ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Greetings ASTC community members,
We would like to invite you to participate in a new ASTC offering, the Evaluation Community of Practice. ASTC Communities of Practice (CoPs) are spaces for ISE professionals in the museum field to come together to discuss issues and topics that are of interest to them with shared goals for improving practice to advance the science center/ISE field. Professionals at six institutions have come together to support new evaluators or museum professionals who are curious about evaluation - we're here for you!
What is the Evaluation CoP?
The purpose of this CoP is to build the evaluation capacity of small and medium-sized ASTC institutions by:
1. Establishing a forum through which ASTC institutions with limited evaluation capacity can discuss questions and challenges about evaluation, and receive support and resources from peer institutions and from experienced professional evaluators
2. Connecting museum professionals with limited evaluation experience to experts in the field of visitor studies and museum research and evaluation and to other established evaluation communities such as VSA and CARE; and
3. Providing evaluation training opportunities to build the technical skills of new evaluators and other museum professionals interested in evaluation at small and medium-sized ASTC institutions.
What does involvement in the Evaluation CoP look like?
Members have opportunities to connect, converse, and share resources via ASTC Connect. Community members will be able to access evaluation resources, pose and answer questions, make connections to experts in the field, and explore evaluation topics that directly relate to their needs and interests. Community members can meet in-person each year at the ASTC annual conference. ASTC provides scheduling and meeting space to support CoP events.
How can I be involved?
Becoming a part of the ASTC Evaluation Community of Practice is easy! Please join us at the ASTC Conference CoP Meet-Ups, 8 am Monday, October 15 at the Convention Center. You can also stop by and talk with Evaluation CoP representatives Elisa Israel and Meghan Scheidel at the Museum Educators Networking Reception from 6 to 7:30 pm on Sunday, October 14 at the Hyatt to sign up and learn more! The Evaluation CoP is just getting started, and we need your input to make this a useful and relevant effort.
You can also just reply to this email to let us know you're interested in being a part of this group. In your email, please include any questions relating to museum evaluation you'd like to explore with the CoP as well as evaluation topics that you would like to learn more about. We will sign you up to our community through ASTC Connect, which will link you with other COP members through a listserv and give you online access to any shared resources. You can also join our group directly through ASTC Connect (connect.astc.org). Community members can unsubscribe at any time.
We look forward to building this community with you!
* Elisa Israel, St. Louis Science Center
* Meghan Schiedel, Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum
* Angie Ong, Pacific Science Center
* Toni Dancu, Exploratorium
* Kate Crawford (ASTC liaison), ASTC
* Clara Cahill, Museum of Science, Boston
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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 www.exhibitfiles.org.
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