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

In addition to teacher professional development, I run the field trip
experience for pre-service education students who visit our center.  I start
every visit with three questions to get them thinking about the environment
and their connections to it, and to give me a sense of their prior
experience:

What does the word museum mean to you?
What does the word science center mean to you?
What is one meaningful experience you have had in either setting?

I usually get the answers you would expect - museum means quiet, don't
touch, old things (and Matthew, your museum is one of my favorite places in
the world and I don't defend or agree that a museum necessarily the way
students describe it, but this is what the students say when they hear that
word often enough that it must represent the views of significant segment of
our society).  Science center means hands-on and fun to the students,
although I'm sure there is some degree of teacher pleasing going on.
Interestingly, the meaningful experiences are often more evenly split than
those descriptions would lead you to think they might be.  History museums,
natural history museums, art museums, and science centers all get mentioned.

If you are interested in the history of science museums and you get to
Philadelphia, you owe it to yourself to check out the Wagner Free
Institute:  http://www.wagnerfreeinstitute.org/museum.shtml.  It is a
remarkable organization and a museum of a museum, preserving a Victorian era
science museum as it was.

Dave Smith, Da Vinci Science Center, Allentown, PA


On 6/23/07, jason jay stevens <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
> *****************************************************************************
>
> I'll cast my vote with yours!
>
> There are many reasons to persuade that adaptation in the language,
> to the extent we can, but the most pragmantic reason to me is that
> Museums and Centers demand different behaviors of their audiences,
> and the confusion of terms does a diservice to the public's
> expectations.  The most historically significant reason is the
> identity crisis true American museums are suffering as they define
> their missions.  Significant institutional collections have been moth
> balled to make way for fair-style crowd-pleasers.
>
> Science center history can be traced back to the 19th Century Barnum-
> style "Museum" attractions, as well as the World's Fair exhibitions,
> but they are certainly a different and new species.  They deserve
> their own designation as a matter of respect.
>
> All that being said, there are dozens of Science Centers with the
> word Museum in their names, and lobbying Congress to legislate more
> precision in the names of these institutions seems like a lost cost.
>
> I disagree, however with the assessment that America lacks museums, a
> museum being deifined as an organized collection.  The U.S.A. is a
> country packed full of crazy collectors.  I'd wager there are museums
> tucked in rooms in multiple homes on every block in the nation.
>
> I look forward to information about your paper!
>
> Sorry my email got a little long, there.  I've been thinking a lot
> about this stuff lately, too.
>
> --Jason
>
>
> __
> JasonJayStevens
> JasonJayStevensStudio
> [log in to unmask]
> 210.818.0642
> www.potterbelmar.org/jjss
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 22, 2007, at 11:59 PM, Julia Berger wrote:
>
> > ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
> > Centers
> > Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> > institutions.
> > **********************************************************************
> > *******
> >
> > I did catch that quote from Dr. Watson, and it did make me think.
> > I just finished up a large paper (details forthcoming) and I
> > finally decided to
> > commit to "science center" rather than "science museum".  I've been
> > struggling to decide on this for some time (basically any time I
> > open my mouth),
> > and I will agree, the US does not have so many science "museums",
> > and even fewer prominent ones.  That is, a bunch of collections
> > housed in glass cases.  The article in question highlights a
> > personal collection of medical effluvia - a museum "collection" if
> > you will.
> >
> > Our many excellent science "centers" are dynamic places where glass
> > cases are few and far between, and that's okay by me.
> >
> > Problem is, I bet most people reading that article don't stop to
> > make these types of distinctions.
> >
> > Here's one for a Starbucks cup:
> >
> > "Science museum vs. Science center - discuss."
> >
> > -Julia
> >
> > fresh M.Ed. who is in-between stuff
> > University of Washington
> > Bay Area Science Centers
> >
> > **********************************************************************
> > *
> > 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.
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> ***********************************************************************
> 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
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-- 
David L. Smith
Allentown, PA
[log in to unmask]

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