In mid-2007, the Sciencenter's executive director, Charlie Trautmann, traveled to Europe to survey a wide variety of science museums, centers, and other informal educational organizations and learn how they communicate the subjects of sustainability and global warming to the public. His report includes a new tool, called the "Museum Sustainability Index," which museums can use to assess their own progress in both becoming more sustainable organizations and communicating the science of sustainability to the public.
As mobile devices are increasingly merging into our daily lives, exhibition services are also facing innovation based on the newly available technologies. Our project addresses these new circumstances. We developed a mobile exhibition guide for the exhibition called "Mrs Brown's Big Day Out: Hamilton Women in the 1950s". That is organized by the Waikato Museum. The proposed system re-uses the TIP (Tourist Information Provider) system's framework and provides information via mobile devices to visitors on Victoria Street, which is an outdoor part of the exhibition. The information about a sight
By pursing delight as a design goal in the creation of exhibits about science and nature, we can solve the 'edutainment' dilemma that plagues producers of informal educational media both in and outside the museum. A hybridized notion of education and entertainment is a misguided design goal, and by rather designing for delight we encourage learning and the creation of memorable experiences. This thesis examines how delight figures into rhetorical demonstrations of nature and the design of exhibits. To build an understanding of the aesthetics of delight in the museum experience, three key
Since 1999, the Australian Museum has provided a designated play/learning space for young children aged 0–5 years. A recent redevelopment and redesign of the museum provided a valuable opportunity for a team of museum staff and university researchers to consult with young children about their experiences and expectations about this play space and the museum generally. This article reports the processes of consultation; methods used to consult with children; issues identified by the children involved; and the ways in which children's perspectives influenced the design of the new Kidspace. In
Stereoscopic 3D images, although going back to the mid-nineteenth century, are becoming pervasive in cinema, the Web, electronic games, television, graphic simulations, personal photography, and the entertainment and education ecologies. The use of stereo 3D goes beyond a technology vogue to the creation of effective experiences that are more naturally engaging for audiences by conveying real physical depth perception and the illusions of tangibility and tactility. This paper claims that because museums are all about compelling, memorable, and visceral experiences, 3D will become an
Girlstart will implement a comprehensive suite of informal STEM education programs that directly reach 2,500 4th-8th grade girls and their parents. This project will increase interest in and understanding of STEM disciplines by inspiring and engaging girls and their parents; it will establish linkages between formal and informal STEM education; and it will stimulate parents to support girls’ STEM learning endeavors by becoming informed proponents for high-quality STEM education. Over the course of 48 months—from fall 2012 to fall 2016—Girlstart seeks to develop new, robust, NASA-rich curriculum for its nationally-replicated Girlstart Summer Camp program, as well as year-long curriculum for its recognized Girlstart After School program. Curricula will be prepared for a range of ages and abilities and include links to electives, higher education majors, and careers. Girlstart will also conduct public and community STEM education programs throughout the region in NASA content areas. In addition, Girlstart will develop relevant, hands-on exhibits at the Girlstart STEM Center in Austin, Texas. Through this project, Girlstart will: (1) Increase facility and mastery in STEM skills. (2) Increase participants’ interest in pursuing STEM subjects and careers. (3) Increase participants’ understanding and mastery of the scientific method and the engineering design process as systems for problem solving and scientific discovery. (4) Increase participants’ understanding that there are multiple applications of STEM in everyday life. (5) Increase participants’ understanding of higher education as key to expanding career options. (6) Increase participants’ confidence and interest in conducting STEM activities. (7) Increase participants’ awareness of STEM careers.
The Discover Aeronautics and Aerospace Gallery (Discover) engages students, families and the general public in the STEM research that makes major accomplishments in space and aeronautics possible. Great Lakes Science Center, home of NASA Glenn Visitor Center, developed the gallery in collaboration with NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) to provide interactive learning opportunities, amazing NASA artifacts, and multimedia experiences that encourages them to discover more about STEM. The overarching project goal is to engage visitors in the important research of NASA GRC, and summative evaluation concluded that Discover is an immersive environment of interactive exhibits that increases visitors’ levels of knowledge about aeronautic and aerospace research. The Gallery successfully raises the profile of NASA GRC, and emphasizes the importance of research and experimentation for the challenges of flight – in the air and in space.
Discover is divided into mini-laboratory settings—Aeronautics Lab, Materials Lab, Rocket Lab and Power Lab—and the Discover Stage, an ideal environment for demonstrations, and presentations by astronauts and aerospace experts. When not in use for live productions, the stage hosts a video tour of NASA GRC’s impressive labs and test chambers. Visitors can experiment with a microgravity drop tower, plan a space mission, analyze slow-motion footage from a ballistic impact facility, see how motion and sound are affected by the vacuum of space, and more. Discover engages over 300,000 visitors a year in the STEM research necessary for flight. As part of the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, the Gallery exemplifies the Science Center’s dedication to sharing NASA content to inform, engage, and inspire students, educators, and the public. Discover immerses visitors in the exciting challenges and rewards of space exploration, and is a place of inspiration for tomorrow’s scientific leadership and workforce.
Curious Scientific Investigators (CSI): Flight Adventures immerses children and families in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. Launched in February 2012, the project supports NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), focusing on “innovative ideas to convey the fundamentals of flight, flight technology, and NASA’s role in aeronautics.” The project’s audience includes youth ages 6-18 and the Museum’s more than 1 million annual visitors of all ages. The project’s lead agency, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (Museum), developed and implemented the project in Indianapolis in partnership with the Academy of Model Aeronautics and NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The project’s goals focus on inspiring children and families to develop an interest in STEM concepts and learn about NASA’s role in science and aeronautics research and the evolution of flight, and on engaging and educating them through inquiry-based programs that facilitate understanding of STEM concepts and knowledge and NASA’s contributions to flight. Centered on an original Multimedia Planetarium Show on flight, Flight Adventures, the Museum designed several components, all of which complement the show and the messages it conveys. Among these components are an exhibit area composed of a movable wind tunnel, a display of models, low- and high-tech interactives; a Unit of Study; a TV show, Wings Over Indiana; a website; and a variety of educational and family programs.
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Jennifer Pace-RobinsonGordon Schimmel
This report summarizes the content and shares ideas coming out of a convening organized in September, 2013 by the Alliance and The Henry Ford. Essays by educators, students, researchers and reformers explore how leaders from the worlds of education and museums can work together to integrate the nation’s assets into a Vibrant Learning Grid. Produced with the support of the Robert and Toni Bader Foundation.
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Center for the Future of MuseumsElizabeth Merritt
Hundreds of millions of youth and adults visit science centers across the world. Although science centers have long asserted that these visits play a critical role in supporting the science learning of the public, robust and unequivocal evidence is limited. The International Science Centre Impact Study (ISCIS), a consortium of 17 science centers in 13 countries under the direction of John H. Falk Research, was designed to empirically determine whether experiences at science centres correlated with a range of critical public science and technology literacy outcomes. Because of the complex and
This book describes results of the Museum Impact and Evaluation Study, headed by the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. The project that began in January 1990 and was completed in 1992 explored relationships between museums and their visitors and was intended to help staff members understand how they develop these relationships, what characterizes these relationships, and how these relationships are maintained.
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Museum of Science and IndustryPeter AndersonBonnie Cook Roe
This chapter is a selection from the book "The Arts, Education, and Aesthetic Knowing." Should arts education have a more significant place in our schools? An emphatic 'Yes' comes from the editors and other contributors to this provocative volume. They build their case by drawing upon recent developments in cognitive theory and, in particular, upon contemporary thought regarding aesthetic knowing. They contend that aesthetic knowing constitutes a 'special mode of cognition' and they see aesthetic learning as vital to intellectual growth and development. They argue that the arts should