Interpreting Apartheid: Visitors' Perceptions of the District Six Museum

This paper builds on and extends the conceptualization of “hot” interpretation (Ballantyne and Uzzell 1993) by presenting empirical data regarding visitors' perceptions of the District Six Museum in Cape Town, South Africa. The study examines visitors' reasons for visiting, expectations of the visit, responses to the visit, and suggestions for change, in relation to the differing needs of previous residents, local and international visitors. Results of the study are discussed in terms of the need to facilitate connections between interpretive content and visitors' previous experiences and knowledge. The paper considers issues of hot interpretation when a community museum increasingly attracts national and international visitors.     

The Power of Perceptions: Exploring Individual Perceptions Through Activity-Based Learning

Course: Interpersonal communication

Objective: Students will demonstrate how perceptions relate to interpersonal communication     

Children's Museum Experiences: Identifying Powerful Mediators of Learning

This article reports on a study of young children and the nature of their learning through museum experiences. Environments such as museums are physical and social spaces where visitors encounter objects and ideas which they interpret through their own experiences, customs, beliefs, and values. The study was conducted in four different museum environments: a natural and social history museum, an art gallery, a science center, and a hybrid art/social history museum. The subjects were four‐ to seven‐year old children. At the conclusion of a ten‐week, multi‐visit museum program, interviews were conducted with children to probe the saliency of their experiences and the ways in which they came to understand the museums they visited. Emergent from this study, we address several findings that indicate that museum‐based exhibits and programmatic experiences embedded in the common and familiar socio‐cultural context of the child's world, such as play and story, provide greater impact and meaning than do museum exhibits and experiences that are decontexualized in nature.     

Solitary vs. Shared: Exploring the Social Dimension of Museum Learning

The literature suggests that the social dimension is an important aspect of museum learning. Many visitors report having discussed or shared information with their companions. There is also evidence, however, that some museum visitors prefer to visit alone or to learn by themselves. This study explores qualitative and quantitative differences in the nature and outcomes of solitary and shared museum learning experiences. Forty solitary adults and 40 adults visiting in pairs were observed and interviewed during their visit to a museum exhibition area, and a proportion of participants were contacted by telephone four weeks after the visit. The findings challenge the supposition that social interaction is more beneficial to learning than a solitary experience and suggest that, for adult learners, solitary and shared learning experiences can be equally beneficial but in different ways.     

Accessing and Incorporating Visitors' Entrance Narratives in Guided Museum Tours

Abstract Museum visitors arrive at an exhibit or tour with their own individual experiences, memories and knowledge related to the subject — in a phrase, their “entrance narrative.” We tested what happens to participants in guided tours when the guide first accesses — by two different methods — the entrance narratives of their visitors, and then makes specific connections from these entrance narratives to the content of the tour. The subject of the tour was a guided tree walk at Hebrew University's open‐campus museum. Behavioral measures and questionnaires both indicated that accessing and incorporating participants' entrance narratives profoundly enhanced their experience. The enhancement was somewhat greater among visitors from the general public than among groups of university students. We suggest that guides could use the simple methods described here, in a wide variety of tour types, to enhance visitor experiences.     

Memories of Math: Visitors' Experiences in an Exhibiton about Calculus

Abstract Handling Calculus is a set of interactive exhibits about mathematics developed by the Science Museum of Minnesota and TERC. The exhibits are designed to engage visitors with kinesthetic, application‐oriented, and concept‐focused approaches to calculus and pre‐calculus concepts. As we examined visitor interviews collected during the evaluation of Handling Calculus, it was striking how often respondents' experiences with the exhibits stimulated memories they associated with school math. Respondents recognized math terms and symbols, reconstructed graphing skills, and recalled fragmentary concepts they had learned in school. In addition, they recounted stories about their former math teachers and the ways in which they had been taught mathematics, as well as a range of both positive and negative emotions they associated with school math. Respondents recognized and valued the hands‐on and whole‐body approaches used in Handling Calculus, contrasting the exhibits with their paper‐and‐pencil school experiences. Some respondents wondered if they would have done better at school calculus if their teachers had used the approaches taken by Handling Calculus.     

Paying Attention: The Duration and Allocation of Visitors' Time in Museum Exhibitions

The amount of time visitors spend and the number of stops they make in exhibitions are systematic measures that can be indicators of learning. Previous authors have made assumptions about the amount of attention visitors pay to exhibitions based on observations of behavior at single exhibits or other small data samples. This study offers a large database from a comparative investigation of the duration and allocation of visitors' time in 108 exhibitions, and it establishes numerical indexes that reflect patterns of visitor use of the exhibition. These indexes—sweep rate (SRI) and percentage of diligent visitors (%DV)—can be used to compare one exhibition to another, or to compare the same exhibition under two (or more) different circumstances. Patterns of visitor behavior found in many of the study sites included: (1) visitors typically spend less than 20 minutes in exhibitions, regardless of the topic or size; (2) the majority of visitors are not “diligent visitors”—those who stop at more than half of the available elements; (3) on average, visitors use exhibitions at a rate of 200 to 400 square feet per minute; and (4) visitors typically spend less time per unit area in larger exhibitions and diorama halls than in smaller or nondiorama exhibitions. The two indexes (SRI and %DV) may be useful measures for diagnosing and improving the effectiveness of exhibitions, and further study could help identify characteristics of “thoroughly-used” (i.e., successful) exhibitions.     

博物馆学习视角下的展览环境效果评估——以展线与照明设计对观众注意力的影响研究为例

博物馆学习的研究成果表明,展览除了可以通过自身的内容来对观众施加影响之外,环境设计也同样会对观众的参观效果产生影响。因此,合理评估展览环境的效果、并针对性地发现环境设计中的不足之处,将有助于展览提升总体的教育效果和观众的参观体验。本文以2017—2018年间在山东博物馆所进行的一系列博物馆学习相关研究与展览评估实践为基础,从观众的注意力水平入手,计算展厅中各个区域的“吸引力”,进而实现对展览环境效果的评估。此外,在这一过程中发现,展厅环境中的“展线”与“照明”设计,对观众的学习效果有潜在影响,值得引起博物馆在环境设计时的关注。     

终身学习时代数字物馆的教育价值分析

终身学习是顺应时代发展而形成的一种新的学习理念,是现代社会人追求的一种生存方式,它的提出促使学习的概念和范围得到了前所未有的扩展.     

Shaping a Richer Visitors' Experience: The IPO Interpretive Approach in a Canadian Museum

This article presents an interpretive planner's perspective on the relevance to his work of the Ideas/People/Objects (IPO) visitor experience typology formulated by Pekarik and Mogel ( 2010 ). The value of IPO in shaping the visitor experience for an exhibition on Haitian Vodou is illustrated in practice from the perspective of a number of interpretive and exhibition design tools, with a focus on how the theory was applied on the ground. The success of the model hinges on fusing what are traditionally perceived as distinct approaches to interpretation (intellectual, personal or aesthetic), thus enriching the visitor experience and increasing satisfaction. In conclusion, the success of the approach is evaluated in terms of visitor comments.     

Recollections of Expo 70: Visitors' Experiences and the Retention of Vivid Long‐Term Memories

Abstract This study reports on outcomes of an investigation of visitors' longterm memories of the 1970 Japan World Exposition, Osaka. The paper reports in two parts the emergent outcomes of a study that provides understanding of the nature of visitors' long‐term memories of their experiences in an informal leisure‐time context. First, the paper discusses the common and most dominant recollections that emerged from 48 visitors' memories of this event 34 years ago. An overall explication of visitors' memories of their experiences of the event reveals an interesting mix of reactions: wonderment about the world and the amazing technological advances of the era, blended with personal discomfort and frustrations associated with the memories. These mixed feelings are presented against the backdrop of Japanese national identity re‐emergent on the world stage. Second, an analysis and discussion of qualitative data provides case examples of how three psychological and behavioral factors (affect, agenda fulfillment, and rehearsal) shape the vividness of episodic and/or autobiographical memories of the episodes as they are recalled 34 years later. This paper vividly illustrates the power of qualitative data to illuminate understanding of visitors' long‐term memories and presents some significant issues for museum staff to consider as they plan for visitor experiences that will have lasting impact.     

Evaluating the Benefits and Values of Textbooks: Perceptions of Vietnamese Business Students

This study aims to examine students’ perceived benefits and values of textbooks, with a specific focus on emerging markets. A paper-based survey was used to collect data from 459 Vietnamese students in three business disciplines including accounting, international business and marketing. The findings reveal that Vietnamese business students view textbooks as having greater short-term benefits than long-term ones. They also believe that textbooks have relatively low economic value. Interestingly, marketing students perceive that textbooks provide primarily benefits of improving class performance, while accounting students tend to view textbooks to have benefits of clearer understanding of relevant concepts. Implications for key stakeholders in the higher education book publishing industry are discussed and future research directions presented.     

Communicating the Value of Cartoon Art Across University Classrooms: Experiences From the Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum

ABSTRACT

This article is an exploration of the varying applications of comics and cartoon art as primary resources and pedagogical tools within the university setting. Following some background information on cartoon art forms including early American newspaper comics, nineteenth century humor serials, political cartoons and manga, the article explores how the perception of comics has changed and suggests ways librarians can work with academics to better utilize comics and cartoon art as educational resources. Drawing on the literature and the author's experience of working with Faculty and students at The Ohio State University, this article highlights ways to embed comics and cartoon art into the curriculum in disciplines ranging from Women's Studies to Psychology, ESL, History, Fashion, and more. The article aims to serve as a springboard for “thinking outside of the box” to maximize the value and use of library collections.     

Beyond Science: Implications of the LSIE Report for Art Museum Education

Abstract The Learning Science in Informal Environments report holds great potential for creating change among those who work in the field of science education. But to what extent can it inform other sectors of the informal education world? This article explores how the LSIE report might influence research and practice in art museums. By comparing the report to a recent study in art education, the authors point out areas of overlap and divergence relative to content and skills, identity, and communities of practice. We suggest several implications for how art museums and science museums might learn from one another. A call to action is made for further research and discussion about common learning goals and outcomes for the art museum experience.     

Environmental Issues in the Museum: Applying Public Perceptions in Exhibition Development

This paper describes an exhibition on radiation* and the environment. In the exhibition-development process, students' and lay people's conceptions on radiation issues as described in the literature were considered. How these conceptions and the theoretical frame of constructivism may guide exhibition development is discussed. Whether an exhibition of this kind can facilitate cognitive change and aid personal judgment in environmental matters is considered on the basis of data from 16-year-olds' use of the exhibition.     

Patrick Geddes and Museum ideas in Dundee and Beyond

One of the first things Patrick Geddes did on taking up the post of Professor of Botany at University College, Dundee was to establish a botanical museum. Throughout his life museums were of great importance to him, and were central to his theories as an educationalist. The Outlook Tower in Edinburgh was the most famous demonstration of these theories, but this short introductory paper also looks at less well known aspects of them, such as his ground-breaking paper to the Museums Association conference in Dundee in 1907, his unpublished book.

Museums

Actual and Possible, and his attempts to win the directorship of the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art.