in the theme of feedback will be created through Feedback Pathways (both a field trip Pathway and a general use Pathway) and associated maps which will be available in the introductory cluster> These will guide both visitors and school classes from area to area with feedback as the unifying element. The feedback behavior exemplified in these exhibits will be accessible to both young and older audiences and will be strongly connected with the "Themes of Science" listed in the California State Science Framework for Pre-College Science Education. The exhibits will receive extensive use in our teacher training programs at both the elementary and secondary level. Exhibit evaluation will take place at the level of extensive prototyping by exhibit development and teaching staff and on a more formal level in conjunction with a formative evaluation program. We will disseminate this work in a publication describing inexpensive classroom versions of Exploratorium exhibits. In addition, we will experiment with the dissemination of our work to other museums through the Internet Computer Network.
9355625 Cassady The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is developing a new permanent 12,000 square-foot gallery, "The Wet, Wild, Wonderful World of Science: A Science Gallery That Connects Kids to Their World." Water is the catalyst for the exploration and discovery of science concepts throughout the gallery. Within the gallery are three hub context areas (Pipes and Pumps, Streams and Ponds,Tubes and Flasks) that are closely linked, both conceptually and physically. The message is that the concepts introduced in one hub also apply to the others, thus erasing artificial distinctions between natural and physical sciences. The goals of the project are: To create a gallery that will make science accessible to the museum's current and underserved visitors. To create hands-on opportunities for young people to practice scientific thinking so they may better understand the physical and natural world. To create a science education experience that promotes linkages for visitors between the learning of science in the gallery and formal and informal learning outside of the museum. To research the application of constructivist theory in the design of hands-on exhibits.
The University Museum at the University of Arkansas is conducting preliminary planning for expansion of their 1994 pilot project entitled "Women in Science." During this planning phase, the staff will meet regularly with experts and teachers to design an exhibit about non-academic female scientists in Arkansas that will travel throughout Arkansas, outline a workshop for teachers that would help them encourage their female students to participate in math and science, and develop a program that enables female scientists to work with groups of students. At the end of the three and a half month planning stage, a final report will present a plan for the exhibition, gender workshop, and scientist program which identifies personnel, gives models/prototypes, and a budget for each facet of the proposed project.
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is requesting $971,288 over three years for the development, formative and summative evaluation of two traveling exhibits. The 5,000 sq. ft. traveling exhibit is designed for children ages 3-8 and their families, using the context, setting, characters and challenged portrayed in the books of Richard Scarry, a noted children's author. A 2,000 sq. ft. mini-version traveling exhibit will be produced for use in smaller venues. Parent, teacher, and staff guides will be prepared and distributed. This exhibit gives strong emphasis to facilitating parent interaction with their children, and has activity areas for parents built into the exhibit. There is also an emphasis on anti-bias content within the exhibit.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Nancy StueberMarilynne ElchingerJoan Liberman