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Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Wow! That's quite a production.  The audience primarily seemed to be young children and their parents, nonetheless impressive.
C

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On Aug 23, 2013, at 5:21 AM, Maarten Horstink <[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.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> Dear Paul,
> Unstaffed is a tall order, but please check out the activities in 'de
> uitvinderij' (spelerij.nl) and 'de ontdekhoek' (ontdekhoek.nl) in the
> Netherlands. At 'de ontdekhoek' we manage a staffing of 1 to 20-30
> visitors, 'de uitvinderij' manages up to 1:50 (with metalworking equipment,
> which always impresses me).
> Regards,
> maarten horstink
> de ontdekhoek
> 
> 
> On 2 January 2013 19:13, Eli Kuslansky <[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 think the way for small museums to address the expense of floor
>> staff would be to develop these spaces in partnerships with either
>> existing partners or new and non-traditional ones. Then the expense of
>> staff could be shared across organizations.
>> 
>> It also seems that the point of Maker's spaces is not as much only about
>> learning, although that is a significant factor, but about "making",
>> creating, inventing. It is a different paradigm. Learning with a
>> tangible results. This paradigm will eventually shift the way museums
>> and science centers operate.
>> 
>> 
>>> There's certainly evidence to justify the operational expense of floor
>>> staff (in addition to our common-sense observations). I was at a museum
>>> that participated in an industry-wide survey of museums and zoos and
>>> aquariums and we learned that visitors who reported 3 or more positive
>>> interactions with staff were also the ones most likely to give the top
>>> score for overall satisfaction.  That said, many museums are in a
>> position
>>> to staff up sometimes but not all the time, maybe weekends only, or for
>>> school groups only. Some museums I'm working with are  are operating on a
>>> shoestring with one or two staff running the whole museum on weekends. A
>>> staffed maker space is a best case scenario but are you suggesting that
>>> smaller museums should skip "making" altogether?
>>> 
>>> I'd love to see museums of all sizes move toward "learning through
>>> making"--it seems to have so much more potential than simply pursuing
>>> business-as-usual "learning through hands-on interactives." To offer some
>>> practical suggestions for Paul's client, perhaps a "multiple personality"
>>> maker space can be designed to function in multiple modes with or without
>>> staff to avoid locking up scarce public space when staff are absent. We
>> did
>>> something along those lines in the Mystery Learning Lab at the Museum of
>>> Science and Industry--text panels could be flipped over and 2 versions of
>>> each software program could be launched on the same machines to interact
>>> differently with the same tools (calipers, microscopes, etc). The
>>> facilitated experience was much richer and more complex and required
>>> teamwork across 4 different exhibit components. I called it
>>> "capital-intensive programming"--for once we were giving educators a
>>> big-budget resource to support programming instead of expecting them to
>>> collect paper towel rolls. I'd say maker spaces fall in the
>>> "capital-intensive programming" category--they'll offer the richest, most
>>> complex version of an experience and all the better if there is a
>> fallback
>>> "exhibit mode": I'm picturing tools and supplies that come out of hiding
>>> like Murphy beds. Or those ironing boards that fold up against a wall. Or
>>> the sewing machines that tip over to hide under a flat counter. Or
>>> enclosures like those secretary desks with doors that fold down to
>> create a
>>> work surface and reveal cubbies of tools and supplies. Heck, you could
>> take
>>> that strategy beyond a dedicated maker space and integrate maker tools
>> and
>>> supplies into existing galleries on topics like electricity or airplanes.
>>> Pop-up maker spaces!
>>> 
>> 
>> ***********************************************************************
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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.
> 
> The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
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