Using Museums to Popularise Science and Technology

This book is a response to the increasing popularity of informal centers of learning. Museums and centers of all kinds - including science, arts and culture - play a key role in educational infrastructure. At the same time, however, there is a growing awareness that visits, especially by school groups, could be more successful if there were greater interaction between museum curators and teachers. The Commonwealth Secretariat have produced this book to share ideas and approaches for teachers in schools as well as for curators and educators in museums and centers, in order to exploit the potential of museums and centers in popularizing science and technology.
The articles included are drawn from many different centers, and from around the English-speaking world. Section 1 assesses local needs and how to address them through outreach programs. Section 2 looks at ways in which teachers can increase the effectiveness of a visit and formats for evaluating the visit. Section 3 looks at the vexing issues of new technologies, which are costly – yet an important and very popular dimension of the science center experience. Section 4 focuses on research into effective learning in science centers and museums.