Exhibit developers are invited to participate in a two-day training workshop for people interested in the development of more effective and engaging exhibit ideas through learning about exhibit evaluation methods and ideas on ways to get insight into visitors’ experiences at exhibits. The programme will present a balance of theoretical discussions and practical activities and will look at connections between current ways of thinking about learning and evaluation techniques. Colleagues from across Europe will present best practices, lead sessions, workshops and debates. The intention of the workshop is to collectively come up with ways to include evaluation techniques that are relevant to different forms of exhibits and realistic for the different ways exhibits are developed in the Ecsite member institutions.
Day One After an overview of evaluation approaches and rationales, there will be a “roll up your sleeves and try some things out” activity in which participants will work in small groups to do evaluation mini-studies using of the exhibits at DASA. Each group will then prepare brief summaries of their evaluation results to present in a plenary session on day two
Day Two After the mini-study presentations, there will be a general discussion session comparing the different methods and results. The second part of the day will then concentrate on ways to apply lessons learned from evaluation efforts. This will be carried out with mentors in small groups and plenary sessions that address participant’s different situations.
Workshop leaders: Sally Duensing, Visiting Professor, King’s College London, London, UK Steve Pizzey, Director, Science Projects, UK
Registration Fee: 175€
Please not that there will be a limited number of participants.
The course is limited to Ecsite members institutions. Registration is now open
June 2
09:00-17:30
Nature Group Workshop
Based on of the results of the AC 2009, the Nature group will explore how to change perceptions and behavior in relation to complex issues such as health, environment and public safety, with a range of external experts from diverse fields. Drawing on successful recent examples, we will see what science centres and museums can build of experience in previous years. Our aim is to be provocative and to challenge thinking. Nature is not only about knowledge but also about changing behaviour.
This will be a collaborative session to brand biodiversity protection in an engaging and positive way that has been proven to be more effective to reach even the reluctant ones. Having being strongly involved in the International Year of Biodiversity, the Ecsite network is well aware that the slogan might be turned into a something more long lasting: this process will showcase how the Nature group can feed (enrich, take part, bring our experience) into EU policy. At the end we will be exploring ideas for new projects.
THE Group (Thematic Human Interface and Explainers group) is the Ecsite thematic group dedicated to investigate explainers’ roles and training practices.
This year’s THE Group pre-conference session focuses on learning and reflective practice, two aspects which lie at the very heart of the work of explainers and education staff. The topic is explored through a combination of parallel sessions, specifically for junior explainers or senior staff, and some plenary sessions for everybody together focusing on topics of common interest and aiming to share professional development.
The sessions will be examining what quality interaction looks like across various contexts, creating processes for observations and evidence collection, as well as methods for feedback. Research and concrete case studies from museums and science centres will be used as the basis of training and discussion.
In particular, the first day will focus on enquiry as the methodology at the basis of learning experience and education work in science centres and museums. Enquiry-based learning will be analysed through theoretical contributions, workshops and in-depth discussions. The second day will focus more specifically on reflective practice by exploring methodologies and tools through which educators can look into their work in a constructive way. In addition, those sessions reserved to senior staff will be discussing issues more related to their responsibilities as well as the present and future of THE Group itself as a way to improve its action, accessibility and results.
The two-day pre-conference emerges from the work of THE Group (Thematic Human Interface and Explainers group) and Pilots (the two-year European project on professionalisation of the role of explainers in science centres and museums) and also from feedback from previous pre-conference workshops.
Registration Fee: 175€ Please note that there will be a limited number of participants.
More information on the activities of Explainers to be found on the website of PILOTS
The workshop will present new ways to engage on-site and on-line visitors to science centres and museums through the use of digital resources. The Open Science Resources (OSR) portal, developed with the support of the European Commission, offers a way of collecting and organising high quality digital content that is available in European science centre and museum repositories. Attractive educational pathways connect resources to create meaningful experiences, PDA devices will provide a link with the visitor’s physical experience in the science centre and social tagging state-of-the-art tools provide a unique opportunity for engagement. Workshop participants will discuss their experiences with digital content and exchange views with the partners form the Open Science Resources project, led by Ecsite. Participants will also learn how the OSR portal can be used in their own science centres and museums as a way to engage visitors from afar and enhance their on-site experience.
Convenors: Jennifer Palumbo – Projects Coordinator, Ecsite Sofoklis Sotiriou - Head of the Research and Development Department, Ellinogermaniki Agogi
The event is free of charge but the number of participants is limited. Please register by writing to Jennifer Palumbo, jpalumbo@ecsite.eu
Programme Committee