This research investigated ways in which habitat dioramas contribute to visitors’ development of Sense of Place. Visitors’ responses to dioramas at the Field Museum (Chicago) and Denver Museum of Nature and Science were studied, using observations, interviews, and a Diorama Sense of Place survey instrument. Although observations revealed few conversations about the places depicted in the dioramas, other data revealed that dioramas inspired memories and connections to place. A complex set of factors contributed to visitors’ feelings of Place Bondedness. Visitors expressed the strongest
This presentation about the Online Project Monitoring System (OPMS) was given as part of the "Mining the Field: What Are We Learning?" Diving Deeper session at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC.
This paper is the first report on an extensive ethnographic study of two professional schools of art and design in the United States. The overall purpose of the study is to identify general principles for how to design learning environments that prepare learners to be creative. First, I document the cultural model of teaching and learning held by the faculty and students, and analyze the pedagogical practices used. This studio model is of interest because it emerged naturally in a community of educational practice. I argue that it is distinct from the two cultural models most familiar to
SRI’s Afterschool Science Networks (ASN) study provides new insights and empirical findings regarding the offering of science learning opportunities at scale. Four meetings of afterschool and informal science stakeholders were held in March and April 2014 to discuss the ASN findings generated from 5 years of research (see research summary on page 12). These stakeholders helped SRI Education researchers generate a vision of science in afterschool settings, as well as recommendations for strengthening the field. This document presents this vision of powerful afterschool science and provides a
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ann HouseCarlin LlorenteTiffany Leones
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The NSF/IES Common Guidelines for Education Research and Development suggest that external feedback is appropriate for each of the different types of research described. What exactly does that mean? How does a project effectively engage an advisory board in the evaluation process? This session will provide suggestions for how the external feedback function can be undertaken by an advisory board with clearly defined roles and expectations that correspond to the type of research and the purpose of the feedback.
The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resource Management surveyed over 400 employers across the United States to determine which skill sets for recent entrants to the labor force are most valued. Skills include professionalism/work ethic, oral and written communication, teamwork/collaboration, and critical thinking/problem solving.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
The Conference BoardJill Casner-LottoMary Wright Benner
Silence of the Lands is a virtual museum of natural quiet in Boulder, Colorado, based on locative and tangible computing. The project promotes a model of virtuality that empowers the active and constructive role of local communities in the interpretation, preservation, and renewal of natural quiet as an important element of the natural heritage. This is accomplished by using sounds as conversation pieces of a social narrative aimed at transforming the virtual museum into an organism linking the people, perspectives, and values that pertain to the specific environmental setting of Boulder
Traditionally, collaborative technologies are intended to directly support joint, collaborative activity, taking their cues from communication and media. Here, empirical findings are presented about the types of information needs associated with the formation of a knowledge-building community among professional learning technology researchers. Several issues are outlined in designing, facilitating, supporting, and measuring knowledge-building activity in such as community of practice. It is argued that, rather than communication tools, a knowledge-building community is better served by
This chapter explores what is already known about museums and their long-term impact on visitors, the complexities and challenges inherent in trying to study and understand long-term impacts, future research and methodological approaches that we can use to effectively assess the longterm impacts of museum experiences, and the implications of these efforts for practice.
As young people today grow up in a world saturated with digital media, how does it affect their sense of self and others? As they define and redefine their identities through engagements with technology, what are the implications for their experiences as learners, citizens, consumers, and family and community members? This volume addresses the consequences of digital media use for young people’s individual and social identities. The contributors explore how young people use digital media to share ideas and creativity and to participate in networks that are small and large, local and global
In this chapter, we argue that the understanding of objects that children of different ages brings to the museum setting offers a unique perspective. Little direct work on this topic has been conducted in museums. However, there is a body of related work to be found in contemporary studies of children's emerging understanding of the natural and artificial worlds that can be used to develop a framework for understanding how children might approach the world of museum objects. Recent evidence on the development of children's thinking on this subject is presented in the larger context of the
This chapter discusses learning through the manipulation of three-dimensional objects. The opportunity to touch and interact with objects is helpful for young children as they attempt to understand abstract concepts and processes. How might parents guide children in coming to understand the complex and abstract symbolic nature of representational objects?