Skip to main content

Community Repository Search Results

resource evaluation Public Programs
Youth Volunteer Interpreters as Facilitators of Learning about Climate Change in Zoo Settings reports on a project to pilot test climate change education resources featuring youth volunteer interpreters as facilitators for zoo visitors’ experiences. Brookfield Zoo tested inquiry-based and specimen-based interpretation at the polar bear and Humboldt penguin exhibits, and Woodland Park Zoo tested a climate-change themed "activity cart" near their Sumatran tiger exhibit. Both the effects of youth volunteer interpretation on the zoo visitors and on the youth volunteer interpreters themselves were
DATE:
resource research Public Programs
Supported by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Safari Adventure Advisory Committee Workshop was held on March 11, 2013 at the Bronx Zoo, with the following experts and educators in the fields of children and nature education, hands-on and place-based learning, and digital learning: Professor Louise Chawla, educator David T. Sobel, Urban Assembly high school principal Mark Ossenheimer, researcher Ingrid Erickson, and noted author and environmentalist Richard Louv. Through this workshop, we obtained scholarly input for the purpose of assessing the conceptual
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS: Wildlife Conservation Society Lee Patrick
resource research Exhibitions
Visiting a zoo or aquarium is not only fun, but can also have a positive impact on visitors' knowledge and attitudes regarding animals and the environment. The biggest challenge, however, is for these institutions to strategically provide opportunities for cognitive and affective learning while simultaneously facilitating enjoyment and fun. Recent studies in zoos and aquaria have examined various factors that can influence learning such as engaging visitors' emotions or connecting with visitors' prior knowledge and interests. The intent of the current study was to further this line of
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS: Jerry F. Luebke Jennifer Matiasek
resource evaluation Media and Technology
This report describes a research study conducted by User Experience Research Consulting, Inc. (UXR) contracted by the iSaveSpecies team that would inform the development of online extended engagement conservation activities to bridge and support zoo visitors, onsite experiences with computer-based conservation stations. The study focused on two key concepts: engagement and conservation. Across three phases, researchers investigated visitor attitudes, perceptions, and experiences related to conservation action through the iSaveSpecies system and in their personal lives, and their ideas and
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS: Miami University Jes Koepfler
resource project Exhibitions
The four New England museums of the Environmental Exhibit Lab (EEC) set out in the Fall of 2011 to create a replicable model of collaborative professional development for small museums. At small institutions, impending deadlines, budget and staffing limitations, and professional isolation all too often get in the way of true innovation. The goal of Exhibit Lab was to help staff who, though conversant with current museum theory, sometimes struggle to apply that theory to their daily work, or to disseminate these ideas through an institution. Exhibit Lab relied on a carefully crafted mix of meetings, workshops and staff exchanges, a combination of outside experts and peer-to-peer mentoring, to foster a community of practitioners, engaged in collaborative learning-by-doing. In short, the participants created a "virtual department" in which we came to rely as quickly on our peers in a partner museum as quickly as we would to a co-worker down the hall had we worked in a larger museum. The Exhibit Lab project focused on the work of the Exhibit and Program/Education staffs, but we feel that the project model holds lessons for other museum departments, and for museums outside the Children's and Science museum sphere.
DATE: -
TEAM MEMBERS: Worcester Natural History Society dba EcoTarium Betsy Loring Alexander Goldowsky Suzanne Olson Chris Sullivan Phelan Fretz Julie Silverman Neil Gordon Denise LeBlanc Joseph P. Cox