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Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose has been doing cross-cultural
research in an effort to attract and reach the local Vietnamese and
Latino populations. They have partnered with UCSC psychology department
(Maureen Callanan) to study how family groups learn together. Jenni
Martin or Marilee Jennings at CDM could provide info on these projects.

I believe they will (if not already) publish papers on this work. They
also did preliminary research to determine what might attract this
population. As well they engaged them in the exhibit development
process. 

I believe a couple of surface things they learned:

-Museum-going is not a part of all cultures and that is a barrier to
overcome. Outreach to local community groups and trilingual signage both
invited and welcomed these groups. The trilingual signs did not turn off
English or other language speakers. CDM has some wonderful initiatives
underway.

-The Vietnamese seem to approach learning differently and prefer their
kids walk away with concrete knowledge which signaled learning to them.
This echoes Peter's observation. 

I believe Chicago Children's Museum has also been studying different
ethnic and cultural groups and how they approach play and learning. I
remember they presented some really interesting findings at ACM a couple
of years ago.

Overall, I think it is important to respect and respond to a culture's
natural tendencies and approaches to learning. It could also help to
communicate the value of open-ended exhibitions to all parents and
visitors, so they understand that approach. Lastly, exhibits that cater
to variety of learning styles seem like a great way to reach the most
people. 

Cheers,
Tina Cosby
Exhibits Director, Palo Alto Jr. Museum & Zoo
Palo Alto, Ca.

-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Peter A Anderson
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 9:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: If they saw it, would they know it was a science center?

ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
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*****

Marty, hi!

I wish I knew of good cross-cultural studies.  I don't.

I suspect that children of any culture react pretty similarly to science
center exhibits.  But, the adults don't, and the planners of science
centers in some cultures have difficulty with the formats of N.
American,
European Australian and New Zealand centers (and others that I apologize
for omitting.)

An example:

I was part of a team laying out exhibits for a project in southern
China. 
The client was very uncomfortable with a visitor-controlled experience,
feeling that the visitors should learn so-and so first, then the next
thing, and the next etc. in proper order.  The free access idea was very
difficult for them.  What has been called the Confucian culture requires
respect for authority, orderliness, loyalty to the family and
unremitting
hard work.  The odd thing is, that a major reason why science centers
are
being built in those parts, is because they realise that, brilliant
though
they are at manufacturing and incremental improvements, they seem always
to
be making things that were first invented in the west.  They see science
centers as potential parts of a remedy to this situation.  They believe
(correctly, I think) that they are no less blessed with potential
creativity than we, and have long ancient histories of invention.  But,
what we attribute creativity to - a lot of freedom of thought, conduct
and
activity - can be really objectionable there, expecially to
institutional
planners.

There are many members of this listserv who belong to more than one
culture, and could comment far better than I.  I hope they will join in
this thread.

Peter Anderson

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