There is a growing commitment within science centres and museums to deploy computer-based exhibits to enhance participation and engage visitors with socio-scientific issues. As yet, however, we have little understanding of the interaction and communication that arises with and around these forms of exhibits, and the extent to which they do indeed…

This is the second anthology of the "Journal of Museum Education." This edition reflects the maturation of the field of museum education, reports on its evolution, and reminds the reader of the diversity to be found in the field. Introspective essays by numerous authors challenge museum educators to reexamine their goals, attitudes, work, and…

The papers collected in this document are derived from a symposium held during the 1990 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archeology. The symposium, part of an increasing effort to make archeology more accessible to the general public, was dedicated solely to archaeology and education, and the papers described programs designed to…

This study uses data from the 1985 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) to explore the composition of the audience for art museums and art galleries in the United States. Organized into four parts, part 1 reports that when asked if they had visited an art museum or art gallery in the 12 months preceding their 1985 SPPA interview, 22…

Societies all over the world have museums to commemorate war and war heroes. A world-wide growth of peace museums addresses the issue of museums to celebrate peace. These museums, grounded in the activities of nationals, have a regional base but embody a larger international quest for peace education through the visual arts. The original type of…

As new types of volunteers come into the field--working people, retirees, executives--new methods are needed to hold their interest and ensure their cooperation while preserving the goals of the organizations they serve. Some of those organizations, especially museums, are using volunteer service agreements to attract and hold volunteers and to…

Campus Kindergarten is a community-based centre for early childhood education and care located on campus at the University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia. Being located within this diverse community has presented many opportunities for Campus Kindergarten. It is creating and embracing possibilities that has formed the basis for ongoing…

While visiting a living museum children can be made to awaken their senses and heighten their learning experiences. Zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens can offer such motivation. (RK)

Article considered strategies for leading students in focusing their attention upon relevant exhibits while expanding their learning experiences in a museum. (RK)

Discussed the role of women artists in affecting social change favorable to their own futures. (RK)

As a culmination to the students' West Virginia history course, 8th grade students in the county's 14 junior high schools spend one day at the museum, where they participate in small workshops. (NQ)

It is suggested that to communicate effectively, evaluators in museum settings must be collaborators with the people they intend to influence, understand the inherent conflict of interests, and design an evaluation which enhances interstaff communication. Four factors are considered essential for conducting a successful evaluation: (1) the…

The Museum Resource Center in Waterford, New York, is a pullout program where gifted elementary students work on individual projects in science, technology, or the humanities. Students engage in five tasks in developing a museum display: selcting a topic, exploring it in depth, constructing a display to illustrate their findings, demonstrating…

Both the collections in natural history museums, and the methods used to organize information about them vary extensively but some data elements are common to all collections, i.e., institution, catalog number, locality, date, preservation, and taxonomy. At this point similarity ends and with the next complexity level, each discipline must decide…

Activities and information needs in museums and a project undertaken by the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum to develop systematic solutions to problems in cataloging museum collections are described. Museum activities are grouped in three categories: (1) initial--acquisition, accession, registration, identification, and restoration; (2)…