The Marian Koshland Science Museum will produce a 1,500-square-foot exhibit on infectious disease aimed at a teen and adult audience. The exhibit will focus on three concepts: (1) How infectious disease affects individuals, society, and the environment; (2) What actions can be taken to modify the impact of infectious disease; and (3) What benefits and consequences there are to both action and inaction. These concepts will be explained using interactive displays, with emphasis on the use of current science and science-based decision support tools. The Koshland will develop public programs, educational materials aimed at grades 7-12, hands-on science activities, and audio and video guides to support the exhibit. An exhibit on infectious disease is relevant because of the continuing burden and increasing threat of disease worldwide. A greater understanding of recent scientific advances will help the public make decisions about their health and the health of their community.
In the paper I argue for a certain way of theorizing and studying learning. Learning is seen as situated in social practice, and in the pursuit of most learning persons are seen as moving around in social practice. They are involved in personal trajectories across various social contexts of practice. Even more so, these social contexts and the links between them, which persons learning draw on in their pursuit of learning, are institutionally arranged in various ways, and this affects the opportunities and nature of learning processes. These arguments about the nature of learning, theories of
As with most attractions, COSI relies heavily on the map it provides visitors to facilitate wayfinding, marketing, and promotion. As the map is of significant cost, the Marketing department determined that they needed answers to several questions about the visitor use of the COSI map.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Exploratorium began an exciting long-term alliance in 2009 to present climate and ocean sciences to the public. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, and coasts using cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation, and to share its knowledge with others. Teaming up with the Exploratorium enables NOAA to explore new methods of communicating its work using the creativity and educational expertise of the museum. The partnership involves codeveloping exhibits, online media, public programs, and research about learning, and it also provides professional development opportunities for NOAA scientists. Some examples of partnership projects include the Scientists-in-Residence Program, the Wired Pier Project, the Deep-Water Dock at the Piers, and the Okeanos Explorer exhibit.
LIGO's Science Education Center is in charge of Education and Public Outreach Component for the LIGO Livingston Observatory. The three prime efforts are: (1) Professional development for teachers utilizing lab facilities and cross-institute collaborations. (2) Outreach to students K-16 (targeting 5- 9th grade), with on-site field trips to the LIGO Lab and Science Education Center, as well as off-site visits & presentations. (3) Outreach to the general public and community groups with on-site tours and Science Education Center Experience, as well as off=site visits and presentations. LIGO's Science Education Center is located at the LIGO Observatory, and has an auditorium, a classroom and a 5000 square foot exhibit hall with interactive exhibits at its disposal to complete its mission. In addition LIGO-SEC staff serve to help press and documentary film makers complete their missions in telling the "LIGO story" and encouraging budding scientists.
In the recent exhibition project Animal Secrets, we looked at the impact of three strategies for fostering parent-child interactions in an exhibition for young children: environmental design, types of activities, and labels. Results from our study indicate that all three strategies can support parent-child interactions, but environmental design and activity type were more effective than labels overall in promoting parent-child collaboration. Mixed results for exhibit labels suggest the need for further research into how best to communicate with parents of young children in an exhibition.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Karyn BertschiMarcie BenneAnn Elkins
Complex ideas like evolution—which run counter to common, but mistaken, intuitive knowledge—are challenging, both for exhibit developers and for the evaluation and research teams who assess the impact of exhibitions. It is always difficult to document measurable changes in deep conceptual understanding following a single visit to an exhibition; Is this even possible with complex topics, such as evolution? In this article, we summarize a series of studies that may offer some help to exhibit developers and evaluators, as well as others who design and assess informal learning experiences. The
The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) seeks support to complete the reinstallation of its 25,800 square-foot permanent Gallery of California History and to develop and implement accompanying educational programs. OMCA’s history collections contain the largest, finest, and most comprehensive collection of California material culture anywhere. The Gallery of California History was originally created in the 1960s and 70s, and it has been more than 20 years since it has been updated. The new installation of the gallery will include approximately 2,200 historical artifacts, works of art, ethnographic materials, and original photographs. This reinstallation is part of a major transformation of the entire museum that will realize the institution’s deep and continuing commitment to telling the full story of California and its people. The opening of the new Gallery of California History is planned for early 2010.
This project will reinterpret a significant property owned by Historic Hudson Valley (HHV). Using as a focusing device the experiences of four women who shaped this country estate during its 200-year history, the new interpretation will illustrate important turning points in American attitudes toward nature and landscape. As it forges a more integrated, effective way for house museums to interpret the built and natural environments, HHV will strive to help visitors understand how American points of view about landscape and nature have changed over time and why those shifts matter. Project formats include an interpretive tour of the nearly 400-acre site; web-based programs and blog; and publications. The story of Montgomery Place reflects many of the ideas and values that have shaped America’s land and people. The project addresses how cultural attitudes toward the natural world determine human actions, and how these actions in turn affect people’s environments.
The Harvard Art Museum will organize, present, and circulate a groundbreaking interpretive exhibition that will transform traditional assumptions about the role of artists in the production of new forms of knowledge during the Renaissance’s Scientific Revolution. The museum will create a major traveling exhibition, Prints and the Pursuit of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe, and related publications and public programming. The exhibition, which opens jointly at Harvard’s Sackler Museum and Wellesley College’s Davis Art Museum, addresses the participation of such celebrated northern European artists as Albrecht Dürer, Hendrick Goltzius, and Hans Holbein in the scientific inquiries of the sixteenth century, especially as manifested in their printed works. Such an investigation reveals the previously unexamined close working relationships between the artistic and scientific communities, and the exchanges of influence between them.
Overview of Sustainability Professional Development and Evaluation: As part of the National Science Foundation funded "Sustainability: Promoting Sustainable Decision Making in Informal Education" project, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and its partners developed a professional development website and workshop. The goal of this and other project deliverables was to promote sustainable decision making by building skills that allow participants to weigh their choices and choose more sustainable practices. ExhibitSEED (Exhibit Social Environmental and Economic Development) refers
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Oregon Museum of Science and IndustryRenee B. Curtis
Overview of Clever Together/Juntos somos ingeniosos and Evaluation: As part of the National Science Foundation funded "Sustainability: Promoting Sustainable Decision Making in Informal Education" project, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and its partners developed a bilingual (Spanish/English) exhibition. The goal of this and other project deliverables was to promote sustainable decision making by building skills that allow participants to weigh their choices and choose more sustainable practices. Clever Together/Juntos somos ingeniosos is a permanent, bilingual exhibition at
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Oregon Museum of Science and IndustryRenee B. Curtis