The experiences of several hundred arts projects across the country are distilled and illustrated in a report that communicates the variety and importance of the arts activities and how their use of found space has helped to stabilize and upgrade many communities. A mix of building types, a variety of arts activity, and broad geographic…

A timely and informative resource guide for K-12 teachers of career awareness activities, the booklet lists New Jersey historic sites, traditional craft demonstrations, and related displays of old tools. The first section explores the revival of interest in old occupations and crafts of earlier times, resulting in the development of an…

The major reason for using the outdoor history museum as a field laboratory is to provide for small in depth studies of "real life" problems relevant for today's students. An authentic New England village of 1790-1840 provides the background for the sequential development of various concepts in the social studies learning unit. Concepts are…

Beginning with an assessment of the need for educational change in Great Britain, the papers in this anthology underline the relationship of continuous learning to both work and leisure. Consideration is given to the idea of lifelong learning and its implications for British institutions of formal education; professional continuing education in…

Provides a chronology of some of the nationally and regionally significant events which relate to the development of interpretive programs in Canada from 1789 through 1985. Includes the establishment of facilities, creation of organizations, important legislation, and honors to individuals and groups. (TW)

This report describes public participation in the arts across the four U.S. census regions: the Northeast, the Midwest, the West, and the South. It incorporates data from the 1982, 1992, and 2002 Surveys of Public Participation in the Arts, as well as secondary data on regional demographics, the arts landscape, and consumer spending. In…

The National Awards for Museum and Library Service give national recognition to institutions that play an integral and essential part in our learning society. The awards celebrate the efforts of libraries and museums of all sizes to connect with their increasingly diverse communities and to serve as centers of lifelong learning. As the pace of…

Commissioned by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to assess the status of data collection activities in the museum community, this report reinforces recommendations made by a similar 1998 study, addressing the need for systematic data collection to inform public policy and museum management decision-making. The report examines a…

This study examined nine cohort teacher candidates from each of two physical education teacher education (PETE) programs developed teaching portfolios in three consecutive semesters of comparable courses: (1) elementary methods; (2) secondary methods; and (3) the student teaching internship. Studied were changes over time in teacher candidate…

Exploratorium Science Snacks are miniature versions of some of the most popular exhibits at the Exploratorium, San Francisco's (California) museum of science, art, and human perception. Nearly 100 teachers worked with Exploratorium staff members to create scaled-down versions of exhibits that teachers could make using common, inexpensive,…

Museums have long been the repository of important cultural items. They make these items available to public view in exhibitions in specially designed architectural spaces, and more recently, in the virtual spaces provided on the World Wide Web and on CD-ROM. By making their collections accessible to the public in carefully crafted and coherent…

In every school system the education of mentally handicapped children presents serious problems. In the larger cities where such pupils may be gathered from the various classes in the school and placed in one room in charge of a specially prepared teacher, the problems are somewhat simplified. In the country schools where children cannot be so…

Discusses rationale for developing the Exploratorium at San Francisco's Museum of Science, Art, and Perception. Describes typical exhibits, hands-on nature of exhibits, and function of Explainers. Presents information about Exploratorium workshops (currently oriented toward upper elementary/junior high teachers), emphasizing the nature of science…

Discusses the role of interactive multimedia in museums; describes the development and design at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History of a multimedia program on water conservation; analyzes the effect of the presence of audio on the users' completion of the program; and discusses evaluation of the program. (10 references) (LRW)

Maintains that, although museums are visited by children and adults for their unique learning experiences, few people understand how museums and their exhibits are created. Discusses the Museum-in-Progress program. Describes four examples of elementary class projects in two states and includes a list of teacher resources. (CFR)