Comparing the Visitor Experience at Immersive and Tabletop Exhibits

Many museum professionals believe that immersive exhibits—those that surround visitors—provide more attractive, engaging and effective learning experiences than tabletop exhibits. We investigated this claim by comparing visitors’ experiences of the two exhibit types, using pairs of exhibits that differed in scale (immersive vs. tabletop), but shared the same content and similar visitor activity. We randomly selected, videotaped, interviewed, and sent follow‐up surveys to sixty families who experienced immersive exhibits and sixty families who experienced tabletop exhibits. We found that each design type had strengths. Learners at immersive exhibits more often returned to the exhibits mentioned the exhibits’ positive aspects, and saw themselves as part of the exhibits. Conversely, learners spent longer periods of time at tabletop exhibits, and engaged in more content‐related reasoning. Study results partially support the view that immersive exhibits may be more fun and engaging than tabletops. However, results also counter the expectations that being immersed in exhibit experiences will lead to greater physical and intellectual engagement.     

Evaluating teachers’ self-perceptions of their knowledge and practice after participating in an environmental education professional development program

Building teachers’ confidence in their understanding of nature and encouraging the use of field experiences with students are important factors in increasing environmental awareness in students. A River Runs Through It (ARRT) is an integrated environmental education professional development program, immersed practicing teachers in hands-on field inquiry while providing them with valuable experiences, tools, and support necessary for raising teacher enthusiasm and self-confidence. The authors begin by taking a broad look at environmental education. They then narrow the focus to their environmental education professional development program – ARRT – and the positive knowledge and attitudinal impacts found from allowing teachers to explore local outdoor environments with a support system that aided them in bringing their ARRT experiences into their own classrooms.     

Using Systems Theory to Understand and Respond to Family Influences on Children's Bullying Behavior: Friendly Schools Friendly Families Program

This article addresses Systems Theory as it applies to school-age children's bullying behavior. It focuses on the interrelationships, mutual influences, and dynamics of relationships within the family, and how these may affect children's behavior toward their peers. The theory helps to explain the ways family patterns are reflected in children's negative interactions with peers, particularly bullying behavior. As such, Systems Theory was used to guide development of the content and strategies that formed the family component of Friendly Schools Friendly Families, a whole-school bullying prevention intervention. The intervention was designed to systematically target parenting factors identified as protective of bullying behavior and other problem behaviors, including parent–child communication, parent modelling, parenting style, parent bullying attitudes and beliefs, normative standards about bullying, family management techniques, connectedness, and cohesion. This whole-school program thus actively engaged and enhanced the self-efficacy of both parents and teachers, and was found to be effective in reducing bullying behavior.     

Telecommunications Technology

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY: THE NEW MEDIA IN SOCIETY by Everett M. Rogers (New York: Free Press, 1986—price not given, cloth and paper)

BEYOND THE GUTENBERG GALAXY: MICROCOMPUTERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF POST-TYPOGRAPHIC CULTURE by Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr. (New York: Columbia University/Teachers College Press, 1986—$8.95, paper)

UNDERSTANDING THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES OF THE MASS MEDIA by George E. Whitehouse (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986—$14.95, paper)

TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN THE INFORMATION AGE by Loy A. Singleton (Cambridge, MA: Ballinger, 1986—$19.95)

TELECOMMUTING: THE FUTURE TECHNOLOGY OF WORK by Thomas B. Cross and Marjorie Raizman (Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin, 1986—$25.00)

TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY by R.L. Brewster (Chichester: Ellis Horwood Ltd./New York: John Wiley, 1986—price not given)

SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS by Timothy Pratt and Charles W. Bostian (New York: John Wiley, 1986—$42.95)

UNDERSTANDING SATELLITE TELEVISION RECEPTION by S.E. Sutphin (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1986—price not given

1986 INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE DIRECTORY (Design Publishers, 369 Redwood Ave., Corte Madera, CA 94925—price not given, paper)

COMPUTERS AND COMMUNICATIONS: A VISION OF C&C by Koji Kobayashi (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986—$16.95)

DICTIONARY OF DATA COMMUNICATIONS edited by Charles J. Sippl (New York: Halstead Press/John Wiley, 1985—price not given, paper)     

War Veterans’ Memoirs as Narrated to Students: An Intergenerational Service-learning Project for Interpersonal Communication

Objective: To increase understanding of interpersonal communication theories and concepts, to apply interpersonal skills studied in class, and to develop an intergenerational relationship by means of an interview project

Course: Interpersonal Communication     

An Experimental Comparison of a Conventional and a Project Centered Method of Teaching a College General Botany Course

Research on teacher behaviors that actively promote student intrinsic motivation to learn has been relatively scarce. In this article, 2 studies exploring the effects of teacher enthusiasm on both students' intrinsic motivation to learn and their pychological vitality are presented (Ryan & Frederick, 1997). In Study 1, a questionnaire including measures of intrinsic motivation, vitality, teacher enthusiasm, and numerous other positive teacher behaviors was administered to 93 college students. Among the teacher variables, enthusiasm was the most powerful unique predictor of students' intrinsic motivation and vitality. In Study 2, level of teacher enthusiasm (high vs. low) was manipulated in an experimental design with 60 college students. The students who received an enthusiastically delivered lecture subsequently reported greater intrinsic motivation regarding the lecture material and experienced higher levels of vitality. The authors speculate about possible mechanisms for and limitations to the positive motivational effects of teacher enthusiasm.     

Physics teaching,professional development and a socially critical ideology

The marginalization of school physics as a socially dynamic educational experience for students is a cause for concern. It is one which needs to be addressed by providers of professional development courses for physics teachers. In this paper we explore some of the issues concerning the professional development of physics teachers, taking a direction which runs counter to the traditionally accepted values inherent in the teaching of the subject. The ideology of science teaching is explored in order to provide a rationale for a socially critical professional development programme for physics teachers. A programme designed to provide a challenge to traditional teaching ideology is described; this programme has an action research component coupled with an investigation into key issues involved in a socially critical physics education.     

Looking for patterns in OfStEd judgements about primary pupil achievement in design and technology

Respective English governments have placed considerable faith, political weight and not inconsiderable sums of money in a system of school inspection organised and led by the Office for Standards in Education (OfStEd). This article considers a so-called foundation subject, design and technology, and the extent to which we might meaningfully use OfStEd school and annual national subject summary reports over time to establish a clear picture about pupil achievement in design and technology. Change over time is almost certainly occurring but because of terminology and variation in information reported no clear picture emerges. If national school inspection is to be a vehicle for improving overall pupil achievement in subjects such as design and technology other approaches may be necessary.