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Andy,
        Thanks... I'm not familiar with that specific research but will look
for it in the literature.  It seems to point to visitors learning process
information rather than content information... and I think this is something
that museum visits really do provide.
        I want to make sure folks don't think I'm saying that visitors don't
get anything from their visits...I just think we need to be careful in what
our expectations are and look at what we can do best...give people real
experiences with real things that they can incorporate with past and future
experiences to build understanding and knowledge.
        I like many others, am weary of the push for linking everything to
 immediate changes in test scores.
        And we can't discount the social value of museum visits for school
groups and families... for many of them this is an important part of the
experience as well.

Dave Taylor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


> From: Lloyd Andy <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Informal Science Education Network <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 16:45:30 +0100
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Evaluation Suggestions Wanted
>
> David
>
> are you familiar with the work carried out by John Gilbert (The University
> of Reading, UK), Susan Stocklmayer (Australian National University) and
> Robin Garnett (Questacon) looking into the use of mental modelling in
> visitors to the Questacon science centre and how their mental models are
> shaped by their interaction with specific exhibits and, crucially, how these
> are maintained after the visit.  Part of the study involved phone interviews
> with visitors several months later.  The evidence seemed to be that visitors
> were in many cases subconsciously using their science centre experience to
> build mental models that they then used in later situations.  This was
> several years ago, and maybe someone from Questacon will know more about
> whether this work continued, but it was the first hard evidence I
> encountered of measurable long-term effects of science centre visits.
>
> Having said that, I too am a strong believer that science centres (and all
> informal education sources) are about much more than cognitive outcomes,
> with emotional and social factors being just as important (if harder for
> researchers to measure).
>
> Regards
>
> Andy
>
> Andy Lloyd                                              tel. +44 (0) 20 7942
> 4377
> Interaction & Technology Specialist             fax +44 (0) 20 7942 4383
> Science Museum Solutions                        www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Taylor [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 3:53 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Evaluation Suggestions Wanted
>
>
> I've written about this before... but will put out my point of view
> once again...
>
> I have been studying the literature on museum learning over the
> last 3 years as part of my Ph.D. studies... and there is little or no
> evidence that visitors have major changes in their knowledge from
> a single visit to the museum...  when you try to evaluate changes
> in people's lives based on a 30 minute to 3 hour experience it is
> very difficult to show long term 'cognitive' learning.
>
> This doesn't mean we are not making an impact on visitors... often
> we are giving them real experiences with real things they wouldn't
> have anywhere else... we are inspiring them to pay attention to
> things in other aspects of life that they have first encountered in the
> museum...we are getting them to be museum members so they will
> not just have one experience but a series of experiences in the
> museum that will build on each other for long term changes in their
> beliefs and interest in science.
>
> So, you will be fighting a losing battle to try to tell folks that one
> school visit to a museum will make a difference in school test scores,
> but you can be quite confident that their museum visit will help support
> a series of life long experiences (museums, PBS, news stories, mags,
> school experiences) that will build on each other to inspire science
> learning.
>
> David
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> David Taylor
> AHHA Museum Services
>   "Now I Understand"
>      (206) 363-8126
> 1560 NW Woodbine Way
>     Seattle, WA 98177
>    e-mail:   [log in to unmask]
> http://www.AHHA-MuseumServices.com
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>

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