ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions. ***************************************************************************** May 17, 2007 Has our research done a better job of helping us understand science centre visitors than it has of helping us understand ourselves?* Let's find out. MUSEUM EDUCATION MONITOR (MEM), the e-newsletter, is now compiling a list of ongoing research and evaluation projects on questions relating to museum/gallery/science centre education and interpretation for our upcoming June 2007 issue. Work being done by students, academics, and practitioners (paid and volunteer) is equally welcome. If you wish to share your research or evaluation with others around the world, please send an e-mail to [log in to unmask] that includes: - name of project - research or evaluation question(s) [no more than 50 words, please] - how the data will be presented [report, article, dissertation, program, training event, workshop, curriculum, plan for change, etc.] - principal researcher(s)/ evaluator(s) - site(s) where research is being conducted - time span - contact information - key words to describe the project [no more than 4 or 5, please] Deadline for this issue is *Friday, June 8, 2007.* Listings are, of course, free of charge. Submissions are included in the current MEM and catalogued afterwards in our archives, which now contains over 1,200 entries. Full access to the MEM Archives is available only to subscribers. However, time-limited guest passes are available to students and interested others by contacting MEM at [log in to unmask] . FYI, the following research projects were listed in MEM, April 2007: - Student teachers: Science teaching self-efficacy and the effects of science centre styled professional development intervention during teacher training (Australia) - Visitor friendliness of Hungarian museums (Hungary) - Use of the Museums for Educational Purposes: School-Museum Days Museum Education Program (Turkey) - Children and young people as co-researchers (UK) - Artists' community of enquiry (UK) - A Place For Learning: An exploration of the learning agenda within cultural organisations (UK) - Museum and School Partnership for Learning on Field Trips (USA) - The role of museum summer institutes in the personal and professional learning of educators (USA) - Science Center guests ready to talk evolution? (USA) uPDATES on research listed in earlier issues of MEM: - Refugees at the Open Air Museum: the museum as a place for informal lifelong learning. A case study" and "Informal learning as a pathway to formal learning" (Sweden) - Three Times Three (UK) - Use of the Museums for Educational Purposes: School-Museum Days Part 1 (Turkey) A complimentary copy of this February 2007 issue of Museum Education Monitor is available upon request to [log in to unmask] . Please get in touch for more information about the call or to discuss your research. I look forward to hearing from you! M. Christine Castle, Editor, Museum Education Monitor Hamilton, Ontario, Canada [log in to unmask] For background on Museum Education Monitor, visit http://www.mccastle.com/museum.asp *Rounds, Jay. 2007. On the uses of museum literature: A research agenda. CURATOR, The Museum Journal 50 (1):135-146. (Please excuse cross-postings. I try to extend the call as widely as possible. Inevitably many of us are subscribed to several electronic discussion lists related to museum education. For those who are, your patience is appreciated. CC.} *********************************************************************** More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.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]