By Cristin Dorgelo Science and technology centers and museums engage in education and engagement with myriad individuals and groups in many different ways. It is essential that we pause and examine some of the relationships that help us make the greatest impact in this education and engagement work. This issue will explore the different ways […]
Partnering with Teachers and Schools Read More »
Interviewed by Susan Straight This interview appeared in the November/December 2019 issue of Dimensions magazine. Talia Milgrom-Elcott, founded 100Kin10, the network devoted to tackling systemic challenges and getting 100,000 excellent STEM teachers into classrooms nationwide. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, Milgrom-Elcott decided not to practice law and instead focused on educational
Q&A with Talia Milgrom-Elcott Read More »
By Cristin Dorgelo This issue of Dimensions takes a close look at “moonshots”—ambitious yet achievable goals to address significant challenges for the public good. Later this month, the ASTC community will gather for the 2019 ASTC Annual Conference, hosted by the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto. I’m grateful to all of you who are traveling
A Moonshot Moment for Science Engagement Read More »
Interviewed by Susan Straight This interview appeared in the June/July 2019 issue of Dimensions magazine. Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft Corporation’s first chief technology officer, is an inventor, an entrepreneur, a mathematician, a scientist, and a chef. According to the New Yorker, Bill Gates once said, “I don’t know anyone I would say is smarter than Nathan.” Myhrvold holds
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Interviewed by Susan Straight This interview appeared in the May/June 2019 issue of Dimensions magazine. Nicole Small, the former chief executive officer of Dallas’ Perot Museum of Nature and Science, is now president of the Lyda Hill Philanthropies, a Dallas-based foundation devoted to advancements in nature and science. Small’s most recent achievement with Lyda Hill
Q&A with Nicole Small Read More »
By John W. Jacobsen Excerpted from Dimensions May/June 2019 A museum aspires to impact its community, audiences, and supporters. In turn, the community, audiences, and supporters receive benefits from the museum. Impacts are the effects desired by the museum; benefits are what matter to the beneficiaries. The distinction is important. Both are end results, or
Measuring Total Impact Read More »
IN THIS ISSUE May/June 2019 We all know the invaluable worth of a science center or museum. But how do we convey that value to donors, elected officials, and others? Glowing adjectives often aren’t enough. Because of our wide-ranging activities—providing informal STEM education, partnering with the formal education process, supporting healthy community development, and making
Dimensions, May/June 2019—Making the Case Read More »
The Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is breathing new life into some of Leonardo da Vinci’s greatest ideas in honor of the 500th anniversary of his death (it is believed that da Vinci died of a stroke on May 2, 1519). The Science Center is offering special, themed activities the weekend of May 3-5, in addition
Honoring Leonardo da Vinci Read More »
By Emma Sussman Starr From Dimensions March/April 2019 KID Museum is a creative learning space dedicated to empowering the next generation to invent the future with creativity and compassion. Our prototype site on the first floor of a Montgomery County, Maryland, public library is a step toward the museum’s vision of a larger, permanent home. Founded seven
Small Beginnings, Big Ambition: KID Museum Read More »
By Renata Moretti and Ennio Candotti From Dimensions March/April 2019 The idea of setting up a museum in the greatest forest on Earth—the Amazon rainforest—brought along with it some questions: How could the visitors really engage in exploration, make the visit their own, and have a transformative experience they would take away with them? With an annual budget of
Amazonian Ideas on a Small Budget Read More »
Interviewed by Susan Straight This interview appeared in the March/April 2019 issue of Dimensions magazine. The Washington Post has called Mary Roach “America’s funniest science writer.” She is the best-selling author of six books: Grunt, Packing for Mars, Bonk, Spook, Gulp, and Stiff. She has received numerous awards, appeared on national media such as the
Q&A with Mary Roach Read More »
By Cristin Dorgelo The history of science, technology, and innovation is filled with novel ideas, creative approaches, and impressive accomplishments generated by small teams faced with limited resources and pressing challenges. Science museums themselves are hardly small in mission or purpose, and yet most face resource constraints common to many mission-driven institutions. Doing more with less, working smarter not harder, and prioritizing are solutions we all try to apply
IN THIS ISSUE March/April 2019 It’s generally easy to notice big things, but it’s the small things that often have a profound effect on our lives. As best-selling author Mary Roach points out in the Q&A interview, the things she couldn’t see while traveling recently in India—bacteria and viruses—were much more likely to take her down than the massive
Dimensions, March/April 2019—The Power of Small Read More »
By Cristin Dorgelo Charting a course for the future is one of the more difficult things we are called upon to do as leaders and as individuals. The futures of our institutions, the future of our communities, and the future frontiers of science and technology are inextricably linked. As we scan those horizons and set
IN THIS ISSUE January/February 2019 At the forefront of informal science learning, we are, in some ways, naturally good at gazing fearlessly into the future. But while we may be better equipped than those in many other fields to strategize for upcoming changes, it’s difficult to see very far ahead, or to know the best
Dimensions, January/February 2019—The Future of Science Centers Read More »
By David A. Ucko From Dimensions January/February 2019 Science centers may seem commonplace today. However, that was not so four decades ago, when total attendance at my first ASTC conference was about 50. Reviewing the history of the field, beginning with those institutions that influenced its development, can offer perspective for considering future directions. Natural history
Looking Back to Look Ahead Read More »
By Pat Hamilton From Dimensions November/December 2018 Something momentous happened on December 12, 2015. After years of negotiations, 197 nations came together in Paris and agreed by voice acclamation to the world’s first binding commitments to fighting climate change. Then something alarming happened on June 1, 2017. President Trump announced that he was withdrawing the
Science Museum of Minnesota Is Still In Read More »
ASTC is proud to be part of the ever-growing We Are Still In coalition supporting climate action, an alliance of U.S. cultural institutions, businesses and investors, cities and counties, colleges and universities, faith groups, health care organizations, states, tribes, and other non-federal actors. We Are Still In, at nearly 3,600 signatories, demonstrates America’s enduring commitment
ASTC, Members Join “We Are Still In” U.S. Climate Action Movement Read More »
Interviewed by Susan Straight This interview appeared in the November/December 2018 issue of Dimensions magazine. Ed Yong is an award-winning science writer for The Atlantic magazine. His work has appeared in National Geographic, the New Yorker, Wired, Nature, New Scientist, and Scientific American. He is originally from the United Kingdom but currently lives in Washington,
By Lesley Markham From Dimensions November/December 2018 Why is it important for science center and museum professionals to cultivate soft skills? What is their relevance to our work and to the wider informal science learning field? For more than a century, researchers have recognized that soft skills—critical thinking, communication, and creativity—are as valuable as technical
The Place of Soft Skills in Informal Science Learning Read More »