ExhibitFiles Latest Additions

Review: Brazos Valley African American Museum

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:32:37 -0700

This is a review of a very small museum called the Brazos Valley African American Museum. I was fortunate enough to visit it during the Texas Association of Museums conference, and it brought up thoughts and emotions that I wanted to share in this forum. The Brazos Valley African American Museum is in the town of Bryan, TX, a town of about 75,000 right next door to Texas A&M University. It’s everything you’d expect from a tiny, community-built museum: a couple small rooms, a haphazard collection of objects, labels typed on printer paper and laminated or stuck to the wall. But this museum, more than many others I’ve visited, had a very powerful and apparent reason for being. Its founders, Willie and Mell Pruitt, came to the area in the 1950s and were concerned that no one seemed to be documenting the history of the local African American community. They were educators and were heavily involved in the schools, first the segregated black schools, and then later, in the 1960s onward, with the integrated school. The curator of the museum, Wayne, is the son of the former principal of the black school, and about a third of the exhibits showcase people and objects from that school. The museum itself is in a building that used to house one of the segregated black schools. Walking around, I felt a strong sense of the urgency and importance that the founders of the museum put on its existence. There were several exhibits that just told the stories of the founders and other local folks, and other displays that simply presented biographies of famous African Americans who were born in or had some connection to that part of Texas. Every display, from the ladies’ church hats to a prize-winning quilt to former Miss Teen Texas photos to artwork brought back from Africa, seemed to be filled with the stories and the lives of the people who had created, contributed, or were featured in them. My favorite part was a wall of photos and transcribed oral histories from local elderly community members. It didn’t look promising (I wish I’d taken a wide view shot) –a bunch of framed pictures with full pages of text fixed to the wall next to them. It wasn’t even 100% clear which stories went with each photo. But the stories were totally captivating. I eagerly read hundreds of words and then moved onto the next one. I’ve included a couple of pictures I took of ones I particularly enjoyed. The stories conveyed the unique voice and spirit of these people in a way that helped me feel connected to them—even though we come from entirely different worlds. I learned about Juneteenth, the annual celebration commemorating June 19, 1865, when news of Emancipation finally reached Galveston Texas. I read stories from women who wore hat and gloves every day of their lives and women who trusted “Dr. Jesus” to help them deliver fourteen children. It was one of those rare times where you read something in a museum and it helps you really understand something outside your own experience. I don’t think I’m over-romanticizing my experiences in Brazos Valley, but I’m not entirely certain why I took such pleasure in this small museum. I’ve been in other small historical societies with a comparable level of amateurism without feeling comparably affected by the experience. I think what I loved about the Brazos Valley African American Museum was the fact that it told a story that might not otherwise be shared. I felt lucky it existed. People—a lot of people—had to put in a great deal of time and effort and care just to make those stories available. As a non-Texan, non-Christian, non-African American, I learned a lot from people who I perceived as generously and genuinely sharing their life experiences. I never questioned why the museum existed or who it was for. It was for the people who had built it. It was for their unique, small community. And it was for me, too. Have you ever had an experience like this?

Case Study: Vertical Wind Tubes: An Introduction to Transactivity

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:11:39 -0800

Vertical Wind Tubes: An Introdction to Transactivity Shrieks of joy and amazement fill the Try It! Lab. Coffee filters fly up and out of an enormous clear plastic tube. Kids chase after them as they float gently down from about 16 feet in the air. “That one almost got stuck on the light!” says a little girl as she catches her creation, “How can I get it all the way up there?” She rips her flying machine so it has bigger flaps and sticks it back into the huge tube for another flight. “It went higher but didn’t get stuck,” she says, “so now I’ll…” She makes more changes and keeps trying. Later, when her mother insists it time to go, she leaves her work lying on the table. Soon, a little boy picks it up, sticks it in the tube, watches it travel up and shouts, “Look what mine did!” Two large clear plastic tubes, surrounded by what appears at first glance to be trash on the floor, make up what is arguably the most popular exhibit in the Try It! Lab. Above the large tubes, the conduit and light fixtures are littered with paper, coffee filters and other items, the result of the activity of prior guests: a constant stream of objects flies through the tubes all day long, every day. The Vertical Wind Tubes are so engaging because they employ “transactivity”, a concept that takes exhibits to a new level. I came upon both the Wind Tubes and the concept of transactivity at the ASTC 2007 conference in Los Angeles. I am striving to incorporate transactivity into my exhibits wherever practical, resulting in a unique and higher quality experience for the guests. Transactivity helps to create a culture of learning and nurtures curiosity and inquiry. History of the Vertical Wind Tubes After noticing the Vertical Wind Tubes displayed by the PIE workshop, Corey Bowman and I decided this was a “must have” item for Discovery Gateway in downtown Salt Lake City. Our team soon built the first of what has become a series of Wind Tubes, in two venues. The tubes are also part of the Exploratorium’s traveling Tinkering exhibition, and can be seen in several other locations as well, such as the Children’s museum of Houston. Recently, the Thanksgiving Point exhibitions team created a portable version for an outreach program to take to locations around the Wasatch Front. What are Vertical Wind Tubes? Physical description: Construction of our Wind Tubes is relatively straight forward. They are based on the version developed by Mike Petrich and Karen Wilkinson of the PIE (Play Invent Explore) workshop. Household fans are mounted in tabletops, blowing air upward into clear 12 foot tall plastic tubes about 20 inches in diameter. Guests can place objects such as coffee filters, muffin cups, pipe cleaners, paper, drink cups and feathers into the tube and watch them ride the blowing air up and out of the tower. This mere description of the components of the Wind Tubes does not really indicate the true value of the exhibition, or explain why guests of all ages will play with them for 20 minutes (or much more) at a time, often returning to the Try It! Lab for a second session before leaving the museum for the day. Interpretive description: One of my colleagues asked me “Hey Dave, are you using these [Wind Tubes] to teach fluid dynamics to kids?” Since many of our guests are under six years old this seemed like an odd question to me, yet those principals are certainly at work here. I simply do not see the Wind Tubes as an exhibit that imparts facts to the user. Because they reveal concepts through experimentation, they go far beyond that. Due to their transactive nature, I believe the Wind Tubes actually change the way our guests think. The Wind Tubes intrinsically encourage a particular type of play that helps guests experience the way science works. The intent is for guests to internalize a science based mindset – do something, measure the outcome, make changes, do something, measure the outcome, compare the outcomes, make changes, do something, measure the outcome, compare the outcomes – repeat this process until you run out of time. The user experiences the phenomena by exploring it, rather than being shown an outcome and having it explained. One noteworthy feature of our version of the Wind Tubes is that there are no interpretive panels instructing guests how to interact with the exhibit. Yet guests of any age seem to have no trouble figuring out what to do. They simply utilize the numerous cues surrounding the Wind Tubes. These are the only instructions needed. Rather than being told how they are expected to play, guests explore the exhibit and discover what works. The most obvious cue is all the ‘stuff’ caught in the overhead lights and conduit, evidence of previous activity by other users. It is also a way to measure the success of a flight. In fact, some staff members call getting an object stuck overhead the “Badge of Honor.” If your object doesn’t get stuck, you can make a change and try again. And then again. And again. Another cue is the ‘trash’ on the floor surrounding the Wind Tubes. When guests finish using the Wind Tubes, they usually abandon their creations on the table or floor near the exhibit. These end points of guest interaction become the next guest’s starting point and give an indication of how the exhibit is meant to be used and what type of activity is to take place. The materials can be recycled over and over again before being replaced. Exhibit developer Mark Ellis puts it like this, “If I put out one thousand objects, they [the guests] will use all one thousand, then begin to reuse the materials on the floor. If I put out one hundred objects they will use all one hundred, and then begin to reuse the materials. If I put out twenty five objects, well, you get the idea!” Reuse is another, more minor, message of the exhibit. The Wind Tubes would consume a lot of resources without reuse. Most guests fly or modify single objects, say by tearing a cup to give it fins making it perform differently. However some guests combine several objects into conglomerate flying objects that can accomplish tasks such as lifting heavy objects or remaining in the plastic tube for a long period of time. In short, guests can build anything they want from the available materials, and test it. In contrast, I have seen versions of the wind tubes at other venues where the exhibition staff has created objects for guests to fly. Propellers and rings are provided and guests can see how each acts in the wind currents. But these objects cannot be modified, so guests can only experience what the exhibit developers provide them. (I found it gratifying to see one small boy stick a handful of grass into one of these other exhibits!) The small changes that guests make in their own creations can have large impact on the way the invention performs, and that is one of the most important aspects of this exhibit in my opinion. What I am Learning from the Vertical Wind Tubes The Wind Tubes have helped my team and I probe the question “what is learning?” To paraphrase Paul Tatter of Explora! the goal of learning should not be to remember a lot of facts, but instead should be to change people’s lives by changing their relationships with other people, with the things around them, and with themselves. Some things have more educational value than others. That value is identified by transactivity. The most basic explanation of transactivity is: the exhibit changes the user and the user changes the exhibit. Tatter explains that exhibits and programs with "transactive" qualities “loosely means that they contain many manipulable materials that change through use and also provide open-ended opportunities for people’s habits of action and behaviors to be changed as a result of their engagement with those materials.” So transactivity moves beyond interactivity. To me, the Wind Tubes embody the concept of transactivity - the guest’s creations are part of the exhibit, and ultimately the exhibit changes guest’s connections to the world. Transactive exhibits seem to cause guests to engage in play, stay longer, and ask a specific type of questions while using exhibits. The connection is different, stronger, deeper, and potentially more meaningful that mere memorizing. These qualities result in open ended, highly interactive exhibits that promote the more-questions-than-answers philosophy of exhibit development and design that I aspire to. Items key to the concept of transactivity include: • The user and the exhibit are changed by each other • There is evidence of activity by previous users • Things start to happens quickly when a guest begins to use an exhibit (multiple entry points) • Guests can use the exhibit the way they want to or that seems obvious to them (multiple paths) The transactive quality results in: • Making guests less reliant on “authority” to answer questions • A higher level of engagement and deeper investigation • Longer time spent with the exhibit • Guests defining their own success and making their own meaning (user defined outcomes) • Guest interaction ending due to external reasons such as running out of time • Generating a particular category of questions such as: How can I get it to…? What if I…? Instead of: Why does it…? What makes it…? I see transactivity as an important quality to strive for. It is difficult to apply to every exhibit and situation, but asking the question “could this have more transactive qualities?” has improved my team’s exhibits. While there is surely room for fact based exhibits, I feel that the type of play that transactive exhibits promote primes guests for assimilating those facts into knowledge. Does the Vertical Wind Tubes exhibit work? A staff member describes our Wind Tubes as the “King of Exhibits” in the Try It! Lab. This is a strong sentiment that is based on the fact that guests spend a lot of time playing with them. Using engagement as a measure of success, the wind tubes are certainly successful. The Wind Tubes greatest strength is that guests use the exhibit in the way they want so they can make their own meanings as they use it, learning what they want to, when they want to. Toddlers, kids, adults, boys, girls, all seem to find the exhibit deeply compelling. They create goals for themselves. These goals are not based on graphics or instructions, but rather are developed through play. This play starts spontaneously based on the cues provided by the exhibit itself. This exhibit is not frightening or technologically imposing, so parents play with their kids for a long time and seem unconcerned that they may be asked a question that they cannot answer. The Wind Tubes appear to stick in the minds of many guests after they leave the museum. It is not unheard of for guests to bring their own wind tube supplies with them to play with. Many guests tell staff members that this is their favorite exhibit and has prompted this return visit. My ongoing challenge is convincing some folks that the overhead ‘stuff’ is actually an integral component of the exhibit and not just a mess. The exhibits staff has been having this conversation for several years in several venues. But it is a conversation I enjoy, it recommits me to my vision of the Wind Tubes every time I have it. And hey, science is messy! There is also some pressure on me to “explain something” with the Wind Tubes exhibit. I resist because I strongly feel its value lies elsewhere. If someone else is motivated to develop educational programming for the Wind Tubes I would be willing to test it, on a temporary basis. My past experience leads me to believe there would be less exploration on the part of guests if more specific information were to be introduced. Even simple graphics such as “make this” seem to lead guests view the process as “done” once they complete the pictured task. On the other hand, certain concepts and facts might have a meaningful context if introduced while guests are engaged with the Vertical Wind Tubes. ### I have included in my list of collaborators people who I consider to be influential in both this particular exhibit and the concept of transactivity. I am confident I have unintentionally left people out. Please feel free to point out my oversights and I will correct them. dstroud@thanksgivingpoint.org

Review: Treasures of the Steamboat Arabia

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:00:01 -0800

At the Arabia Steamboat Museum, "felt meaning" is precious cargo. In an oftentimes-heady profession such as exhibition development and design, it’s easy to over-think the idea of the coveted “take-home message.” We interpretive developers identify, write, and hone big idea statements, core themes and primary messages all the time, and hope that visitors will stop and read the graphic panels upon which these messages often blatantly reside. And we hope they will take these messages home as insight and education. I suspect, however, that the most compelling take-home messages are gathered viscerally — felt rather than read. A recent visit to the Arabia Steamboat Museum in Kansas City reminded me of this in a powerful way. The Arabia Steamboat Museum is home to a true time capsule of frontier life in America in the 1800s. The Arabia was headed up the Missouri River in the fall of 1856 when she struck a tree snag and sank just north of Kansas City. Her cargo hold was full of 200 tons of supplies bound for general stores and pioneer settlements. As the years passed, the river changed course and left the Arabia buried beneath the mud of a Kansas cornfield. Finally, in 1988 a group of modern-day adventurers uncovered the lost Arabia and her magnificent cargo. The presentation of Arabia's artifacts is, for the most part, not noteworthy. Simple, “storefront” displays of dishes, tools, bottled foodstuffs, clothing and personal items recall the familiar experience of window-shopping at a Crate and Barrel or an Old Navy (or, in this case: Really Old Brown). What IS extraordinary and memorable, is the omnipresent take-home message that was best articulated by my tour guide when she said, “We wanted to show visitors how much stuff a 170-foot steamboat could carry. It’s that simple.” I immediately thought “...of course!,” for they had nailed it in the DESIGN, not just the written word. I also thought how tempted many designers would be to bring context murals, a layered system of story panels, and object interrogation technologies to the interpretive palette. But here, less was truly more. With its one-of-a-kind story, close encounters with authentic evidence of history, and a mix of emotional, historic and technical interpretation (mostly delivered live or through filmic media), the Arabia Steamboat Museum offered everything I seek in a museum. And its "felt message" shined though a lack of mud.

Case Study: Alfred Nobel–Information Kiosk

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:16:47 -0800

The Exhibition ”Alfred Nobel–Networks of Innovation” is produced by The Nobel Museum in Stockholm. It is a traveling exhibition and it opened in Dubai in april 2008. It has since then visited Palais de la découverte in Paris, France and the A. S. Popov Museum of Communications in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In February of 2010 it ”came home” and opened in the space for temporary exhibitions at The Nobel Museum in Stockholm. The exhibition depicts the life of the founder of The Nobel Prize, Alfred Nobel. The exhibition consists of five main parts that tell the story of Nobel’s early life in Stockholm and Saint Petersburg, of his several hundred inventions, of his growing multi-national industrial empire, and, lastly, his death in San Remo, Italy, in 1896. One of the fundamental concepts of the design and content of the exhibition was to work closely with artists. In each main part, curators from the Nobel Museum have cooperated with different artists to produce texts, films, multimedia and also in designing the display cases. The result is part science history exhibition, part art installation. The idea to supplement the exhibition with an exhibit that collected all the facts and information about Alfred Nobel in one place came early, but it wasn’t until it visited Stockholm that we had the opportunity to implement it. The multimedia part was programmed in Flash by staff from our ”sister”-organization, Nobel Web, who runs the website Nobelprize.org. Apart from the application itself they also made an editor in which non-programmers easily could add content in the form of images, text and even new nodes. The hardware consists of touch-screens from Samsung with built-in computers, which fit in a relatively slim construction. The graphic design highlights one of the many unique qualities of Alfred Nobel’s business; his wide network. He was one of the first truly multi-national businessmen with factories all over the world. A lot of effort was put in to making the navigation as intuitive as possible. There is still some work left to do, but hopefully we can complete it in the near future. The video can also be watched on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmnKb5x44Tw

Review: Storyville

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:52:56 -0800

Storyville is not all that different from many children’s museums. It is a sweet little exhibit that harnesses the power of kids’ imaginations and solicits spontaneous storytelling and character development. The space consists of a series of small, themed, environments with a fence or gate to create an enclosure. Most are cul-de-sacs and back up against a wall so the main circulation space is in the center. Each area has a fairly literal looking storefront – grocery store, house, post office, theater, skyscraper, back yard - creating a “town square” setting. The colors are fairly typical reds, blues, greens, and yellows. Inside each of these “buildings” are props including blocks, magnets, puppets, rulers, toy food, costumes . . . you get the idea. But Storyville is not a children’s museum. It is a wing of a public library in suburban Baltimore, MD. This gives the activities a different context. There is a limited range of play styles in the space – primarily imaginative play sprinkled with literacy, theater arts and numeracy components. There is not much constructive play, problem solving, aesthetic exploration, science, tinkering, or invention. I usually find this kind of narrow experience frustrating because it limits the age range the space appeals to, and because my own kids don’t love strictly imaginative play experience. But I found it less of a problem in this setting. It felt like focus, and it made sense. That in turn made me feel like I understood what to do and I could help my kids when they seemed stuck. Another difference: Storyville is explicit about parental participation. As you enter, a staffer gives you instructions to “stay with your children and interact with them”. I suspect that adults expect to engage with their children at the library. After all, they are going to the library to get books to read to their kids. So the expectations may be different here for both the organization and patrons. It was a surprisingly refreshing departure and, more importantly, it seemed to work. The library also has a rare ability to manage crowds in Storyville. The staffer at the gate hands out numbers and tracks how many people are in the exhibit. The library does not seem uncomfortable telling people to do something else and come back later. In this way, Storyville functions something like a special exhibit would in a children’s museum except that it is free. Of course there are things they could have done more with. In addition to my disappointment over the richness of the visitor experience I think they missed an opportunity to thread Storyville into the stacks of the library as a whole, and to enliven the browsing experience. And they have not thought of a way to offer visiting hours outside the library schedule. But overall I think it is a very interesting expansion of a library’s core services. Storyville is not in a wealthy community with a lot of resources. This exhibit is a playful, print-rich, family-oriented environment that provides opportunities for engagement in literature and narrative arts. And it works – I saw a mommy-and-me group meeting in the tot spot for their weekly outing, and lots of the people we saw there had planned their day around this visit. So Storyville, by drawing on the lessons of children’s museums and by mimicking their strategies directly, is able to extend the library’s services beyond book-borrowing and lap-sits. In fact, this small, not very original exhibit, is a key to repositioning the library as a family destination that promotes playful learning, and as the hub of a community of learners that starts at birth and follows families throughout their lives.

Review: The Newseum

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:34:11 -0800

The moment you see the seven-story, glass and steel building on a prime piece of Pennsylvania Avenue real-estate that is the Newseum, you know this is not your grandpa’s idea of what a museum should be. The $450 million museum was created by, for, and about newsmakers, newshounds, and newsreaders. The Newseum boasts of its 250,000-square-foot museum of news, housing: • 35,000 – Total number of historic newspaper front pages in its collection, going back nearly 500 years. • 6,214 – Number of artifacts in its collection (excluding newspapers and photographs). • 15 theaters, • 14 main exhibits, • 2 state of the art HD broadcast studios, • And much, much, much more The Newsuem’s mission is to “educate the public about the value of a free press in a free society and tells the stories of the world's important events in unique and engaging ways… blend[ing] five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits”. The Newseum does just that. It blends the up- to-the-second journalistic mentality with a hands-on, technological approach to exhibition design to presents a museum experience that blurs the line between the traditional museum and an interactive theme park experience. The Story of News exhibit displays original prints of front pages recording some of the most historic events in history. Arranged in chronological order and described as “the entire history of the printed news”, visitors can read the news stories that reported such momentous events as the outbreak of the American Civil War, the sinking of the Titanic, the assassination of President Kennedy, and even the death of Blackbeard the pirate in 1718. The exhibit furthers the discussion of how the press reports history in the making by having numerous artifacts and memorabilia used by journalist in their quest for the truth, with the door lead to the Watergate scandal as its most famous example. The Berlin Wall gallery proudly displays eight 12-foot-high sections of the Berlin Wall and a three-story East German guard tower. Impressive artifacts on there own, but the real lesson presented is how the power of a free press change the world by bring an end of the oppression in Eastern Europe. The Wall could not impede the radio broadcasts from the Allied section of Berlin, and it spreading the ideals of freedom and democracy. In the end, the exhibit is all about how the press played a leading role in the opening of the boarders between East and West, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the fall of Communism. The Newseum’s dedication to technology also plays a large part in its drive to educate its public in unique ways. The incorporation of technology as a teaching tool can best be seen in the museum’s Ethics Center. While the topic of ethics is prominent in the news gathering community, it might be in so ingrained in the minds of its visitors. That is why the Newseum developed the exhibit. The center’s focal piece is the ethic table where visitors wave their hands over the table’s infrared screen to control tiny avatars and answer questions on journalistic morals. It is one of only three such high tech motion-sensing tables in the entire world. In addition, the ethics center has interactive touch-screen kiosks loaded with engaging games that illustrate some of the hard choices journalist have to make in their line of work. The ethics center is just one example of why the Newseum claims to be “the world’s most interactive museum.” Its commitment to providing its guest with unique and engaging experiences can also be seen in its 4-D film experience called "I-Witness: A 4-D Time Travel Adventure”. Not satisfied with a basic video display, the Annenberg Theater also includes seat that shake, wind machines, and other sensory special effect to further add to the excitement of a 3-D movie recreation of “some of the most dramatic events in journalism history”. The Newseum commitment to technology is where it assaults the line between the long-established educational museum environment and the high tech world of an interactive theme park. No mater on what side of that line you stand on, the Newseum achieves it mission to educate its visitors about the history of journalism, the power of the truth, those who risk their lives for the dissemination of reliable information, and the need for freedom of speech and a free press through highly engaging, informative, and thought provoking ways. ***All figures, pictures, and quotes courtesy of the Newseum Website: http://www.newseum.org ***

Review: Infinity

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:54:44 -0800

Sometimes a single exhibit or experience can change a life. For me, going to Washington, D.C., at age 12 and seeing the sculpture "Infinity" by José de Rivera in front of the National Museum of American History provided a powerful inspiration that led to a life-long interest in object making and the power of objects and spaces in the human experience. I had a wonderful time at the museum that day, but made no conscious connection between this sculpture and American history. I don't really think making the connection was important. I was very energized by my experience with the sculpture. Something undefinable about the strange curves and loops of the sculpture really captured my attention. The energy and enthusiasm of this inspiration carried over to the entire museum experience. It also continued after I returned home and started reading about Möbius strips and building paper models of them. Years later, I followed this inspiration with a degree in sculpture and a career in museum exhibit making. These days, I revisit "Infinity" whenever I can. I took the photo here on a recent trip. As my introduction to this group, I just thought I'd mention how important an icon or a single discrete experience can be for a museum visitor. I'm looking forward to returning to this website and group often!

Case Study: Try It! Lab

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 05:21:21 -0800

The Try It! Lab started as a supplemental exhibit to a small exhibition of about a dozen rented physical science exhibits in a too big space. I asked to move my team, including myself, into the space. It grew into something else… Description and goals of the physical space: Most people see the Try It! Lab as a physical science exhibition with a small exhibit shop in it. The shop is behind a transparent plastic wall that acts a giant set of safety goggles to protect guests while they look in. My conception of the space turns this upside down. The goal has become: The place where the most meaningful work in the museum happens, where the process of exhibit development is as important the content. To me, the Try It! Lab is a research space that contains a physical science exhibition. This exhibition provides the platform for the guest interactions we are studying. Existing exhibits can be modified or supplemented. Prototypical exhibits can be added and removed. Physical relationships between exhibits are altered on a regular basis. This exciting, dynamic space is where the exhibitions team does testing for future exhibitions. We have created a windowed workspace that allows the exhibition staff to observe guests firsthand as they interact with exhibits within a connected exhibition. The team can see what types of exhibits are most successful, (or unsuccessful,) and why. They can also exit the workspace directly into the gallery, and are encouraged to interact with guests. The information collected is used to refine the exhibits before final build and installation. The fact that guests can see the exhibition crew at work, and the exhibits in progress is an added benefit of the windows. My hope is that a kind of two-way learning takes place, with guests learning from the exhibits and exhibits staff learning from the guests. Finally, I wanted to be able to move or otherwise change the exhibits within the exhibition to a large degree with a minimal amount of effort. What we refer to as a high degree of modularity. Description and goals of learning in the space: Based on the idea that people learn what they want to learn, when they want to learn it, we have developed a “more questions than answers” pedagogy. We help people make connections and get them excited in an effort make the “when” happen more often. Many of the exhibits don’t really teach facts of the type that might appear on a quiz. Rather they are designed to try to get guests to play in way that reinforces science methodology. Ask questions, make predictions, make comparisons, make changes, start again. This is the same thing the exhibit developers are doing in the lab. We foster curiosity, and encourage acting on it. Summary of description and goals: The Try It! Lab is about exhibit developers and guests learning together, working together, playing together and noticing things along the way. Some exhibits do provide answers. Some provoke more and “better” questions. Hopefully all of them provide some connection to our world and how it works. The Try It! Lab is, in my opinion, very successful in accomplishing these goals, though more formal evaluation is necessary to back up the observations of my team and I. Traditional evaluation methods may be difficult to apply since the exhibition does not focus on the traditional “learning outcomes” paradigm. Much of what the exhibitions team has learned is through interpersonal interaction and connection with our guests. I would even say that some of what we have learned in the past six months has influenced our exhibit building on a fundamental level. Personally, I feel that I am transforming from an authority figure using exhibits to impart information, to more of an anthropologist studying how people make meaning from their experiences, and modifying the experiences that are presented to make them more accessible to guests.

Review: Brazos Valley African American Museum

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:32:37 -0700

Review: Treasures of the Steamboat Arabia

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:00:01 -0800

Review: Storyville

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:52:56 -0800

Review: The Newseum

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:34:11 -0800

New user: Rick Spears

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:16:31 -0700

New user: Chris Au

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:59:03 -0700

New user: Natalie Poland

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:02:38 -0700

New user: Suzana Lisanti

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:45:35 -0700

Comment: Thanks for the video

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:58:44 +0000

Unfortunately, this video doesn't really emphasize my point, focusing instead on many temporary, scenic installations. I think it would be great if they moved into larger space, but I hope they don't lose their emphasis on the objects and the preservation techniques.

Comment: Interesting Review

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:19:18 +0000

Thanks for this interesting review. After reading it, I wondered if there was any video of the excavation of the ship. Here's a video from a local news station.

Comment: _

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:54:35 +0000

I particularly notice the fact that this an exhibition experience in a different, yet related, venue. The setting seems to contribute to this, and so makes me think about the settings of the work I am currently engaged in. Thanks for sharing this. Dave

Comment: Thanks for the comments

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:41:30 +0000

We really appreciate the comments about this exhibit. Multitouch and multiuser technology is finally at a stage where it is possible to put together interesting exhibits that have tactile qualities and encourage social interaction. This is major step forward as up to now, most computer-based exhibits are lack the physical qualities found here and they are isolating experience. As for the photographs, Chad Person did a great job shooting the terrestrial images for the exhibit. We worked with ASC to find common and iconic images to include in the exhibit. We've posted many of them on our Flickr stream. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ideum/sets/72157622938524341/