Museum of Science and Industry

This article details an approach to knowledge capture on a collection of working textile machinery at the Science and Industry Museum. The machinery collection dates between 1880 and 1955 and the knowledge capture process outlined in the case study was prompted by the retirement announcement of the last machine operator on staff with first-hand experience of the textile industry.

Museums are located at the intersection of awe and learning: When guests arrive, they are expecting to be amazed, inspired, and educated. This is particularly true in science museums, and researchers have pointed to awe as an epistemic emotion that can promote science learning. We present two studies of awe in a science museum. The first study (n = 293) examined how awe—conceptualized as a multifaceted construct associated with positive feelings of liberation/connection, negative feelings of oppression/isolation, chills, and diminished-self perceptions—differed across museum locations and in relation to prior knowledge. The second study (n = 708) expanded the investigation to also examine the relationship between awe and critical thinking. Across both studies, we found that, relative to baseline spaces, vast, beautiful spaces elicited positive awe-related emotions (amazement, curiosity) and stronger awe correlates (chills, diminished-self perceptions); vast, threatening spaces also elicited stronger amazement, chills, and diminished-self perceptions—but also stronger oppression/isolation. In both studies, pre-visit knowledge was associated with awe experiences during the visit. In Study 2, we also found evidence for relationships between awe and skepticism and aesthetic thought, two aspects of critical thinking: Positive aspects of awe (liberation/connection, curiosity) were associated with more skepticism, and negative aspects of awe (oppression/isolation, disorientation) with less skepticism. In terms of aesthetic thinking, diminished-self perceptions were associated being able describe observed roles and actions, and chills were associated with being able to describe personal opinions. These results support the assertion that awe can be used to encourage engagement and learning in informal science settings.

ABSTRACTWe present results of an experimental study of an urban, museum-based science teacher PD programme. A total of 125 teachers and 1676 of their students in grades 4–8 were tested at the beginning and end of the school year in which the PD programme took place. Teachers and students were assessed on subject content knowledge and attitudes towards science, along with teacher classroom behaviour. Subject content questions were mostly taken from standardised state tests and literature, with an ‘Explain:’ prompt added to some items. Teachers in the treatment group showed a 7% gain in subject content knowledge over the control group. Students of teachers in the treatment group showed a 4% gain in subject content knowledge over the control group on multiple-choice items and an 11% gain on the constructed response items. There was no overall change in science attitudes of teachers or students over the control groups but we did find differences in teachers’ reported self-efficacy and teaching anxiety levels, plus PD teachers reported doing more student-centered science teaching activities than the control group. All teachers came into the PD with high initial excitement, perhaps reflecting its context within an informal learning environment.

This paper is an output of a two day 'Festival Lab' held at the Future Everything Festival, Manchester, UK, March 2015. The Festival Lab invited a team of academic researchers to develop a model of public engagement during the festival that would explore specific research questions around mobility, data awareness, and civic engagement. From this brief the academic team developed the Festival Lab 'PuBLiC', and created an activity arc that involved participants borrowing bicycles and responding to structured and unstructured research questions about the future of cycling and data use in the city of Manchester. Equipped with iPhones with bespoke software for collecting short textual comments, photographs and GPS data, participants became integral actors in one-day field studies, taking the role of both subjects and authors of this paper. We present findings and observations noted by participants and researchers, discussing the significance of these as triangulated in a closing workshop plenary session. Finally, we conclude by reflecting on the paper creation process itself, a collaborative, intensive, fast-paced approach that challenges the very framework of academic authority and public engagement.

Because there has been debate over the validity and reliability of the oral examination1-4 the American Board of Pediatrics has undertaken a critical assessment of this aspect of its examination process. Candidates taking the oral examination since October 1970 have received a questionnaire at its conclusion. These were completed and returned to the Board office by 677 of 1,170 candidates (58%) after seven oral examination sessions administered during 1¼ years. The answers may interest readers of Pediatrics.

Solon Robinson, Pioneer and Argriculturist. Edited by Herbert Anthony Kellar. Volume II, 1876–1851. (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau. 1936. Pp. xvii, 556. $2.00.) Solon Robinson, Pioneer and Argriculturist. Edited by Kellar Herbert Anthony. Volume II, 1847–1851. (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau. 1936. Pp. xvii, 556. $2.00.) Russell H. Anderson Russell H. Anderson Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The American Historical Review, Volume 43, Issue 2, January 1938, Pages 418–419, https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/43.2.418 Published: 01 January 1938