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This is a handout from a session presented at the 2008 ASTC Conference. Advances in neuroscience are revealing biological pathways underlying emotion, attention, and memory. How can this research be integrated with educational pedagogy to enhance free-choice learning? Join experts from neuroscience, education, and museums to explore practical ways in which new insights about the brain can be applied to...

This book addresses controversial changes in a major cultural organization through the lens of a vital need for a shift in thinking as museums enter the 21st century. Robert Janes is a leading voice in the changes taking place in Canada's cultural institutions. In this case study, the author candidly discusses layoffs, union/management relations, and the urgency of sustainability. Contributions...

In this article, Jim Spadaccini, owner and Creative Director of Ideum, examines the influence of Web 2.0 media and how new models (wikis, blogs, community sites, etc.) provoke new ideas and new questions. Spadaccini includes examples of how institutions are integrating this technology into their work. ...

This article transcribes remarks given by Willard L. Boyd at the Visitor Studies Association Annual Conference in Orlando on August 3, 2001. Boyd discusses the complexities and challenges of museums as centers of public learning based on his experience as the director of the Field Museum in Chicago....

This article discusses museums and their role in facilitating public learning. It explores assessment to document the impact of museum learning....

It has long been recognized, but rarely publicly acknowledged, that most people learn much if not most of what they know outside of the formal education system. As Patricia Albjerg Graham recently wrote in Daedalus, "Scholars ranging from the late James S. Coleman and Lawrence A. Cremin to Christopher Jencks have quite properly reminded us of the limited role that...

In this paper, Robert F. Kelly of the University of British Columbia presents a set of generalizations on visitor satisfaction based participation in two dozen empirical studies of museum visitors and non-visitors. Kelly analyzes visitors' motives for going or not going to museums and cites specific evidence from the Canadian Museum of Civilization....

This paper addresses the role of museums in education in science and technology through the discussion of a specific project entitled EST "Educate in Science and Technology". The Project puts together methodologies and activities through which museums can be used as resources for long-term project work. In-service training for teachers, work in class with learning kits or with materials brought...

Focusing on where people find information about issues relevant to civic society, the author of this paper concludes that, in contrast to the Internet and related information technologies, informal science institutions are less impactful on civic science literacy. The implications of his findings are that in the Internet era an informal science institution's in-house presentation of intriguing phenomena may not...

The article discusses the efforts of U.S. science museums to act as resources for science teachers in states that have adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Topics discussed include professional development activities offered for teachers by museums, the role of Anthony "Bud" Rock and the nonprofit organization he serves as chief executive officer (CEO) of, the Association of Science-Technology...

This paper is an introduction to the special issue of "Visitor Studies Today" dedicated to museum accessibility for persons with disabilities by guest editor Christine Reich, Senior Research/Evaluation Associate at the Museum of Science, Boston....

In this interview, Douglas Worts, educator/evaluator at the Art Gallery of Ontario and Associate of LEAD-Canada, discusses sustainable development within the museum community in Canada as well as efforts led by LEAD-Canada (Leadership for Environmental And Development)....

This article discusses research conducted among families and museum visitors in the Midwest from 1996-1998. The study found that women, more often than men, initiate family museum visits and that a mother's parenting strategies are strongly related to her ideas about the nature of knowledge and how she comes to know and understand herself and the world....

Given the rapid changes that 21st century museums must manage, flexible thinking about leadership forms and purposes is needed. Today's complex leadership landscape necessitates that staff engage in enacting leadership with positional leaders. Limited empirical literature exists that describes how the next generation of museum leaders is being nurtured and developed. The purpose of this study was to: describe museum...

This report is the result of a task force convened between 2008 and 2009 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to identify the new contexts facing libraries and museums, such as the evolution of the global economy and the need for 21st century skills. The report is designed to help decision makers and leaders in libraries and...

In this article, Peter Kuttner FAIA, President of Cambridge Seven Associates, Architects and Exhibit Designers and Director of the American Institute of Architects, argues that museums have a unique responsibility to pursue sustainable design. Kuttner outlines the historical evolution of sustainable exhibit design, the LEED rating system, and the role museums should play in the "green movement" with the California...

This article is a report on three meta-analyses investigating the relationship between musics and mathematics....

In this paper, Robert C. Webb, of Suffolk University, presents literature related to much-debated topic about using music in an exhibit. In particular, Webb discusses four topics of interest to museum professionals: (1) the complexity of the term "background music" (2) the roles and uses of mood created by music (3) the use of music to cue appropriate behavior and...

In the American educational climate of today, "basic" academic skills are valued while the arts are considered a frill. Many major urban school districts have cut back on arts education in order to strengthen academic subjects. Even though most of our schools have some arts education, and even though most of our citizens say they want their children to be...

In this paper we describe the particularities of Latin American museum visitors as learners through an exploratory study that took place at Universum, Museo de las Ciencias, a science museum located in Mexico City. The exploration of the learning experiences of Latin American family groups was carried out by means of a case study approach and from a socio-cultural theory...

This planning grant project addresses the problem that individuals and communities in rural areas do not have access to typical informal science education venues that help the public better understand significant issues that impact their lives. A team of Cornell University investigators will develop strategies to educate rural communities in New York State on science-based issues such climate change and...

In August 2009, the Program Evaluation and Research Group (PERG) at Lesley University contracted with the project's PI at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) to evaluate My Dome: Defining the Computational and Cognitive Potential of Real Time Interactive Simulations in an Immersive Dome Environment, an NSF funded grant. The project focuses on creating interactive experiences in immersive virtual environments,...

MY NASA DATA attempts to make NASA satellite data about the Earth available in a form that is accessible to the public through a standard web browser. For citizen scientists, the project has identified a number of science project ideas which tie local observations to the larger context and history available from satellite data. A mentor network is also available...

This is a summative evaluation of four exhibit areas: Tot Spot, Outdoor Tot Spot, Lookout Cove and Wave Workshop. All sections were developed with a grant from the National Science Foundation and are themed to "My Place By the Bay."...

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) and its collaborators are conducting a set of research and development activities focusing on early childhood astronomy in the first field-wide effort to increase the capacity of informal science education (ISE) institutions to effectively engage their youngest visitors (ages 3 - 5) in astronomy. Leading the project is an Action Research Group comprised...