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

On behalf of all of us very little places who " barely have the  
resources to get the thing built in the first place" and live in a  
state of perpetual penny-pinching, thank you, Erich and Paul. Folks  
who live in the outback need the best we can give them...

Laddie Elwell
Headwaters (of the Mississippi) Science Center
413 Beltrami Avenue NW
Bemidji, MN 56601
www.hscbemidji.org

On Oct 30, 2011, at 7:02 AM, Erich Rose wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> ********************************************************************** 
> *******
>
> THANK YOU PAUL!
>
> Oh lord, I have been sitting this one out because I didn't know how  
> to say just that in as few words. Thank you Paul.
>
> What I will say is that on too many occasions I found myself  
> sitting in yet another meeting getting all antsy and wanting to  
> just yell out "Can we stop talking, I need to build something!"   
> The only question that will really matter is "Did you have a good  
> time at the museum?"  AND I assure everyone here that if the answer  
> is "yes", then they DID learn something, even if they can't tell  
> you what it was.
>
> If you want to call tweaking a prototype "testing" then fine but  
> all in all it's just another tool in the bag and we don't always  
> need a wrench to build a box.  Testing afterwards is fine as well  
> but only as good as what is shared with others.  Most small museums  
> I work(ed) with barely have the resources to get the thing built in  
> the first place.   All this talk of formal evaluation just gives  
> them an even greater inferiority complex.
>
> As always a bit more than two cents...
>
> Erich Rose
>
> Erich Rose Design
> 807 The Living End
> Austin, TX 78746
> 512-626-9930; [log in to unmask]
>
>
> On Oct 30, 2011, at 6:03 AM, Paul Orselli wrote:
>
>> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
>> Centers
>> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
>> institutions.
>> ********************************************************************* 
>> ********
>>
>> For a group that so often argues about the important differences  
>> between "informal" museum experiences and "formal" classroom  
>> experiences, I find it ironic how vociferously the benefits of  
>> summative evaluation are stressed --- and how often we are  
>> reminded that funders will only give money to enterprises that can  
>> demonstrate "impact."
>>
>> I can't help but hear echoes of the "need" for standardized  
>> testing in schools --- most often tied to educational funding, as  
>> well.
>>
>> There is something in a creative enterprise (which I sincerely  
>> believe the making of exhibits to be) that resists experts and  
>> data, and I can't help but think that the world of books and  
>> movies and art, and, yes, even classrooms and museums, are better  
>> for this tension.
>>
>> Of course, I don't have any longitudinal studies to support my  
>> position ... ;-)
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Paul Orselli, President and Chief Instigator
>>
>
> ********************************************************************** 
> *
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>
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