Roundtable Sessions
MER roundtable sessions are conceived as workshops, with half of the program committed to informal presentations and half to active participant engagement. While MER encourages interactive learning and participation in all of its programs, roundtable sessions are uniquely focused on audience involvement.
Museum Practitioner Seminars
The Museum Practitioner Seminar is jointly sponsored by Museum Education Roundtable and the Museum Education Program of The George Washington University with support from the Marcella Brenner Endowment for Museum Education. The annual program highlights the work of distinguished practitioners in the field of museum education.
Research Colloquia
The Research Colloquium is a unique forum for new ideas and original research in all areas relevant to museum education. Each year, the program has drawn presenters from a cross-section of museums. Topics range from children's learning patterns and naive notions about art to the history of museum development and expansion. The program provides:
- Advanced researchers in the museum field an opportunity to describe their research.
- Novice researchers or those in the initial stages of their project a less formal setting -- poster session -- in which to present, discuss, and gather feedback from colleagues.
Collaborative Programs
The National Association for Museum Exhibition (NAME), the Graduate Programs in Museum Education and Museum Studies at The George Washington University (GWU), and the Museum Education Roundtable (MER), select a topic for special consideration that crosses subfields of the museum profession
Roundtable Sessions: Strength in Numbers, 1997-1998 (back)
Strength in Numbers is the theme for MER's 1997-98 Roundtable Series.
A desire to reach new audiences, common goals, and competition for funding are just three of the reasons museums are increasingly turning to education and cultural partners. If you or your institution are thinking about working with other museums, schools, libraries, community organizations, or the corporate sector, this year's roundtables are something you won't want to miss.
Finding Partnerships
Co-sponsored by University of Virginia, Northern Virginia Center, Social Foundations of Education Program
December 3, 1997, 4:30-6:30 pm
UVA, Northern Virginia Center, Falls Church, VA
Museum directors, curators, and educators are experiencing profound shifts in their relationships with communities as public funding diminishes and diverse interest groups seek more involvement. This roundtable examined factors which shape how communities and museums interact, and provided you with strategies for building strong, mutually beneficial relationships. Small group activities explored the definition of "partnership" and gave you the chance to share your own experiences and challenges.
Funding Partnerships
February 19, 1998, 3:30-5:30 pm
National Museum of African Art, Second Level Lecture Hall, Washington, DC
Where do you go after you've got the initial footwork of finding partners for your museum under your belt? To find the funding needed to see the project through. The second in the Partnership Series, will build on Roundtable No. 1 by explaining the pros and cons of national and local funding sources.
The Foundation Center is an independent non-profit organization devoted to increasing public understanding of the foundation field. A speaker from the Center will introduce the resources available to you and discuss how their staff can help. Other speakers will discuss government sponsored funding options in the DC area.
The information is available to you. You just have to know where to look.
Roundtable Sessions: Roundtable on Roundtables 1997 (back)
November 15, 1997, 8:30-10:00 AM
Co-Sponsored by MER and NYCMER
MAAM Annual Conference
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Rochester, NY
"Making a difference" was the theme for the 1997 Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums annual conference. How do museums make a difference in the lives of the people in their communities? What is the real value of our institutions? What challenges, facing our communities, can museums effectively address? MER chose to answer these questions by joining forces with NYCMER, the largest regional education roundtable in the mid-Atlantic. Museum education roundtables have been in existence for over twenty-five years.
Across the country, members have gathered to share ideas, address common concerns, and offer programs to their communities. The purpose of this program was to assess the state of roundtables and open a dialogue to develop greater unity while maintaining local ties. Information presented was based on an ongoing survey of regional education roundtables. Copies of the survey appeared in Network. For a copy, call the MER office at (202) 547-8378 or e-mail us at merorg@erols.com.
The MAAM program explored shared concerns of roundtable-like organizations such as:
1.collaboration and communication among roundtables
2.the distinction between regional and national roundtable goals and expectations
3.the implications of an inter-roundtable network
Chair
Elizabeth Reiss, Curator of Education
American Crafts Museum & MER Board Member
Speakers
Elizabeth Reiss, Curator of Education
American Crafts Museum & MER Board Member
Catherine Fukushima
Manager of School, Youth and Family Programs & NYCMER Chair
Joanne Hirsch, MER Chair
Michelle L. Craig, Education/Exhibitions Specialist
American Psychological Association & MER Program Chair
Roundtable Sessions: Museums and Technology, 1996 - 1997 (back)
The National Digital Library: Internet Resources for the Public
October 15, 1997
National Digital Library, Visitor Center Atrium, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Are you looking for information about motion pictures? Trying to research 19th century daguerreotypes? Designed as a guide for Internet novices, Roundtable Session #1 introduced participants to basic Internet functions and search programs using the National Digital Library. It explored the Library's on-line collections and gave tips for finding the information you need for research and education purposes.
Links to Participating Museums:
The Library of Congress -- URL: http://www.loc.gov
American Memory --URL: http://memory.loc.gov
The Learning Page -- URL: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu
Online Exhibits -- URL: http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits
The Virtual Museum Experience
December 10, 1997
Exhibit Center, The National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA
In a field traditionally focused on artifacts, what will the Internet mean to museums, and what will museums mean to the Internet? MER Roundtable Session #2 at the National Science Foundation sampled web activities and asked: How are they different from museum programs in "real time"? How are they evaluated? What audiences do these programs reach? And, most importantly, how do you get started?
Links to Participating Museums:
Colonial Williamsburg: This web site is divided into two basic categories, Visitor Information (providing logistical information and wayfinding assistance) and Education and Programs. -- URL: http://www.history.org
Monticello: Monticello provides visitors the opportunity to speak with the experts. Questions can be posted on-line and answers
by museum staff. -- URL: http://www.monticello.org
Discovery Creek: Discovery Creek is committed to integrating their on-line programs with "real time" museum experiences. Each
electronic component is closely tied with activities and programs offered at the museum and surrounding nature center grounds. -- URL: http://www.capaccess.org/discovery_creek/
New Connections on the Information Superhighway
February 25, 1997
Electronic Classroom, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Will the Internet effectively replace textbooks, lectures, museum visits? Can a classroom be transformed into an effective, interactive museum setting? At MER Roundtable #3 at the Electronic Classroom, participants experienced the new interaction between museum exhibitions and classrooms nationwide through a hook-up to a classroom for a science-based museum lesson. Is it possible for students from Mississippi and California to visit the Smithsonian without leaving their classrooms?
Links to Participating Institutions or programs:
National Museum of Natural History -- URL: http://www.nmnh.si.edu
Natural Partners Office, National Museum of Natural History --URL: http://130.18.108.142/
The Globe Program -- URL: http://www.globe.gov
Museum Practitioner Seminars 1999 (back)
Retrospection with Reflection
February 26, 1999, 1:00-4:00 pm
American Institute of Architects
Co-Sponsored by MER and The George Washington University, Museum Education Program with support from the Marcella Brenner Endowment for Museum Education.
In the final year of their long collaboration, MER and the Museum Education Program celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Museum Practitioner Seminar. This second gathering for "Retrospection with Reflection" features two prominent practitioners: Alberta Sebolt George, President and CEO of Old Sturbridge Village and Thomas Schlereth, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. They will reflect on their earlier thoughts documented in Roundtable Reports (now the Journal of Museum Education) Volume 5, Number 3 (1980). Program materials include reprints of this Journal issue and are available from the MER office. MER will publish the presentations of the 1998 and 1999 speakers later in 1999. No pre-registration is required. Fees include materials.
Speakers
Alberta Sebolt George, President and CEO
Old Sturbridge Village (Sturbridge, MA)
Thomas Schlereth, Professor and Director
Graduate Studies in American Studies, University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN)
Museum Practitioner Seminars 1998 (back)
Retrospection with Reflection
March 13, 1998, 1:00-4:00pm
American Institute of Architects, Washington, DC
Co-Sponsored by MER and The George Washington University, Museum Education Program with support from the
Marcella Brenner Endowment for Museum Education
MER and the Museum Education Program celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Museum Practitioner Seminar with two special sessions in 1998 and 1999. The program's two speakers reflected on their earlier thoughts, documented in Roundtable Reports (now the Journal of Museum Education), Volume 5, Number 3, 1980.
Speakers
Dolo Brooking, Professor, Arts Administration
California State University, Dominguez Hills (Carson, CA)
Elaine Heumann Gurian, Acting Director
Cranbrook Institute of Science (Bloomfield Hills, MI)
Museum Practitioner Seminars 1997 (back)
Crossing into Hyperspace: The Museum Goes High Tech
March 14, 1997
Information Age Theater, National Museum of American History, Washington, DC
Co-Sponsored by MER and The George Washington University, Museum Education Program
The presentation of Tara G. Robinson, Coordinator of Exhibitions and assistant to the director of the Detroit Institute of Arts and Project Coordinator for CHIP (Computer Hypermedia Interpretive Program) for Crossing into Hyperspace: The Museum Goes High Tech. Her presentation focused on the human, political, financial, and technical dimensions of the development of a multimedia program, offering insight into the nitty-gritty of designing an innovative and thoughtful application of educational technology in the museum. Presented by Museum Education Roundtable and the Museum Education Program of The George Washington University, with the support of the Marcella Brenner Endowment for Museum Education.
Research Colloquia 1999 (back)
Ninth Annual Research Colloquium
October 2, 1999
American Association of State and Local History (AASLH) /Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD
8:30am - 10:00am
The Research Colloquium features two creative and valuable discussions about the role of research in museums: an overview of theoretical ethnographic visitor research and an innovative model for research application based on an historic district. Program participants will consider how visitors perceive of their museum experience, how these perceptions can shape or-ganizational planning, and how research can directly inform public programming. Following the formal presentations, there will be ample time to address individual questions and explore specific institutional characteristics.
Speakers
Barbara Soren, Ph.D
Ms. Soren is a researcher and evaluator who uses ethnographic approaches to understand the museum visitor experience across arts, history, and science museums. Since the mid-1980s, she has conducted ethno-graphic studies that provide tools for "getting inside" the experiences of individuals who visit a museum. Her studies have rangedfrom a small living history site in north Toronto called the Gibson House, to a mid-size history and science museum in Michigan, Kalamazoo Valley Museum, to world renowned institutions including the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, the Tate Gallery in Millbank, England and the Art Institute of Chicago. In this session she will emphasize the value of ethnographic studies in museum settings, an area that has received little attention since Robert Wolf's work at the Smithsonian in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Eric Sandweiss
Director of Research, Missouri Historical Society Mr. Sandweiss will present "Through the Eyes of a Child," a research project that collects the oral histories of adults living in historically black neighborhoods of St. Louis from 1940 to 1980. The research documents the ways black St. Louisans were nurtured as children and how their traditions continue to be passed to successive generations. The project not only added to the store of knowledge about the region and its peoples, but also created opportunities for neighborhood gatherings, educational programming for the Historical Society, venues for civic conversations, and broadcast-quality productions.
Research Colloquia 1998 (back)
Eighth Annual Research Colloquium
August 7, 1998
Visitor Studies Conference, ANA Hotel, Washington, DC
Presentation 1:15 - 2:30 p.m.
Poster Session 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
The Museum Education Roundtable's (MER) Annual Research Colloquium is a unique forum for new ideas and original research in all areas relevant to museum education. For the past eight years, MER has sponsored this opportunity for researchers from across the nation to introduce individual research projects and reflections. This year, the program committee's slate of proposed speakers has focused on child development and learning theory and their application to exhibition and program development. Presentations are geared towards all levels of professional development, beginning, intermediate & advanced, and a variety of museum disciplines including museum researchers and evaluators, educators, curators, and exhibit developers. Program consists of formal presentations and a poster session.
Chairs
Michelle L. Craig, Program Chair, Museum Education Roundtable
Joanne Hirsch, Chair, Museum Education Roundtable
Speakers
Kevin Crowley, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh
Mr. Crowley will present his research in collaboration with the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum. The project explores the hypothesis that the guidance of parents is an important bridge between the intentions of exhibit designers and the experience and knowledge of the child. Guided by sociocultural and information processing theories of how children learn, research focuses on basic properties of shared scientific thinking in parent-child interactions and on translating the findings into exhibit design recommendations.
Kirstin Ellenbogen, Museum Learning Collaborative, LRCD, University of Pittsburgh
The Museum Learning Collaborative has established a thematic framework designed to organize and accelerate their research in learning in museums in the coming years.Ms. Ellenbogen will present this framework and an overview of our research plan for the next year, highlighting one of our research projects, "The Family Learning Experience: Tracking Conversations." Perhaps more compelling, however, is the issue of how other museum research fits in and adds to our framework. She will discuss the ways in which some of the current museum research projects spotlight the advantages and disadvantages of our framework. She invites our colleagues to come prepared to discuss their current research and consider the ramifications of it on establishing a shared framework for research in learning in museums.
Poster Sessions
Stacey Bielick and Andrew J. Pekarik
Institutional Studies Office, Smithsonian Institution
The Influence of Exhibition Texts on Visitor Responses to Richard Lindner Paintings and Watercolors, 1948-1977
Gay Bindocci, West Virginia University
A Grassroots Survey of West Virginia Museums
Joan Casey, PhD, Graduate Higher Education Program
College of William and Mary
Exploring Differences: Finding Connections Between Program Planners and Audience Members
Michelle L. Craig, Program Chair
Museum Education Roundtable
You Are Here: A Survey of Museum Professionals and the Professional Development Organizations They Join
Joanne Hirsch, Consultant
Concept Maps: Tools for Learners and Evaluators
Tania Said
Corporation for National Service, Washington, D.C.
Better Museums and Better Communities Through Service
Research Colloquia 1997 (back)
Seventh Annual Research Colloquium
April 30, 1997
Annual Meeting of the American Association of Museums Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA
In its seventh year, MER's Research Colloquium broke new ground. The colloquium was a featured session at the AAM Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Researchers presented findingsand implications of studies for museums informally in a poster session that preceded three formal presentations to AAM delegates.
Speakers
Sue Allen, Ph.D., Program Evaluator and Educational Researcher
Exploratorium
Making Sense of Novel Phenomena: How Museum Visitors Make and Shape Explanations
Dr. Allen explored the role of inquiry in hands-on science. She revealed how visitors incorporate, reject, ignore, or modify scientific explanations--how people respond to surprising or contradictory phenomena and how they incorporate new explanations into their own mental models.
Lynn Liben, Ph.D., Head of
Psychology Department and Professor
The Pennsylvania State University
Getting the Exhibit Message Across: Can Visitors 'Get It' if They Don't Already 'Have It'?
Dr. Liben asked two central questions: How do we incorporate new information into existing understandings, and why do people, even when provided with the "correct answer," still have difficulty "seeing" what is right in front of them? Liben moved from how people respond to why they respond in specific ways, by examining such psychological processes as developmental level, experience, and prior knowledge.
Judith Torney-Purta, Ph.D., Professor of Human Development,
University of Maryland
Where Technology, Social Interaction, and Learning Intersect: Implications for Museums
Dr. Torney-Purta drew on findings from a 10-year study using on-line networking technology to foster new understandings linked to prior knowledge. Her work reminds us of the critical importance of social skills and social context in problem solving, negotiation, debate, and other aspects of critical thinking.
Poster Sessions
Betty Dunckel Camp, Ph.D. and Bruce J. MacFadden, Ph.D.
Florida Museum of Natural History
Fossil Horses in Cyberspace: Using Audience Input to Develop an On-Line Exhibit
A report of formative evaluation of the Florida Museum of Natural History's first exhibit for the World Wide Web, confirmed the importance of input from visitors and potential users in the formative stages of exhibition development. URL:http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/vertpaleo/fhc/fhc.htm
Selena Connealy
Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington, DC
Understanding Visitors to Ford's Theatre National Historic Site
This presentation demonstrated the use of survey, observation, and interview techniques, and the benefits of staff training and involvement in providing an assessment of visitor expectations. This year-long project was jointly sponsored by The George Washington University Museum Education Program, U.S. National Park Service, and Friends of Ford's Theatre.
Herminia Weihsin Din
The Ohio State University
An Investigation of Children's Museums in the United States: Their Past, Present, and Future
This poster session was a historical inquiry into the origins and rapid growth of children's museums, as well as the impact of educational theories and social and cultural changes on philosophy and practice.
Jennifer Dritsas and Minda Borun
The Franklin Institute Science Museum
Developing Family Friendly Exhibits: A Report from PISEC (Philadelphia-Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative)
This report asked: How can museums encourage active family learning? What are the behavioral indicators for family learning? What are the specific characteristics of successful family learning exhibits? Participating museums included the Franklin Institute Science Museum, Academy of Natural Sciences, and Philadelphia Zoo in Philadelphia, and the New Jersey State Aquarium in Camden.
Francine Peterman, Richard Efthim, and Hardiman Cureton
Cleveland State University
I Wonder: Museum and School Partnerships and the Problem of Change
This presentation is an ongoing research collaborative among teachers in Indiana and Virginia, Cleveland State University, and museum educators at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. The project examines how object-based learning affects teachers' beliefs and practices, and how support systems and prior experience affect the types and extent of change.
Elizabeth Reiss
American Craft Museum and Museum Education Roundtable
The Distribution of Museum Education Roundtables Nationwide: An Initial Analysis of Goals and Activities
This survey is an ongoing effort to determine the role of roundtables in organizational and programmatic efforts. Look for a report of our findings in upcoming newsletters or attend our session at the MAAM conference in mid-November.
Collaborative Programs 1997 (back)
Taking a Day Off... Role of Controversy
November 15, 1997
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC
Enola Gay was not the first exhibition to be controversial -- nor will it be the last... Some museums aim to be provocative -- others steer clear. Recent actions of a number of the nation's cultural institutions have raised questions about the intellectual integrity of museum exhibitions. This day-long seminar revisits some of these decisions and invites you to consider: What is the definition of "controversy"? What are the forces that create controversy? Who draws the line between discussion and conflict? How do museums successfully manage sensitive topics? Do exhibitions about sensitive topics offend visitors or stimulate critical thinking? How can museums prepare visitors for the examination of complex issues? Does this preparation change the visitor experience?
Speakers
Cary Carson, Vice President for Research
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
James K. Ballinger, Director
Phoenix Art Museum
Old Glory: The American Flag in Contemporary Art
Roberta Cook, M.D., Chief Scientist
Franklin Institute
What About AIDS? and Girls and Boys: What's the Difference?
Susan Bachrach, History Exhibitions and Educational Publications
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
The Nazi Olympics;Berlin, 1936
Moderated by Stanley Turesky, Director of Congressional Relations, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Verdamae Grosvenor, Correspondent,
National Public Radio
Philip Burnham, Journalist and Author
How the Other Half Lives: A People's Guide to Historic Sites
Livingston Biddle, Director Emeritus
National Endowment for the Arts
Jason Hall, Director of Government and Public Affairs
American Association of Museums
David Levy, President and Director
Corcoran Gallery of Art
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