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Hi folks,
I just wanted to let you know that this thread sparked a blog post on Museum 2.0 exploring the differences between science center and art museum interpretation. The comments are particularly fabulous.
http://www.museumtwo.blogspot.com/2013/04/why-do-we-interpret-art-and-science-so.html
Having "grown up" in the science center world before shifting over to cultural and art museums, I'm always completely flummoxed by the extent to which informal learning theory and related interpretative strategies have stayed segregated to the science center side of the aisle.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Nina
Nina Simon
831.331.5460
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skype, twitter, flickr, facebook: ninaksimon
On Apr 2, 2013, at 8:34 AM, Wilson, Linda wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Hi Alan, Jason Mac and others
> I am not by any means saying exhibits should be simplistic or condescending. Nor do I disagree that some museum exhibits fail in just that way.
>
> Great exhibits should be accessible to most visitors (including "the big lump of statistical visitors in the middle of a bell curve") , and interpretation at its best is seamlessly integrated into the overall experience. Formative evaluation does not tell us what should be in an exhibit, but can tell us if what we are planning resonates with participants and whether or not it can be accessed successfully.
>
> I admire the New York Hall of Science for taking risks in presenting very complex topics and making changes, sometimes small, sometimes large, to maximize that accessibility, and using multiple ways to convey information, raise questions, allow for feedback and encourage interaction.
>
> Beverly Serrell, when she convened her 'excellent judges' group a few years ago, made a distinction between an evaluation and a critique. That's perhaps what we are seeing here. Both are needed but they perform different functions. Perhaps we could ask, what is the function of a review like this and how does it complement evaluations.
>
> Our field is not unique. In impact evaluation one of the questions is, can expert testimony 'count' as a form of impact assessment.
>
> Linda Wilson
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jason Jay Stevens [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, April 01, 2013 7:36 AM
> Subject: Re: Richard Dawkins, the Exploratorium and Exploding Custard
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
>
>> Our studies have consistently shown that content, whether on a graphic
>> panel or the amount of information presented in a program, can easily
>> overwhelm a visitor,
>
> By "a visitor," of course, what is meant is the big lump of statistical visitors in the middle of a bell curve.
> ...and so it should come as no surprise that those members of our species who represent an end of that curve, those mature minds that thrive in and even crave dense scholarly environments, and still wish to learn and be challenged through exhibition, and for whom reading is not a chore whether standing up or sitting down, might regret that museums are evaluating and marketing themselves into a certain kind of obscurity. By their measure, that is.
> I'm not presuming to put words in Dawkins' or Rothstein's mouths, but I don't think we should pull those studies out at the beginning of the debate.
>
>
> --Jason
>
>
>
> Jason Jay Stevens
> Flutter & Wow Museum Projects
>
> P. O. Box 21576
> Detroit, MI 48221
>
> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> 210.364.6305
>
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