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

As part of the NSF-funded In Principle, In Practice: A Learning Innovation Initiative, we are seeking feedback from museum professionals on a rough draft of In Principle, In Practice Insights: A Museum Learning Resource. You may download the PDF of this document at http://www.ilinet.org/ipip/Insights_Draft_4_27.pdf or read more about the Initiative at www.ilinet.org.  

Insights is one part of a larger initiative to synthesize a shared knowledge base of current research about learning in and from museums. The initiative began with a supplemental issue of the journal Science Education, published in summer 2004 (In Principle, In Practice: Perspectives on a Decade of Museum Learning Research (1994-2004), Volume 88, Supplement 1). The next stage of the initiative was a conference held in November 2004 where participants raised important issues related to museum learning for the next decade of practice, research, and evaluation. Participants worked in groups to discuss these issues and write a brief summarizing key points. Some of these briefs were selected to serve as the basis for Insights. (Additional briefs will serve as the basis for chapters in a forthcoming book.)

We are now broadening the discussion by inviting museum professionals who did not participate in the In Principle, In Practice conference to give us feedback on this draft of Insights. We invite you to comment on specific papers or the document as a whole. You may provide feedback in one of two ways:
1) If you are attending the American Association of Museum’s annual meeting, join us at the In Principle, In Practice: A Continuing Dialogue about Museum Learning session on Monday, May 2nd from 10:30-11:45 AM. At this session you will be able to discuss Insights topics in a roundtable fashion, facilitated by an In Principle, In Practice conference participant.
2) Send us your feedback on the draft via email to [log in to unmask]  by Monday, May 23, 2005.

As this document is truly a work in progress, your feedback is essential to moving it to the next level toward publication. We would particularly appreciate your feedback on the relevancy and usefulness of the papers for museum professionals, including practitioners, directors, and policymakers. For example:
• What questions do you have about the topics included in this document—are there topics missing or ones you would remove?
• Does each paper provide the most current and useful information?
• Are there important studies we have not included?
• How can we make this document more useful to practitioners, directors, and policymakers?
When sending your feedback, please identify the professional perspective you are bringing to your reading of the document. Please note, in a later draft we will sharpen the focus of the papers, expand the literature and examples cited, format all references in APA style, and edit further for grammatical accuracy.

Many thanks in advance for your time and efforts to ensure that this document is useful and pertinent to the field. All feedback must be received by Monday, May 23, 2005 and will be acknowledged in the final publication. 

The In Principle, In Practice Team
Kirsten Ellenbogen, Jill Stein, Lynn D. Dierking, John H. Falk & Susan Foutz


Please do not reply to sender – send any responses to [log in to unmask]

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In Principle, In Practice: A Learning Innovation Initiative is organized by the Institute for Learning Innovation with funding from the National Science Foundation (ESI 0318868).
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