For Whom Are We Building These Gems? Redefining Impact at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca

Abstract Can museums still be valuable to populations that don’t visit them? The city of Oaxaca, Mexico is home to a flourishing museum scene, but despite a desire by those museum professionals to serve the Oaxacan community, the city’s museums largely lack a local visiting base. This article, which reflects on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Oaxaca in 2010, explores the implications of the disjunction between intention, assumption, and reality in some of Oaxaca’s museums, especially the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, a small private textile museum in the city’s historical center. By considering the museum’s inherent value and its innovative attempts to tangibly impact a specific community outside of the museum edifice, I suggest a way to rethink impact in museums by, in effect, turning them inside out: shifting the focus away from “public value driven by a universal right to cultural access” ( Stein 2012, 219 ), toward more tangible, external outcomes, including direct interventions in the dynamic world beyond the quiet galleries.     

合并中的俄亥俄医科大学与图兰朵大学

本文作者介绍了美国俄亥俄医科大学与图兰朵大学实现历史性合并的过程,提出了两校作出合并决定的背景。作者也评述了合并过程的管理结构和计划结构,讨论了新图兰朵大学面临的挑战。     

Learning in Stereo: The Relationship Between Spatial Ability and 3D Digital Anatomy Models

Three-dimensional (3D) digital anatomical models show potential to demonstrate complex anatomical relationships; however, the literature is inconsistent as to whether they are effective in improving the anatomy performance, particularly for students with low spatial visualization ability (Vz). This study investigated the educational effectiveness of a 3D stereoscopic model of the pelvis, and the relationship between learning with 3D models and Vz. It was hypothesized that participants learning with a 3D pelvis model would outperform participants learning with a two-dimensional (2D) visualization or cadaveric specimen on a spatial anatomy test, particularly when comparing those with low Vz. Participants (n = 64) were stratified into three experimental groups, who each attended a learning session with either a 3D stereoscopic model (n = 21), 2D visualization (n = 21), or cadaveric specimen (n = 22) of the pelvis. Medical and pre-medical student participants completed a multiple-choice pre-test and post-test during their respective learning session, and a long-term retention (LTR) test 2 months later. Results showed no difference in anatomy test improvement or LTR performance between the experimental groups. A simple linear regression analysis showed that within the 3D group, participants with high Vz tended to retain more than those with low Vz on the LTR test (R² = 0.31, P = 0.01). The low Vz participants may be cognitively overloaded by the complex spatial cues from the 3D stereoscopic model. Results of this study should inform resource selection and curriculum design for health professional students, with attention to the impact of Vz on learning.