ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
Dear Alan,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful and well reasoned participation in
this discussion. When I mentioned my early days at the Hall, you were
certainly among the 'superstars in the field' that was referenced. It
was a special time for me to be sure.
Over the years you have known me as a slightly irascible, uncompromising
idealist, way out there on the 'fringe' most of the time. So you must
excuse my surprise when I find myself almost completely agreeing with
everything in your note.
Despite our best, most genuine efforts at guiding, visitors do, largely
construct their own experiences from the stuff and structure we
provide. In my view, the best we can do is make sure we provide a rich
environment for exploration. Of course, we can never provide the
richness or the great wide world, and by my definition, every science
center therefore is a poor substitute for the things that go on outside
it's walls. Except perhaps in one significant way. We can provide
help in looking at the 'stuff' of the world. At our best I think, we
can be like a hand lens, helping each other to see, encouraging each
other to look.
I have to also agree with you about the use of real phenomena.
Regardless of the the interpretation, presented to the visitors by us,
or developed in their own minds, there is no mistaking the 'truth' of
the event.
I certainly agree with Mark St. Johns assessment of our true place in
the network of life-long learning opportunities. And when I write that
we are part of the' formal education system' is not meant as a statement
of fact, but as a statement of the field's absurd position, so often
found in its rhetoric if not explicitly stated. We align our programs
with state curriculum guidelines. We submit grant proposals which claim
'visitors will learn....' We are answering the needs of local school
districts. We are trying to position ourselves more and more to become a
part of that 'formal education' network, even though we say we are not
and perhaps even believe in our heart of heart's, that we can not be.
If I interpret what you are saying correctly, you are making a radical
departure from my position above when you write; "If the formal system
finds us useful, great! But that's not the primary reason we exist; I
hope." Can I quote you on that?
Now you're talking! This is a fantastic departure from what I have heard
in recent years as more and more exhibits and programs at science
centers seem to try to align with state standards and find the all
important curriculum tie-in. Often the reason for being (that is; for
developing an exhibit or program or to ask for money to do so) is given
as 'to support the needs of the local school district' or some such
variation.
Am I wrong? Have I mis-characterized the importance placed on school
tie-ins in our exhibit and program offerings? If so, perhaps I have
missed out on this revolution. Someone fill me in! I mean, I do live
out here in the desert, practically isolated from all civilization.
If I haven't missed it, if it's just beginning, then I have to thank
you, Alan, for adding your voice to the discussion, a voice much clearer
than mine.
I hope the conversation about these issues can be carried on.
Joe Ruggiero
Founding Staff Member, NY Hall of Science 1986
Alan J. Friedman wrote:
>ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
>Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
>*****************************************************************************
>
>The thoughtful issues Bill and Joe are raising are ones we should all be
>considering, and I'd love to see more retreat time (like at ASTC meetings)
>with discussions on this level. I have a few (I hope consoling) comments:
>
>On the balance between exhibitions which offer free exploration vs. those
>delivering accepted wisdom, I suggest that whatever our intentions on this,
>visitors construct their own exhibitions out of the hardware, environment,
>and people that they find when they arrive. Indeed, the definition of
>informal learning has been that visitors set their own agenda. We cannot
>determine whether they use our exhibitions for pure play or for acquiring
>specific knowledge from authorities, or for something else entirely. I've
>seen tightly didactic exhibitions used for pure fun ("oh, come look at this
>thing, it's cool, whatever it is!) and art pieces with no explicit learning
>goals used by visitors as structured constructivist learning tools ("now I
>think this is about centrifugal force, because it is trying to show you
>that...."). We will fret about the balance we are attempting to establish,
>but let's not take ourselves too seriously, because the visitors will create
>their own balance no matter what we intend. "Messing around with stuff" is
>going to happen a lot of the time, whether we intended it to or not.
>
>This belief does bias me towards exhibitions with real phenomena, regardless
>of the inquiry vs. didactic balance, because then however the visitors
>choose to use them, the exhibitions have something real to share.
>Simulations worry me, because I find visitors too often focused on artifacts
>of the simulation, which may have no relation to the rest of the universe.
>I look for a high "reality quotient" in whatever is being made available.
>
>On claiming we are "an important part of the formal education collective," I
>try to be cautious and take Mark St. John's position that we are part of the
>infrastructure supporting lifelong learning, rather than claiming that we
>provide a specific function within the formal education system. Like a
>library, we are a treasury, in our case of phenomena and resources
>(exhibits, words, people, environments) about science. You don't try to
>judge a library by measuring what people know pre- and post-visit. That's
>one measure we could use, but only one. I think we can also make a case
>that we provide alternative learning modalities, valued for precisely the
>reason that we are _not_ school. If the formal system finds us useful,
>great! But that's not the primary reason we exist; I hope.
>
>Assessment is a big challenge/opportunity for us to clarify our roles.
>Scientists have a habit of mind which constantly insists that we test our
>assumptions and beliefs (including this paragraph and all the ones above).
>I'm optimistic that we can develop, and to some extent already have
>developed, tools for learning what it is we do, and knowing when we have
>improved what we do. We can measure some aspects of traditional learning,
>but we can also measure fun, attitudes, and infrastructure functions. We
>cannot measure everything, and so we are going to do some things because our
>intuition says we should--just like every other endeavor in our culture.
>But we have a special responsibility to practice science by measuring what
>we can measure, and learning how to measure more. That's why I'm spending a
>lot of time with the Visitor Studies Association. Those folks are doing
>some ingenious work towards "measuring the immeasurable" (to use the title
>of the pioneering 1997 paper by Minda Borun at the Franklin Institute).
>
>Cheers,
>Alan
>******************************
>Alan J. Friedman, Director and CEO
>New York Hall of Science
>47-01 111th Street
>Queens, NY 11368 USA
>Phone +1 718 699-0005 ext. 316
>Fax +1 718 760-5932
>Mobile +1 917 882-6671
>Email [log in to unmask]
>
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