Provides a photographic essay describing the Los Angeles (California) Museum of Contemporary Art outreach education program. Describes three components of the program: (1) community outreach; (2) museum/artist studio visits; and (3) return visits. Outlines how participants engage in interactive discussions and art-making during the eight sessions…

Highlights examples of outreach and lending programs that bring the museum experience into school and public libraries and suggests that the school library media specialist can act as the link between museums and teachers. A list of contacts for the nine programs mentioned is provided. (EAM)

A Saint Louis school experimenting with applying multiple intelligences theory to curricula and instruction defines "genuine understanding" as using information in novel ways. By surveying area museums and designing user-friendly botanical exhibits for a community-based project, first graders developed a better understanding of their own…

This article looks at the historical interpretations and counterinterpretations of some experiments selected from science history. The homocentric spheres of Eudoxus, hermetic and scientific concepts of the universe in the middle ages, and the change in the concept of the world are included. (KR)

A new library and cultural center in Croyden (England) is described. Function-based areas include library, administration, technical services, museum and galleries, museum offices and store, cinema, tourist information center, and local government offices. Information technology systems include the library management system, office automation, and…

Compared is the modern science center and the traditional museum. The science center was evaluated through systematic observations which described visitors activities not as random manipulations, but as learning activities that lead to both enjoyment and understanding. (KR)

The most successful science-and-technology center exhibits owe as much to the evaluation of visitor reactions as they do to budgets and planning. Explores different types of visitor-evaluation studies and shares examples of successful exhibit designs built upon visitor evaluations, including children's physics exhibits and jellyfish as living art.…

Discusses issues addressed at the Museums and the Web '99 conference (New Orleans, Louisiana, March 11-14, 1999). Highlights include how interaction with the virtual conditions views of the world; shared experiences of being online; virtual objects; new metaphors for seeking, finding and using information; evaluating creations; reconstructing; and…

Exhibits are a way of self-guided presentation in which visitors use their own knowledge and understanding. Studies a self-guided group visiting an exhibition on dinosaurs which are displayed as robotic models. Finds that the animatronics have a well thought out storyline that increases family and school visitors' understanding of the exhibit…

Realizing that many find museums intimidating or boring, museum educators and curators are using the World Wide Web to bring children and museums together. This article discusses Web access to selected museums; describes curriculum tie-ins for language arts, careers, mythology, Pueblo Indians; and provides an annotated bibliography of online art…

Living history and hands-on interpretation enable educators to capitalize on the curiosity, sensory needs, and creative enthusiasm of young students. However, objective evaluation in terms of measurable outcomes may be difficult. Suggestions are offered for linking curricular needs with personal growth by creating an atmosphere that promotes…

The key to handling persistent challenges (increased accountability demands, unstable superintendencies, educator shortages, minority underachievement, and resistant high schools) is breaking down institutional barriers separating today's schools from their surrounding communities. Tapping human and cultural resources and offering better…

Describes the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of an interactive videodisc exhibit at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Design requirements for museum environments and interactive videodisc-based exhibits are examined, a field evaluation is described, and the adaptation of an instructional design model for museum settings is…

Presents a case study of an educational partnership between an Albuquerque magnet elementary school and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Descriptions of the school and museum are provided as well as the program's goals, current activities and products, outcomes, and future directions. The Proyecto Futuro program, a multiyear…

Oak Hill School served elementary students in the 10th district of Washington County, Tennessee, from 1886 to 1952. After extensive restoration and a move to Historic Jonesborough, the one-room school now functions as a living history museum. Fourth-grade students spend a day following the 1892 curriculum for grade 4. A teacher's resource and…