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A few thoughts from me, which may either cloud or clarify the  
discussion: Human brains are all different––it's an inescapable  
uniqueness factor.  It may be useful to reflect on Temple Grandin's  
division of things between "social" brain and "thing" brain at two  
opposite ends of a continuous spectrum, and what may be interesting  
and essential for one may in fact be useless and frightening to the  
other is a corollary.  Human survival depended upon both component  
ends of the spectrum and probably still does.

We've all probably seen people spend 30 minutes at an exhibit,  that  
happens at a low frequency but it's there.  Unless one is able to  
identify, measure and record the long term impacts from these  
transitory events, it's probably all a crap shoot about their  
purported benefits.  Think about how difficult it is in your own life  
to make significant changes that really stick and last.  We can't even  
measure what goes on in schools.  Somethings work for some period of  
time and then they fall out of vogue.  And we're always getting modern  
and updated, new and improved.  Thank God for computers!  And one day,  
we'll have the swiss army knife of learning instantiated in a museum  
exhibit.  Hands on works for some folks and not others.

It's not so much that we're not learning things, but it's kind of a  
fractal of human behaviors, and there is always more to learn and  
somethings are going to be difficult for some and easy for others.  It  
use to be thought than an archetypal cell existed, and upon closer  
inspection we know that they are almost all unique, and that molecules  
and structures are transitory structures in nature.  Such is the  
quantum mechanical nature of the universe.

Charlie
On May 18, 2008, at 6:30 AM, Eric Siegel wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Hi, Ed:
>
> I would love to see this exhibition. 30 minutes per exhibit!  That  
> is amazing.  I tried googling it to no avail, do you have a written  
> description of the exhibit components or some pics you could share?
>
> I am looking forward to going to Toronto later this Spring to see  
> Agents of Change at Ontario Science Center also.  From what I have  
> heard and seen (in pictures) this incorporates similarly open ended  
> experiences.
>
> Eric Siegel
> esiegel at nyscience dot org
>
>
>
>
> On May 16, 2008, at 11:43 PM, Ed Sobey wrote:
>
>> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
>> Centers
>> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
>> institutions.
>> *****************************************************************************
>>
>> Eric-
>>
>> The point is that people do dwell longer at transactive exhibits.  
>> They spend
>> longer because they can do stuff (science).
>>
>> Years ago when I was directing the museum in Fresno, we circulated a
>> traveling exhibit of trans-active (open-ended) experiences ("Move  
>> it, Build
>> it, Zap it"). Lawrence Hall and the Chicago Academy of Science  
>> rented the
>> exhibit. Both expressed amazement at how long people spent at each  
>> exhibit
>> and at the high level of interactivity between people at each  
>> exhibit.
>>
>> Chicago invested some money to study visitors. They found that  
>> visitors were
>> spending on average around 30 minutes per exhibit (the record they  
>> reported
>> was 60 minutes by one family at one exhibit). This is of course  
>> orders of
>> magnitude longer than a typical interactive exhibit.
>>
>
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Charles Carlson
Director of Life Sciences
exploratorium
3601 Lyon St.
San Francisco, CA 94123
[log in to unmask]
Tel:   415-561-0319
Fax:  415-561-0370






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