By Joelle Seligson From ASTC Dimensions May/June 2011 A few days before the 2011 Super Bowl became the most watched television program in U.S. history, President Barack Obama delivered his own live broadcast. His State of the Union address touched on the big game, but in relation to a very different goal. “We need to …
Museum Schools: Up to the Standards Read More »
By Andresse St. Rose From ASTC Dimensions March/April 2011 Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are critical to the economies of the United States and nations around the world. Therefore, expanding and developing the STEM workforce is a crucial issue for governments, industry leaders, and educators. For example, although women and girls in the United …
Why So Few? Barriers to Women’s Participation in STEM, and How Science Centers Can Help Read More »
By Cecilia Garibay From ASTC Dimensions January/February 2011 In recent decades, we’ve learned about visitors at science centers and museums and how their experiences can positively impact science learning (National Research Council, 2009). Excepting Hood’s work (1981) on non–museum goers, however, little attention has been paid to those who do not typically visit museums. Only …
By Emily O’Hara and Beth Krusi From ASTC Dimensions July/August 2010 As a small, regional museum drawing from a small population, the Montshire Museum of Science in rural Norwich, Vermont, attracts a high proportion of repeat visitors. About 80 percent of visitors have been to the museum before, and we average 18 individual visits per …
Repeat Engagement for Visitors Read More »
By Kirk Anne Taylor From ASTC Dimensions May/June 2010 “I always wanted to be able to connect what I taught in class to a real-world situation. [The Calumet Environmental Education Program (CEEP)] allows students to not only learn about environmental issues, but also take action on an issue. I feel my students learned more during …
The Calumet Environmental Education Program: A Model for Science Learning Read More »
By Angela Wenger and Susan Foutz From ASTC Dimensions March/April 2010 The New Jersey Academy for Aquatic Sciences (the Academy) in Camden is now in the 17th year of its Community and Urban Science Enrichment Program (CAUSE). The program was created to address one of the Academy’s key mission elements: to provide educational and economic …
A Journey with CAUSE: Putting Positive Youth Development into Museum Youth Programs Read More »
By Julie I. Johnson and Randy C. Roberts From ASTC Dimensions November/December 2009 “Leadership is not a job or a position, but a way of influencing others towards ends recognized as valuable and fulfilling.” —Amanda Sinclair, Leadership for the Disillusioned: Moving Beyond Myths and Heroes to Leading That Liberates Who are the leaders in your …
The Practice of Leadership in a Changing Environment Read More »
By Julie Packard From ASTC Dimensions September/October 2009 The last quarter century has brought with it unprecedented and disturbing changes in the health of our aquatic environment, from the collapse of fisheries to dead zones in the oceans. In response, aquariums worldwide have evolved in their missions, and many of us have launched initiatives to …
Aquariums as a Force for Change: New Roles in Conservation and Social Impact Read More »
By Carlos Plaza From ASTC Dimensions July/August 2009 Over the course of 10 years, the exhibit team at the Miami Science Museum, Florida, has developed general guidelines and strategies for writing and designing bilingual exhibitions. These guidelines result from our experience producing Spanish-language interpretation for more than 40 bilingual exhibitions, and from much trial and …
In Other Words: Developing Bilingual Exhibitions Read More »
IN THIS ISSUE July/August 2009 As science centers and museums welcome increasingly diverse audiences, many of them are working to accommodate the linguistic needs of their visitors and to foster a sense of ownership and belonging. Immigrants, indigenous populations, and visitors who are Deaf bring a variety of languages with them to science centers around …
Dimensions, July/August 2009—In Any Language: Serving Multilingual Communities Read More »
By Susie Wilkening From ASTC Dimensions January/February 2009 Go to any science museum on a Saturday morning, and a sight awaits you. Children, in particular, are exploring science while having a great time. But what is going on in the heads of the adults, especially the parents, at the science museum? Are they equally engaged, …
Moms, Museums, and Motivations: Cultivating an Audience of Museum Advocates Read More »
By Jim Spadaccini From ASTC Dimensions July/August 2008 As the Internet continues to evolve, it seems like I hear about a new web site or software service just about every day. The vast majority of these are free to use. Many of these sites or software packages are produced by start-ups looking to gain first-time …
Nine Free or Nearly Free Ways Museums Can Take Advantage of Web 2.0 Read More »
By Randi Korn From ASTC Dimensions May/June 2008 At museum conferences these days, people are talking about accountability, public impact, and relevance. These ideas are not new. A decade ago, in a 1997 keynote address for the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums’ 50th anniversary, the late Smithsonian scholar Stephen Weil spoke of the “in-your-face, bottom-line, hard-nosed …
To What End? Achieving Mission Through Intentional Practice Read More »
By Paul Tatter and Kristin Leigh From ASTC Dimensions March/April 2008 “This is a wonderful atmosphere. Can I live here?” (Visitor comment card) At Explora we think of membership as a sense of belonging. “Belonging” comes from an old English word meaning a close and secure relationship. Relationships of belonging are personal. They are about …
It Feels Like Home: The Value of Community Read More »
By Wendy Pollock and J. Shipley Newlin Sound in an exhibition? Most of the time, exhibition planners think of sound as something to be dampened, controlled, or contained. The very term “sound bleed” suggests exhibits battling for attention in an atmosphere of cacophony. In planning Wild Music: Sounds & Songs of Life, the exhibition team—an …
Wild Music: Making the Most of Sound in an Exhibition Read More »
IN THIS ISSUE May/June 2006 What have science centers learned in the past decade about the effect of blockbusters, those wildly popular traveling exhibitions and large-format films that drive attendance and inspire media “buzz”? Do blockbusters help museums reach broader audiences, increase visibility in the community, grow membership? Is the boost in income and attendance …
Dimensions, May/June 2006—Blockbusters: Asset or Liability Read More »
IN THIS ISSUE September/October 2005 At the 4th Science Centre World Congress, held April 11—15, in Rio de Janeiro, attendees considered how science centers might succeed in “breaking barriers [and] engaging citizens” by providing the public with interactive, informal, capacity-building access to science and technology education. In this issue, we have chosen to continue some …
IN THIS ISSUE November/December 2000 CONTENTS • After School Hours: A Time for Children and Science Centers, by DeAnna Banks Beane • Students Teaching Students: Applying the YouthALIVE! Model in a School-Based Program, by Jane Finkenbine • Science Centers and the 21st CCLC Initiative: A View from the Mott Foundation, by Marianne Kugler • A …
Dimensions, November/December 2000—After School: A Window of Opportunity Read More »
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