ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
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I have to agree, particularly on the last item.  Not only aren't we
(by our own admission) the most efficient places to prepare kids for
standardized tests, but that is not our job.  Period.  By defining
ourselves according to the "rules" of formal ed, aren't we
undercutting the very thing that makes us who we are?  The pressure
to meet state standards and improve test scores has done some pretty
serious damage to the progress we have all made regarding how people
learn - museum educators and teachers.  For some time now I have had
afterschool providers ask me for standard-based programs that would
directly impact test scores, and 10 years ago I had a curriculum
coordinator tell me that if her students didn't all pass the state
exam, she would hold us (the science center providing outreach
services) directly responsible (!)

We exist to help people explore and understand the world around us,
to foster curiosity, and yes, to create - here comes the ubiquitous
phrase - "a more well-informed public" (check out the archives for a
discussion on the relevance of science centers).  We can assist
classroom teachers by providing augmentation, particularly alernative
ways of looking at problems, proposing solutions, and thinking
differently.  Please be careful, and think apples and oranges...

Beryl

>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 it is even more difficult that David suggests.  It may be hard
>to get usable results that Lisa is looking for, but it is not only
>because "humans are difficult to study" as David suggests.
>
>  I would hazard a guess that research questions that go like this:
>
>1)Does exposure to hands-on, inquiry based exhibit x help students do
>better on standardized test question y?
>2) Is it more effective than textbook cramming or an in-class
>experience, or an instructional video, in improving students accuracy
>in answering this same question?
>
>Will not give results that would support the kind of learning that
>happens at our institutions.  In other words, the answers would be
>"maybe" to question 1 and "no" to question 2.
>
>I also think that letting our missions be defined in these terms is a
>recipe for misunderstanding and failure.  Science centers are not the
>most efficient way to prepare kids for standardized tests.
>
>Eric Siegel
>Director, Planning & Program Development
>Connections Project Director
>New York Hall of Science
>47-01 111th Street
>Queens, NY 11369
>[log in to unmask]
>www.nyscience.org
>
>On Apr 27, 2004, at 9:14 PM, David Taylor wrote:
>
>>ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
>>Centers
>>Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
>>institutions.
>>***********************************************************************
>>******
>>
>>Lisa,
>>         You've come across one of the really difficult parts
>>of museum and classroom research... how to tell the
>>long term effects of a single exposure to an experience
>>or concept.
>>         How do you differentiate the student who would have
>>gotten that answer right without the exposure to the experience
>>without a doing a pre-test to see if they already knew it... and if
>>you give the pre-test are you 'priming' the student to pay attention
>>to this factor that they might not have remembered otherwise.
>>         I (and I'm sure many others) have been struggling with
>>knowing how to really measure the kind of long term effects
>>(particularly cognitive gain) from their museum experiences.
>>And how do you know that the hands-on experience of making
>>the gumdrop and toothpick pyramid was any more effective
>>than if they had heard someone tell them it in a demonstration,
>>or in an IMAX movie?  Are they just reciting back a fact or do
>>they have real understanding of the concept.
>>
>>         Sorry for the long response... but it is something that
>>really frustrates me compared to being able to replicate a
>>physics experiment and isolate the factors... we humans
>>are difficult to study...
>>
>>David
>>
>>David Taylor
>>AHHA Museum Services
>>   "Now I Understand"
>>     (206) 363-8126
>>    e-mail:   [log in to unmask]
>>http://www.AHHA-MuseumServices.com
>>--------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>>From: Lisa Jo Rudy <[log in to unmask]>
>>>Reply-To: Informal Science Education Network
>>>Subject: educational research query
>>
>>>Can anyone steer me in the right direction re research findings?
>>>Here's my
>>>question:
>>>
>>>I know that there's plenty of research that says that kids learn from
>>>hands-on science experiences.  Is there any research that show that
>>>kids can
>>>translate what they learn in a hands-on setting into correct answers
>>>on a
>>>standard
>>>worksheet or test?
>>>
>>>For example -- a child learns from experience (by building with
>>>gumdrops and
>>>toothpicks) that a pyramid is stronger than a cube.  Two weeks later,
>>>he/she
>>>is presented with a formal in-school test in which a pyramid, cube and
>>>cylinder
>>>are pictured in two dimensions.  The question asks: which is
>>>strongest?  Can
>>>the child go back in his mind to the hands-on experience and
>>>translate the
>>>hands-on experience into an abstract test response?  And... is there
>>>any
>>>technique by which this kind of retention and translation can be
>>>facilitated?
>>>
>>>Thanks a million!!
>>>Lisa Jo Rudy, Writer/Consultant
>>
>>***********************************************************************
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>
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--
Beryl Rosenthal, Ph.D.
Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs
MIT Museum
265 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA  02139
Tel: 617-452-2111
Fax: 617-253-8994
[log in to unmask]

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