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Bob,
Could you post some references for Bandura?  It would be helpful to read 
his work.
Thanks,
Beryl

Robert Russell wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> As a developmental psychologist by background, it has been my experience  
> that museums favor particular theories of intellectual development that are  
> currently in vogue and attempt to design exhibits and/or programs that use a  
> particular theory -- multiple intelligences, for example -- as THE  pedagogy.
>  
> Piaget's theory of intellectual development, Gardner's theory of multiple  
> intelligences, and Vygotsky's theory of social learning have all had their time  
> and all have some good points to take into consideration when designing an  
> educational program.  There are, of course, many other psychologists who  also 
> have much to tell educators and designers, such as Albert Bandura, whose  
> theory of social learning can tell us much about the role of people, imitation,  
> and role models in development.
>  
> So I would caution museum educators against fully embracing any particular  
> theory and adopting it as THE framework.  Rather, I would suggest becoming  
> familiar with useful theories and applying some key points as they are  relevant. 
>  
>  
> Some years ago, I wrote two articles for the Informal Learning Review that  
> informal educators may find useful:
>  
> 1.  "Experience-Based Learning Theories" (compilations/overviews of  the 
> theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, etc. including brief bibliographies).
>  
> 2.  Bob's Top Ten Points (a framework of key points, derived from  learning 
> theories, that educators and designers can consider when  developing exhibits 
> and programs).
>  
> Designers may also find another article by Ted Ansbacher providing an  
> overview of John Dewey's theory as it can be applied to exhibit design, What Do  You 
> See and Do: An Introduction to Experience Based Exhibits."
>  
> These articles are available online under the heading Exhibition Design  
> Resources at:
>  
> _http://www.informallearning.com/links.htm_ 
> (http://www.informallearning.com/links.htm) 
>  
>  
> I encourage any educators and designers to put "learning theories" or  
> "intellectual development" into Google; you find a myriad of theories and not  much 
> closure.
>  
> As a further resource, educators and designers may want to read any of  
> several books by John Falk, Lynn Dierking, and others of the Institute of  Learning 
> Innovation, where learning theories are integrated into an overarching  
> framework for informal educators.  You can find titles and other useful  resources 
> at their website:
>  
> _www.ilinet.org_ (http://www.ilinet.org) 
>  
>  
> Bob
>  
> Robert L.  Russell, Ph.D.
> Science Advisor, Self-Reliance Foundation
> Project Director,  Celebra la Ciencia & ConCiencia/Hispanic Science Newswire
> (202) 360-4117  (office) (202) 997-5539 (cell)
> [log in to unmask]
>
> _www.celebralaciencia.org_ (http://www.celebralaciencia.org/) 
> _www.selfreliancefoundation.org_ (http://www.selfreliancefoundation.org/) 
>
> 1126  16th St. NW, Suite 350
> Washington, DC 20036
>
>
>
>
>
>  
> In a message dated 5/16/2008 9:06:19 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> There  is a tradition in some art museums of presenting art without   
> interpretation on the theory that visitors can and should engage on   
> their own terms.  So here's the question:  does that qualify  as  
> transactive?  Certainly it is open-ended and allows the  visitor to  
> bring whatever multiple intelligences they wish to  explore the art in  
> whatever way they find satisfying?
>
> Before  you say that this has nothing to do with science centers, I  
> have  heard more than one visitor to the Exploratorium complain that  
> they  are ill-equipped to deal with the real intellectual challenges  
> the  place presents (just as some of us are intimidated by art  
> museums),  and that they find the experience inaccessible as a result,  
> while  others such as myself love the place and find it both engaging  
> and  stimulating.
>
> James Bradburne, whom I have not had the pleasure to meet,  argued in  
> a 2002 article that interactivity is a property of people,  not  
> exhibits, and that an artifact-based display can support very  real  
> and meaningful interactions—or not.  Same with  push-button  
> electromechanicals in a science center—some promote  interactive in a  
> real sense, and others don't.  Depends on what  the visitor does with  
> them, and the experience they  have.   Bradburne has been director of  
> a science center  (newMetropolis) and an art museum (Museum für  
> Angewandte Kunst) so  he is speaking from personal experience here.
>
> Bradburne didn't discuss  transactive experiences because his article  
> was written six years  ago and the term wasn't yet much in use in the  
> museum context, but I  imagine he would make the same point:   
> transactive experiences  act at the level of the individual visitor  
> (it is the visitor doing  the transacting, not the exhibit), and such  
> experiences may or may  not include any sort of physical interaction.   
> And more:   some visitors will require help, and maybe lots of it, to  
> get to the  point where they can have meaningful open-ended  
> experiences, while  others with different backgrounds are ready to  
> jump right  in.   So what we really need to be talking about are   
> exhibits that can be used in multiple ways by multiple users   
> depending on where they are in their individual learning curves,  no?
>
> Chuck Howarth
> Gyroscope
> 283 4th Street
> Oakland, CA   94607
>
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-- 
Beryl Rosenthal, Ph.D.
Director
Tsongas Industrial History Center
Boott Cotton Mills
115 John Street
Lowell, MA 01854
(978) 970-5081 (t)
(978) 970-5085 (f)
[log in to unmask]
www.uml.edu/tsongas/index2.htm

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