This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC. It describes a project that uses the living laboratory model of informal cognitive science education to establish additional museum hubs.
A study of docent-led guided school tours at a museum of natural history was investigated. Researchers engaged in naturalistic inquiry to describe how natural history content was conveyed to students and what students gained from this model of touring. They also investigated how the content and pedagogy within the guided tour complemented recommendations from formal science standards documents and informal learning literature. About 30 visiting school groups in Grades 2-8 were observed. Teachers (n = 30) and select students (n = 85) were interviewed. Researchers found that tours were organized
Informal and formal educators are scrutinizing particular representations of the world more often and asking whose voices are being heard and which interpretations concur or challenge learners' life worlds. Curriculum theory has emerged as a significant partner to theorize museum education practice to address ethics, equity, and accountability. The growing relationship between museum education and curriculum theory is grounded in five common concerns for shaping and sharing knowledge. The concerns include knowledge production, adherence to a democratic ideal, the art and act of choosing
The field of museum education has advanced and adapted over the years to meet the changing needs of audiences as determined by new research, national policy, and international events. Educators from Chicago's Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum provide insight into a (somewhat) typical museum education department, especially geared for readers who are outside the realm of museum education and who may be unfamiliar with expectations placed on educators. Finally, the authors suggest areas of focus that should be targeted by museum educators for them to remain current in a rapidly evolving field
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Erin DragottoChristine MinervaMichelle Nicholas
This article presents research relating to how science museum educators perceive their roles, identity, and practice. This qualitative study examines: (1) what brings museum educators to and sustains them in their profession; (2) how museum educators view their roles and work; and (3) what knowledge, skills, and attitudes museum educators identify as critical to their work. Findings show that museum educators have a strong value system that has attracted them to and sustains them in this profession, including a need to "make a difference." They primarily view themselves as educators and get
Museum education is a field of practice that is guided effectively by traditions of practice addressing museums' purposes and expected audiences, and rarely explicitly refers to the numerous models of curriculum theory that are available to guide educational practice in the school setting. But curriculum models can be useful both for describing the purposes of museum programs and for assessing their outcomes. This article reviews some longstanding models of curriculum purpose, and proposes to bring one of them, four decades old, back into comon parlance for assessing the qualities of museum
This article examines how curriculum studies can inform training and development programs for museum teachers (docents, interpreters, guides, gallery educators, and so on). It focuses on the results o fa year-long study done with eight museum teachers in three Canadian informal learning settings. A key aim of this research was to examine the question of how museum teachers believe they learn to teach. The challenges and complexities of museum teaching are revealed and analyzed in order to identify effective approaches to training and development. While agreeing that all aspects of teacher
NNOCCI is a collaborative effort led by the New England Aquarium with the Association for Zoos and Aquariums, the FrameWorks Institute, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Monterey Bay Aquarium, the New Knowledge Organization in partnership with Penn State University and the Ohio's Center for Science and Industry. With support from the National Science Foundation Climate Change Education Partnership program, NNOCCI's goal is to establish a national network of professionals who are skilled in communicating climate science to the American public.
This study assessed visitor outcomes from attending presentations by members of the National Network for Ocean Climate Change Interpretation [NNOCCI] community of practice at four test aquariums and two control site aquariums where climate change interpretation is delivered by professional environmental educators who have not received NNOCCI training. Four unique self-complete surveys were developed, each collecting comparable demographic data and then each uniquely querying: obligations to act on climate change information for people, animals or the ocean; confidence that actions will result
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New England Aquarium CorporationJohn Fraser
Research into learning in informal settings such as museums has been in a formative state during the past decade, and much of that research has been descriptive and lacking a theory base. In this article, it is proposed that the human constructivist view of learning can guide research and assist the interpretation of research data because it recognizes an individual's prior knowledge and active involvement in knowledge construction during a museum visit. This proposal is supported by reference to the findings of a previously reported interpretive case study, which included concept mapping and
This is a poster that was presented at the 2014 AISL PI meeting in Washington, DC. It describes a project that takes advantage of the charismatic nature of arachnids to engage the public in scientific inquiry, dialogue, and exploration.
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University of Nebraska LincolnEileen Hebets
This paper examines learning among museum staff involved in exhibition development in four European natural history museums. It draws upon a larger body of research undertaken for the Mirror project, a European Commission Framework Programme 5 Information Society Technologies (FT5 IST) project aimed at enhancing and improving co-operative practices through the use of new technologies. The aim of this paper is to characterize learning and co-operative practices derived from the interactions of highly heterogeneous teams involved in constructing museum exhibitions, and particularly to