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

Hello, all:

We have been noticing something anecdotally, and I am wondering if  
others have similar experience.  Visitors to the Hall seem  
increasingly to be interested in our scheduled demo's, cart based  
programs, and interactive theater programs (programs involving human  
facilitation).  Similarly, visitors always rate our Explainers as the  
high point of the visitor experience here.  In a traveling exhibition  
we are hosting, Crime Scene Insects, I have been noticing that almost  
all the visitors crowd around the live bug cart, facilitated by an  
Explainer, that we bring in.

I am wondering whether anecdotal evidence or systematic research is  
available to assess the importance of these "human delivered  
experiences" (demos, cart programs, science lunch counters,  
facilitated labs, theater programs) vis a vis their counterparts of  
unfacilitated experiences such as exhibitions, media kiosks, etc.  I  
am not including formal workshops and classes in my thinking about  
these experiences, as they seem to be less "free choice" from the  
visitors pov.

I will be glad for any pointers in that direction from the ASTC List  
swarm mind.

Eric Siegel
Executive VP
    Programs and Planning
NY Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Queens, NY 11368
[log in to unmask]
718 699 0005 x 317
www.nyscience.org



***********************************************************************
More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]