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

I think the way for small museums to address the expense of floor
staff would be to develop these spaces in partnerships with either
existing partners or new and non-traditional ones. Then the expense of
staff could be shared across organizations.

It also seems that the point of Maker's spaces is not as much only about
learning, although that is a significant factor, but about "making",
creating, inventing. It is a different paradigm. Learning with a
tangible results. This paradigm will eventually shift the way museums
and science centers operate.


> There's certainly evidence to justify the operational expense of floor
> staff (in addition to our common-sense observations). I was at a museum
> that participated in an industry-wide survey of museums and zoos and
> aquariums and we learned that visitors who reported 3 or more positive
> interactions with staff were also the ones most likely to give the top
> score for overall satisfaction.  That said, many museums are in a position
> to staff up sometimes but not all the time, maybe weekends only, or for
> school groups only. Some museums I'm working with are  are operating on a
> shoestring with one or two staff running the whole museum on weekends. A
> staffed maker space is a best case scenario but are you suggesting that
> smaller museums should skip "making" altogether?
>
> I'd love to see museums of all sizes move toward "learning through
> making"--it seems to have so much more potential than simply pursuing
> business-as-usual "learning through hands-on interactives." To offer some
> practical suggestions for Paul's client, perhaps a "multiple personality"
> maker space can be designed to function in multiple modes with or without
> staff to avoid locking up scarce public space when staff are absent. We did
> something along those lines in the Mystery Learning Lab at the Museum of
> Science and Industry--text panels could be flipped over and 2 versions of
> each software program could be launched on the same machines to interact
> differently with the same tools (calipers, microscopes, etc). The
> facilitated experience was much richer and more complex and required
> teamwork across 4 different exhibit components. I called it
> "capital-intensive programming"--for once we were giving educators a
> big-budget resource to support programming instead of expecting them to
> collect paper towel rolls. I'd say maker spaces fall in the
> "capital-intensive programming" category--they'll offer the richest, most
> complex version of an experience and all the better if there is a fallback
> "exhibit mode": I'm picturing tools and supplies that come out of hiding
> like Murphy beds. Or those ironing boards that fold up against a wall. Or
> the sewing machines that tip over to hide under a flat counter. Or
> enclosures like those secretary desks with doors that fold down to create a
> work surface and reveal cubbies of tools and supplies. Heck, you could take
> that strategy beyond a dedicated maker space and integrate maker tools and
> supplies into existing galleries on topics like electricity or airplanes.
> Pop-up maker spaces!
>

***********************************************************************
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.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.

To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]