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  Hi Lindzy,

I'm the Education and Outreach Coordinator at the Bohart Museum of 
Entomology and the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology at UC Davis. 
Formally I was with the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. A few 
years ago at ASTC in Philly I was on a panel on summer camp programs. I 
will be going to Maryland this upcoming year and I would be very 
interested in working with you on this proposal.

We are a smaller organization, so field trips are based on tours of our 
collections or outside insect hunts.  We try to keep the experience 
alive (might seem challenging with only dead things). We work to expose 
the students to fields of scientific study. This is especially true of 
the 4-12 graders. Being at a university, we can expose them to simply 
studying these things that they enjoy. I know a lot of science centers, 
which don't have research programs, team up with a local university to 
bring that real application to their programs. I believe it is easier 
for a 6th grader to start to see themselves in college taking a class on 
insects than it is for them to imagine having a job as an entomologist. 
Even adults can't imagine what an entomologist does for a living!

We try to emphasize the steps- the next tangible goals for the 
students.  We have a photo on display of a kid outside with rain boots 
and an insect net. It is a photo of our current director when she was 6 
years old. I think that helps the parents and teachers see where science 
education truly begins. We also have undergrads and grads and senior 
scientists all around doing their work, so they can see the process and 
the integration of ages and levels of knowledge.

To that end we want the students and teachers to feel as though they 
have tapped into a resource to help them become a scientist or to 
integrate science into the classroom. We  make ourselves very available 
to each group. This starts with the booking process and it carries 
through to the tour.There is a staff/volunteer/intern that is always 
with the group. There are periods of free exploration and discovery, but 
then there are more guided moments during our tours. We also have 
materials available for teachers to borrow, so they can take insects, 
bones/pelts, or some of the educational drawers back to the class.

In the evaluations we send home with teachers the first question we ask 
is "What were your expectations of the program?" I think meeting their 
expectations (and then exceeding them) is as important as addressing 
their needs (standards, low cost, access).

These are just some quick thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you 
and answering any questions you may have.

Best,
Tabatha Yang









On 11/9/2010 12:16 PM, Bivings, Lindzy wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Greetings Colleagues,
>
> The 2011 ASTC conference proposals are soon due and I would like to see if there is anyone interested in putting together a proposal on Field Trips and Evaluation. The questions that Wendy Derjue-Holzer from the Harvard Natural History Museum and I are interested in addressing are:
>
> 1.) How can museums help make field trips better and more useful experiences for teachers?
> 2.) What is success and how do we measure it?
>
> If you have a thought, perspective, connection or an experience that you would like to share on this topic, please let me know.
>
> Best,
>
> Lindzy Bivings
> Manager of Enhanced Museum Visits for Students
> California Academy of Sciences
> T: (415) 379-5188
> F: (415) 379-5711
> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> www.calacademy.org/teachers/rockprogram
>
>
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> For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
>
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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

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