IN THIS ISSUE
July/August 2010

This issue of ASTC Dimensions highlights how small science centers generate outsized impacts in their local communities and beyond. For the purposes of this issue, we define a small science center as one with 25,000 square feet or less of interior exhibit space, or an operating budget of U.S.$2.5 million or less. Though small centers must contend with limited space, resources, and staff, these challenges also bring benefits, including the ability to be flexible and innovative, and opportunities to connect with audiences on a personal level.

Contents
• Big Educational Impact, Small Programming Resources, by Ilene Frank
• The House of Experiments: Where the Sky Is the Limit, by Miha Kos
• A Small Science Center’s Impact on Students’ Interest in Science, by Charlie Trautmann
• Science Alive! in New Zealand and Beyond, by Neville Petrie
• Repeat Engagement for Visitors, by Emily O’Hara and Beth Krusi
• On a Human Scale: The Impacts of Size at Explora, by Armelle Casau and Betsy Adamson
• Revitalizing a Museum from the Ground Up, by Rachel Meyer
• Leading and Implementing Innovation in Small Science Centers, by Ronen Mir
• Small Gems, by Ann Fumarolo
• Small Science Centers at a Glance, by Christine Ruffo
• Making the Most of Collaborations, by Diane LaFollette, Beth Murphy, Kelly Finnerty, Sonya Darter, and Meadow Jones

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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 membership household each year. Our reliance on repeat visitation challenges us to constantly evaluate and refine both new and existing exhibits in our 11,000-square-foot interior exhibit space and 110 acres of woodlands.

While a good exhibit engages a visitor the first time, a great exhibit can engage a visitor again and again. We design each exhibit not only to invite inquiry, inspire conversations, and challenge the mind, but also to tempt further exploration and provoke ongoing learning. We have found that the best exhibits to sustain repeat visitation offer multiple entry points and open-ended interactions, are accessible to multiple ages and knowledge levels, and are able to “grow” with our visitors.

Exhibit evaluation is at the heart of our efforts. In 2004 and 2005, with the support of the U.S. National Science Foundation, we worked with researchers from Dartmouth College Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences to record and videotape visitor interactions at our exhibits. (See www.montshire.org/dminstitute/conversations.html.) That research pointed to strategies that can enhance conversations, such as including isolated areas for some exhibits, having visitors face each other when using an exhibit, providing seating that can be comfortably used by both children and adults, and writing labels to help adults understand their role when investigating exhibits with their children. These strategies have become a standard part of our exhibit design process.

During the creation of new exhibits, prototyping is done early and often. Our status as a small museum gives us an advantage, as repeat visitors are eager to be involved. Our volunteer explainers and front desk staff report that visitors point to finished exhibits and express pride that they helped in their creation.

To evaluate existing exhibits, we use simple observation and short interviews. For example, we observed that the “feeding chamber” in our Leafcutter Ant colony was inspiring many visitor conversations. We plan to further encourage conversations by doubling the chamber’s size to allow multiple visitors to view it simultaneously.

Our commitment to serving our rural community has inspired us to continually improve our exhibits, ensuring that they engage our repeat visitors and enhance their museum experience.

Emily O’Hara is education associate and marketing assistant and Beth Krusi is director of marketing and communications at the Montshire Museum of Science, Norwich, Vermont.

This year’s ASTC Annual Conference, to be hosted by the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, October 2–5, will feature a new speakers’ series entitled “Expanding the Scope: Key Issues for the Field.” The series is designed to push the boundaries of informal science education into new areas of collaboration.

In one of these sessions, Alan I. Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, will discuss ways science centers can link the scientific community with opinion leaders to provide public-dialogue opportunities at the local level.

In another conference highlight, featured speaker Jon D. Miller, the John A. Hannah Professor of Integrative Studies at Michigan State University, East Lansing, will report on data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), a 20-year U.S. national study of a sample of young adults, now ages 34 to 38. The 2009 LSAY study focused on how and where today’s young adults obtain science information when they need it—including from museums, print and broadcast media, and electronic resources.

Visit our conference section to learn more about ASTC 2010.

About the images: Alan I. Leshner (top), CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Jon D. Miller, the John A. Hannah Professor of Integrative Studies at Michigan State University, East Lansing, will be featured speakers at the ASTC Annual Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Several months ago, during a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, I watched a young boy gaze in fascination at the health exhibition You, The Experience, even as he himself was a living example of a national initiative to stem childhood obesity. At the Ontario Science Center, I joined students of markedly diverse backgrounds probing the universal issues of race and bias in science.  Read the rest of this entry »

IN THIS ISSUE
May/June 2010

The United Nations has declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. Defined as the variety of life on Earth, biodiversity refers not only to the world’s diverse array of species, from animals to plants to micro-organisms, but also to the genetic variation within species, and the ecosystems where species live and interact. Whether through exhibitions, workshops, outreach programs, community partnerships, or Public Participation in Scientific Research projects, science centers can play an important role in increasing public understanding of biodiversity, its value, the threats it faces, and what can be done to help.

Contents

• Biodiversity: Time for Action, by Gérard Cobut
• The Calumet Environmental Education Program: A Model for Science Learning, by Kirk Anne Taylor
• An Oasis in the City: Tokyo’s Institute for Nature Study, by Miki Takahashi
• Variety is the Spice of Life: Biodiversity and its Conservation as a Basic Commitment, by Francisco J. Franco del Amo and Francisco Armesto Ramón
• Biodiversity in China, by Frances Leung
• Lessons from the Tree of Life, by Jane Pickering and Ellen Giusti
• Partnering for Conservation in the Solomon Islands, by Brian Weeks, Catherine Smith, and Eleanor Sterling
• Grassroots Gardening, by Jenny Fortier and Dana Murchison
• Making Big Abstract Science Accessible, by Marilyn Hoyt and Dan Wharton
• Public Participation in Scientific Research

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