This report presents the findings of audience research conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), for the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The evaluation identifies and examines the successes and shortcomings of the Museum's three major public tours--Confino Living History, Getting By, and Piecing It Together--as well as the facilitated Kitchen Conversation program that follows some tours.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi KornLower East Side Tenement Museum
Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted summative evaluation of the Journey to Planet Earth: The State of the Ocean's Animals project. GRG has served as external evaluator for Journey to Planet Earth since 1999. Journey to Planet Earth is a PBS series that explores the fragile relationship between people and the world they inhabit. The most recent evaluation included two components: 1) a viewer study of the Ocean's Animals episode in the series (hosted and narrated by Matt Damon), and 2) an evaluation of the outreach initiative that complemented the series. The broad goal of the
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Marianne McPhersonElizabeth BachrachIrene F GoodmanScreenscope, Inc.American Association for the Advancement of Science
This report is the third annual report summarizing data collected about the overall impact of the Saint Louis Science Center's educational programs on participants.
Presentation on NSF grant DRL-0639021 (""Portal to the Public"") presented at the CAISE Convening on Professional Development and Informal Science Education, February 2nd, 2012.
Presentation on NSF grant DRL-0451933 (""Astronomy from the Ground Up: Building Capacity in Smaller Informal Science Education Institutions"") presented at the CAISE Convening on Professional Development and Informal Science Education, February 2nd, 2012.
Presentation on NSF grant DRL-0714629 (""Collaborative Research: Cosmic Serpent - Bridging Native and Western Science Learning in Informal Settings"") presented at the CAISE Convening on Professional Development and Informal Science Education, February 2nd, 2012.
Presentation on NSF grant DRL-0610409 (Wild Research: A Whole-Zoo Exhibit and Inquiry Program) presented at the CAISE Convening on Sustainability Science and Informal Science Education, February 6th, 2012.
Museum educators have a longstanding presence in museums and play a significant role in the institutions' educational agenda. However, research on field trips to science museums has predominantly explored teachers' and students' perspectives with little acknowledgment of the museum educators who develop and implement the educational programs the students experience. This study sought to describe instruction undertaken in, and goals driving, science museums' lessons through observations of museum educators followed by conversations with them immediately afterwards. Findings showed the ways in
The Australian Museum, Sydney, has been working with students aged 5–18 from a coalition of around 20 schools to gain advice on the development of exhibitions, programs, and the design of learning experiences, particularly regarding the use of digital environment. This paper discusses some of the results of this working relationship.
In this paper, Rhoads argues that exposure to museum resources and exhibitions can greatly benefit people with dementia—that is, those suffering the loss or decline of memory and other cognitive abilities. She calls for museums to think beyond their current offerings and develop tailored programs for people with dementia and their caregivers.
ISE educators who provide guided tours at museums and similar institutions will be interested in this paper as it addresses how informal educators can assess a visitor's ""entrance narrative,"" or collection of experiences, memories, and knowledge related to the subject matter of the museum, and respond to it in ways that enhance and increase visitors engagement with the subject matter during the tour. Visitors that experienced the entrance narrative mapping technique described here believed it helped them more deeply engage in the subject matter of the tour.