Portal to the Public: Museum Educators Collaborating with Scientists to Engage Museum Visitors with Current Science

Science museums play a role in creating visitor experiences that relate to contemporary issues in science, and in linking audiences to the scientific enterprise and the community of scientists. In the Portal to the Public approach, science researchers are trained by museum educators with experience in inquiry‐based learning, and are then given opportunities to translate their current research for museum audiences. Portal to the Public offers one solution to museums seeking to sustain a commitment to delivering experiences that reflect the dynamic pace of research, and the need to connect local communities to scientific research occurring in their midst.     

Public Perception and Expectations of Biomimetics Technology: Empirical Survey of Museum Visitors in Japan

Biomimetic is proposed as an existing or potential future technology that motivates conservation of biodiversity and environment in existing literature. However, empirical analysis is absent. To identify the public perception and expectations of biomimetics technology, questionnaire survey of museum visitors was conducted in the National Museum of Nature and Science in Japan, where the exhibition of biomimetics was held. This research identified that expectations of biomimetics were high generally for the medical applications. The expectation varies with age groups and the age over thirties tended to expect higher in the field related to environmental protection. The expectations of biomimetics were higher for all the age groups after visiting the exhibitions for both commercial use and drivers for life style changes. The results of this study provide basis of expectations and trends with different age groups which will serve as basis to understand and explore implementation of biomimetic related technology for sustainable society.     

The Effect of Visitors ‘ Agendas on Museum Learning

It has been argued that visitors' pre-visit “agendas” directly influence visits. This study attempted to directly test the effects of different museum visit agendas on visitor learning. Two new tools were developed for this purpose: (1) a tool for measuring visitor agendas; and (2) a tool for measuring visitor learning (Personal Meaning Mapping). Visitor agenda was defined as having two dimensions: motivations and strategies. Personal Meaning Mapping is a constructivist approach that measures change in understanding along four semi-independent dimensions: extent, breadth, depth, and mastery. The study looked at 40 randomly-selected adults who were visiting the National Museum of Natural History's Geology, Gems and Minerals exhibition. Visitor agendas did significantly impact how, what, and how much individuals learned. Results are discussed in terms of the current debate about education vs. entertainment.     

Feminist Self-Imaging and Instagram: Tactics of Circumventing Sensorship

Instagram is an IB-MSN with strict and contradictory rules about its uploaded content. Despite its censorship mechanisms, users are finding creative tactics to maintain their imaging practices to circumvent this sensorship—censoring of the senses. This article focuses on the tactics employed by three women engaging in self-imaging practices. These tactics include, but are not limited to, privatizing accounts, abstracting and/or obscuring the body, and timed removals of photos. These tactics are analyzed in order to make sense of how they typify new forms of mobile image production, distribution, and circulation. These women's reactions to the censorship policies with which they must negotiate provide a new conceptual framework—sentio-aesthetics—challenging the normative values and ideologies surrounding sensorship.     

Technical Note: Using Latent Class Analysis versus K‐means or Hierarchical Clustering to Understand Museum Visitors

This paper discusses the benefits of using Latent Class Analysis (LCA) versus K‐means Cluster Analysis or Hierarchical Clustering as a way to understand differences among visitors in museums, and is part of a larger research program directed toward improving the museum‐visit experience. For our comparison of LCA and K‐means Clustering, we use data collected from 190 visitors leaving the exhibition Against All Odds; Rescue at the Chilean Mine in the National Museum of Natural History in January 2012. For the comparison of LCA and Hierarchical Clustering, we use data from 312 visitors leaving the exhibition Elvis at 21 in the National Portrait Gallery in January 2011.     

点亮世界的博物馆——英国博物馆考察记

<正>一从伦敦坐火车约两个小时就可以到牛津。我们已经和阿什莫林博物馆(Ashmolean Museum)东方部的Shelagh女士约好十点钟见面。六月的天气温暖、湿润、阳光明媚,在博物馆一层大厅,Shelagh女士略带歉意地告诉我们中国展厅正在装修,两年后