Increasing numbers of museums and galleries worldwide have developed an array of working practices that might be termed 'participatory' or 'co-creative', which seek to involve visitors, non-visitors, community and interest groups with diverse forms of expertise and perspective in their activities. Frequently the central aim of such practices has been to strengthen relationships between a museum and its audiences through projects that are jointly conceived and developed with local communities. However, relatively little attention has been given to participatory practice within the work of
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Katy BunningJen KavanaghKayte McSweeneyRichard Sandell
This paper examines the approach of a major new gallery on information and communication technologies in the Science Museum, situating it in the context of current ideas around the history of technology and exploring the way the curatorial team addressed the challenges of display and interpretation. As a short discussion piece it looks at four broad questions: How has the concept of information, and more importantly an ‘Information Age’ been conceived across differing disciplines? What opportunities can user focused histories present to a gallery on information and communication technologies
The Art and Science of Acoustic Recording was a collaborative project between the Royal College of Music and the Science Museum that saw an historic orchestral recording from 1913 re-enacted by musicians, researchers and sound engineers at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in 2014. The original recording was an early attempt to capture the sound of a large orchestra without re-scoring or substituting instruments and represents a step towards phonographic realism. Using replicated recording technology, media and techniques of the period, the re-enactment recorded two movements of Beethoven’s
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Aleks KolkowskiDuncan MillerAmy Blier-Carruthers
When exchange telephony was first marketed to the British public by the early telephone companies in the late nineteenth century it was as an intuitive technology requiring no specialist knowledge or training. This has gone unquestioned in subsequent telephone historiography but, as this article demonstrates, telephone instruments and systems were not always unproblematic or easy to use. Whilst other scholars have discussed important factors in the development and uptake of telephony, such as business economics and intellectual property, this article focuses on usage, and argues that
Science centres and museums in Europe traditionally offer opportunities for public participation, such as dialogues, debates and workshops. In recent years, starting with the support of grants from the European Commission, the purpose of these initiatives is increasingly more connected with the policy making processes where science centres play a role as brokers between the public and other stakeholders. This article begins an investigation on how these two levels of participation – the participation of museums in policy, and the participation of visitors in museums – are related in seven
The paper aims to build a ground for thinking about museums’ role in society and the development of the twenty-first century learner. The first and second parts of the paper focus on the influences technological evolution and current global challenges have brought to our lives, and the consequent requirements for ‘new’ learning and skills. The third part examines how different elements of new pedagogies and approaches could reinforce the twenty-first century learner and could, moreover, inspire museums. The final part of the paper focuses on the specific contribution that museums could make by
This survey was used as part of the AZA research agenda process. The Visitor Studies Initiative of the CEC has been gathering information about the evaluation and visitor research work that has been conducted at AZA institutions. The goal is to develop a plan for visitor research at our institutions going forward – to identify areas where we are excelling, as well as topics needing further research attention. The survey was sent to education professionals from 77 AZA institutions, and will be used identify holes in the existing framework and/or future opportunities for research.
The designers of the Math Moves! exhibits have worked hard to support visitors’ qualitative, kinesthetic understanding of the topic of ratio and proportion. How did we, as designers of math exhibits in science museums, attempt to make connections for visitors between embodied understanding of mathematics and more abstract knowledge? How have they come to view what counts as mathematics?
This special issue of the Association of Children's Museums publication Hand to Hand highlights the Learning Value of Children's Museums research agenda project. Articles include: "Composing a Children's Museum Field: Research Agendas and More" by Al DeSena; "What Do We Need to Know?: The Children's Museum Research Agenda Project" by Jessica Luke and Victoria Garvin; "The Evolving Role of Research in Museums: An Interview with George Hein"; "Contributing to What We Know about Museum Visitors: Participating in the Visitor Studies Continuum" by Susan Foutz and Claire Thoma; "Using Research to
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Association of Children's MuseumsMary MaherSusan Foutz
The purpose of this ethnographic study is to understand connected learning of youth in online communities and how these findings can influence the practice of librarians to support youth learning. Drawing from a two-and-a-half-year ethnography, I present data that was coded using the connected learning framework. This study provides insights into the role that librarians can play in the larger learning ecologies of youth. Finally, this paper gives practical implications for librarians based on the actions of youth, using a holistic approach to youth learning. It identifies librarians as ideal
Today educational activities take place not only in school but also in after-school programs, community centers, museums, and online communities and forums. The success and expansion of these out-of-school initiatives depends on our ability to document and assess what works and what doesn’t in informal learning, but learning outcomes in these settings are often unpredictable. Goals are open-ended; participation is voluntary; and relationships, means, and ends are complex. This report charts the state of the art for learning assessment in informal settings, offering an extensive review of the
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jay LemkeRobert LecusayMichael ColeVera Michalchik
The maker movement is fundamentally changing the way educators and educational researchers envision teaching and learning. This movement contends making — an active process of building, designing, and innovating with tools and materials to produce shareable artifacts — is a naturally rich and authentic learning trajectory (Martinez & Stager, 2013). Makerspaces are places where making happens in community. I craft my dissertation to explore these two defining characteristics of makerspaces through a comparative case study (Stake, 1995) and a design experiment (Brown, 1992). In the comparative