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I  have been reading with interest the comments regarding Hands-On and
Minds-On...and recall that in 1978 when we were trying to name our new
science center/children's museum and filling out the Incorporating papers -
we had decided to name the museum, the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum...it was a
very new word/concept that we all agreed on as it described first and
foremost what the museum would be all about. I remember there was a
discussion about whether there should be a hyphen or not between "Hands" and
"On" and it was decided that there had to be a hyphen!  We received initial
approval for 501©3 status in January 1979.

Initially, we had a difficult time explaining what "hands-on" meant to
people as we were soliciting support as it was such a new concept and a
newly coined word...people asked...Is it a Museum for the Blind?..some
volunteers cited concern wearing our Tshirts with the logo on it!  Most
people readily adopted the term and loved it.

In the summer 1979 three of us (Joan and Marc Ross and myself) went to the
Exploratorium to spend several weeks as FIPSE interns and met Frank
Oppenheimer, Rob Semper and Judy Diamond and many others.  At our first
meeting with Frank Oppenheimer, I recall Frank remarking that he did not
care for the term "hands-on" unless it was tied in with the phrase
"minds-on".  

Some years later, I saw some materials from NSTA which used this slogan
"Hands-On turns Minds-On" which we adopted on some of out brochures.  It is
heartening and wonderful that "hands-on" has now become such a household
word... accepted and appropriate word.





Tammy Astor-Jack1/10/04 16:[log in to unmask]

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> Does anyone know who coined the terms "hands-on" & "minds-on"?
> 
> Thanx
> 
> Tammy Astor-Jack
> 
> 
> 
> =====================
> Tammy Astor-Jack, PhD
> Post-doctoral Fellow
> Center for Inquiry in Science Teaching & Learning
> Washington University in St Louis
> Department of Education
> Campus Box 1183, 1 Brookings Drive
> Saint Louis, MO 63130-4899
> Tel: (314) 935-9363
> Dept Fax: (314) 935-4982
> http://cistl.wustl.edu
> 
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