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There is an increasing interest in understanding learning and knowledge development when visitors attend informal institutions, such as museums, science centers, aquariums and botanical gardens. But in what ways do visitors develop new knowledge, skills and awareness about displayed issues in these kinds of settings and how does the exhibition environment affect and scaffold learning processes? In this book, the authors turn their attention to visitors' and staff members' actions and dialogues during the visits in order to identify and study learning situations. A common approach is the use and development of socio-cultural and cultural-historical frameworks and theories as means for coming closer to the significance of interactions at different levels and in different contexts. The individual chapters cover learning interactions in relation to staff members' roles and identities, family visits, exhibitions as resources for professional development and school visits.

A behind-the-scenes tour through the world's greatest natural history museums, revealing how their hidden secrets can help us in the fight against climate change.

The World Bank and Education: Critiques and Alternatives represents a powerful challenge to World Bank proposals. Probing core issues--equity, quality, finance, privatization, teaching and learning, gender, and human rights--highlights the disabilities of neoliberal globalization. The authors demonstrate the ideological nature of the evidence marshaled by the World Bank and the accompanying policy advice.

\"The authors provide practical, research-informed, guidelines and detailed lesson plans that improve learning of chemical, physical, biological, and earth & space sciences. The context for learning is the myriad of exciting opportunities provided by informal science institutions such as zoos, museums, space centers and the outdoors. Many such institutions seek to educate the public and inspire budding scientists. Visits outside school help students relate science to everyday life, providing strong motivation to learn science for all abilities. This book shows the key to making such visits effective, is when they are linked to classroom learning using a learning management system, drawing upon modern students' fascination with digital technologies and mobile devices\"-- Provided by publisher.

The first book to take a \"visitor's eye view\" of the museum visit when it was first published in 1992, The Museum Experience revolutionized the way museum professionals understand their constituents. Falk and Dierking have updated this essential reference, incorporating advances in research, theory, and practice in the museum field over the last twenty years. Written in clear, non-technical style, The Museum Experience Revisited paints a thorough picture of why people go to museums, what they do there, how they learn, and what museum practitioners can do to enhance these experiences.

Museums may not seem at first glance to be engaged in social work. Yet, Lois H. Silverman brings together here relevant visitor studies, trends in international practice, and compelling examples that demonstrate how museums everywhere are using their unique resources to benefit human relationships and, ultimately, to repair the world. In this groundbreaking book, Silverman forges a framework of key social work perspectives to show how museums are evolving a needs-based approach to provide what promises to be universal social service. In partnership with social workers, social agencies, and clients, museums are helping people cope and even thrive in circumstances ranging from personal challenges to social injustices. The Social Work of Museums provides the first integrative survey of this emerging interdisciplinary practice and an essential foundation on which to build for the future. The Social Work of Museums is not only a vital and visionary resource for museum training and practice in the 21 st century, but also an invaluable tool for social workers, creative arts therapists, and students seeking to broaden their horizons. It will inspire and empower policymakers, directors, clinicians, and evaluators alike to work together toward museums for the next age. 'Silverman provides an informative, readable, and entertaining addition to any museum studies library.' – Visitor Studies '[T]imely and important ... so well researched and carefully argued that it is bound to become a classic reference for those who wish to maximize the public value of museums ... The Social Work of Museums is an invaluable resource – one that is well worth owning and returning to again and again ... Lois Silverman has written a brilliant book.' – Mary Ellen Munley, MEM & Associates, Museum Management and Curatorship '[A] sympathetic call to action. Silverman artfully weaves together a number of seemingly disparate threads ... The resulting tapestry is a reader-friendly introduction to social work principles for museum professionals … which is simultaneously an introduction to museum studies for social workers. … This is a thought-provoking, inspiring book that many are sure to find is a useful tool for professional development, organizational change, teaching, research, and planning.' – Phaedra Livingstone, University of Oregon, USA, caa.reviews 1. In the Service of Society 2. Social Work Perspectives 3. From Body to Soul 4. Solve et Coagula 5. Treasures of Home 6. Birds in Flight 7. Toward the Next Age

How can museums capture visitors' attention? And how can their attention be sustained? In this important volume, leading visitor researcher and educational psychologist Stephen Bitgood proposes a model-the attention-value model-that will help museum practitioners create more effective museum environments. A major advance beyond earlier efforts, the attention-value model shows how both personal and exhibit design variables influence the capture, focus, and engagement of attention. Bitgood also offers extensive background in the visitor attention literature, details of his extensive testing of the attention-value tool, and guidelines for its application. Balancing theory, research, and practical application, Attention and Value is a must-read for exhibition developers at all levels-from students to seasoned practitioners.

This very practical book guides museums on how to create the highest quality experience possible for their visitors. Creating an environment that supports visitor engagement with collections means examining every stage of the visit, from the initial impetus to go to a particular institution, to front-of-house management, interpretive approach and qualitative analysis afterwards. This holistic approach will be immensely helpful to museums in meeting the needs and expectations of visitors and building their audience. This book features: includes chapter introductions and discussion sections supporting case studies to show how ideas are put into practice a lavish selection of tables, figures and plates to support and illustrate the discussion boxes showing ideas, models and planning suggestions to guide development an up-to-date bibliography of landmark research. The Engaging Museum offers a set of principles that can be adapted to any museum in any location and will be a valuable resource for institutions of every shape and size, as well as a vital addition to the reading lists of museum studies students.

Museums are at a critical moment in their history. In order to ensure survival into the next century, museums and galleries must demonstrate their social relevance and use. This means developing their public service functions through becoming more knowledgeable about the needs of their visitors and more adept at providing enjoyable and worthwhile experiences.Museums and Their Visitors aims to help museums and galleries in this crucial task. It examines the ways in which museums need to develop their communicative functions and, with examples of case-studies, explains how to achieve best practice. The special needs of a number of target audiences including schools, families and people with disabilities are outlined and illustrated by examples of exhibition, education and marketing policies. The book looks in detail at the power of objects to inspire and stimulate and analyses the use of language in museums and galleries.This is the first book to be written to guide museum and gallery staff in the development of provision for their visitors. It will be of interest to students of museum, heritage and leisure and tourism studies, as well as to international museum professionals.