On Tuesday, June 11, the White House honored 12 people as museum and library “Champions of Change.” The museum honorees are providing powerful learning experiences, reaching young children and their families with early learning opportunities and offering exciting experiences for teens to develop skills in science, technology, engineering, and math. Two ASTC members were among those honored.

Elizabeth Babcock is Chief Public Engagement Officer and Roberts Dean of Education at the California Academy of Sciences. She oversees the creation and implementation of the museum’s exhibits and education programs, including developmental resources and engagement opportunities for teachers, youth, families, and adults. She leads a team of dedicated educators, designers, and biologists who deliver a variety of programs aimed at increasing scientific literacy, developing digital skills, communicating critical science topics, and inspiring public engagement both at the museum and in the Bay Area. The California Academy of Sciences is a partner in the emerging network of sites that offers digital learning experiences for youth in the program Learning Labs in Libraries and Museums, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Cheryl McCallum, Director of Education, Children’s Museum of Houston, is dedicated to bringing innovative high quality museum programs to all children, with a special emphasis on reaching children from low income neighborhoods. Her team of staff and volunteers engage children and their families in a “Playground for Your Mind,” which reaches 800,000 visitors annually who design rockets and cars, test their fitness, and conduct experiments. She also leads a team of educators that serves another 250,000 people through outreach programs with libraries, schools, and community centers. McCallum helps parents to engage in fun, high-quality museum learning activities that support their role as a child’s first teacher. As part of a decade-long collaboration with Houston Public Library, McCallum recently directed the development of Family Literacy Involvement Program (FLIPkits.org), which made 2,280 activity kits available for loan to families through 34 Library branches in Houston. The program has been replicated in many other cities around the U.S.

The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature groups of Americans – individuals, businesses and organizations – who are doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities.

To learn more about the White House Champions of Change program and nominate a Champion, visit whitehouse.gov/champions.

What factors have contributed to attendance patterns in recent years, and what might we expect in years to come?

From June 18-20, ASTC Connect will host an online forum entitled Attendance Trends: 10 Years Past and Into the Future, moderated by the ASTC Research Advisors Group. The forum will look at science center attendance trends over the past 10 years, identify internal and external factors that impact attendance, and discuss “next steps” that can be taken by centers to grow attendance.

To join the forum, go to ASTC Connect at connect.astc.org, log in to your account, click “All Courses,” and select “Attendance Trends” to join. Don’t have an ASTC Connect account? Click on the “Create New Account” button on the login page and follow the simple instructions.

For more information, please contact Christine Ruffo, ASTC Research Manager.

ASTC is pleased to announce a new professional development opportunity for the ASTC community. Please join us on June 25th at 3pm EDT for a FREE webinar with Dr. Jeffery Ford, author of The Four Conversations: Daily Communications that Gets Results.

This webinar, building from a wildly popular pre-conference workshop at last year’s ASTC Annual Conference, will introduce participants to Dr. Ford’s online course, The Four Conversations Online Effectiveness Training, and how using the skills gained from the course can help you better communicate with colleagues, visitors, and community leaders. Register now for the online webinar here! Space is limited.

ASTC and Dr. Ford have partnered to offer this online training at a discounted rate of $99 US to ASTC members. Webinars with Dr. Ford are included in this course and exclusive for ASTC members. During these FREE exclusive webinars, Dr. Ford will be answering participants’ questions about successful communication and how you can use the training in your work.

About this professional development
Success in work and life requires the ability to get results through others. Whether it is your boss, a colleague, your spouse, your children, or a neighbor, your ability to produce results with others impacts the quality of your life. The primary tool you have for accomplishing these results is conversation. Yet, as you have no doubt noticed, our conversations don’t always get us the results we want, expect, or hope for. This online course can change that.

In this course, you will learn such things as:

Your personal communication practices and how to improve the ones you want to improve

Which types of conversations actually slow things down and undermine effective working relations

How the four productive conversations work and when to use them to get the results you want and need from others

How to overcome barriers to your personal success and accomplishment such as others submitting things late, giving you poor quality work, or being uncooperative

That how you talk matters and that you can be more successful and effective by making a few changes in your current pattern of communication

ASTC is pleased to offer the online course at discounted rate to ASTC members. The June 25th webinar is free for all ASTC members.

About Dr. Ford
Dr. Jeffrey Ford is a professor of management in the Max M. Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He holds a B.S. in marketing from the University of Maryland, and an MBA, and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from The Ohio State University. Prior to joining Fisher, Dr. Ford served on the faculties of the Institute of Management and Labor Research at Rutgers—The State University of New Jersey, and the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University.

Order the Four Conversations online from the ASTC Bookstore

The Four Conversations: Daily Communication that Gets Results
Jeffrey Ford and Laurie Ford
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2009
This book is an important tool for employees and managers who want to communicate more effectively. The Four Conversations: Daily Communication that Gets Results shows some of the mistakes that are made in everyday conversation and provides the reader with the tools how to minimize those mistakes and to communicate in a way that is productive both for themselves and their colleagues. 240 pp.

ASTC is excited to announce that Dr. Eugenie Scott will give the keynote presentation on Saturday, October 19 at ASTC’s 2013 Annual Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dr. Scott spoke at the 2005 annual conference in Richmond, Virginia and we are very pleased to welcome her back!

Dr. Eugenie C. Scott is Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, Inc., a not-for-profit membership organization of scientists, teachers, and others that works to improve the teaching of science as a way of knowing, the teaching of evolution, and the teaching of climate change.

A former college professor, Dr. Scott lectures widely, and is called upon by the press and other media to explain science and evolution to the general public.

Scott is the author of Evolution vs Creationism: An Introduction, co-editor (with Glenn Branch) of Not In Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong For Our Schools, and the author of many articles in science journals. She has served as President of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and has been honored by both scientists and educators in having been awarded the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal, the National Science Board Public Service Award, the AIBS Outstanding Service Award, the Geological Society of America Public Service Award, the AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, the California Science Teachers Association Distinguished Service Award, and the National Association of Biology Teachers Honorary Membership award, “the association’s highest honor.” In 2009, Scientific American named her “one of 10 outstanding leaders involved in research, business or policy pursuits that have advanced science and technology.” She holds honorary D.Sc. degrees from McGill University, Ohio State University, Mt. Holyoke University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Rutgers University, the University of New Mexico, Colorado College, the University of Missouri, and Chapman University, and was awarded the University Medal from the University of California-San Francisco.

IN THIS ISSUE
May/June 2013

Free-choice learning is the hallmark of science centers and interactive museums. But many institutions are taking this idea a step further by exploring strategies for personalizing the visitor experience—before, during, or after the visit. Some approaches are high tech, like compiling a visitor’s on-site experiences onto a personalized webpage. Others are low tech, such as delivering exceptional visitor service. Personalization projects have many goals, including enhancing learning, inspiring emotional connections and behavior changes, and building a sense of ownership. In this issue, we look at a variety of personalization approaches and tools, and examine their impact.

Features
• When Every Visitor is a VIP: The Personalized Museum Visit, by Rachel Hellenga
• Personalizing Visitor Service in a Small Museum, by Jennifer Jenkins
• 21-Tech: Engaging Museum Visitors Using Mobile Technologies, by Keith Ostfeld
• Dive Deeper: A Personal Immersion Experience with Sea Turtles, by Kira Stearns
• A Custom Fit: Personalizing Experiences Using Technology
• The QRator Project: Promoting Personal Meaning-Making in Museums, by Steven Gray, Claire Ross, Andrew Hudson-Smith, Melissa Terras, and Claire Warwick
• Applying Simulations to Social Learning Experiences, by Eileen Smith, Michael Carney, and Kim Cavendish

Online Departments
• From the CEO
• Viewpoints
• Q&A with Ilan Chabay

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