A children's museum and how any town can get one

Purpose This paper aims to introduce and explores the use of electrodermal activity (EDA) data as a tool for obtaining data about youth engagement during maker learning activities. Design/methodology/approach EDA and survey data were collected from a yearlong afterschool maker program for teens that met weekly and was hosted at a children’s museum. Data from four youth who were simultaneously present for eight weeks were examined to ascertain what experiences and activities were more or less engaging for them, based on psychophysiological measures. Findings Most of the focal youth appeared to show higher levels of engagement by survey measures throughout the program. However, when examined by smaller time intervals, certain activities appeared to be more engaging. Planning of maker activities was one space where engagement was higher. Completing sewing projects with minimal social interaction appeared to be less engaging. Specific activities involving common maker technologies yielded mixed levels of engagement. Originality/value Some research is emerging that uses EDA data as a basis for generating inferences about various states while participating in maker learning activities. This paper provides a novel analysis building on some techniques established in the still emergent body of prior research in this area.

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At the Base of the Cathedral

Protecting Pharaoh's Treasures ◽

10.5743/cairo/9789774168253.003.0007 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Wafaa EL Sadik ◽

Rüdiger Heimlich

Keyword(s):

Museum Education ◽

Educational Programs ◽

German Version ◽

Education Programs ◽

Children's Museum

This chapter begins with a description of the cathedral near the author's apartment in Cologne, which reminded her of the pyramids. Although erected thousands of years later, the cathedral, like the pyramids, is an amazing testament to the power of the faith. The cathedral and the Rhine, the museums, and the Philharmonic kept the author from becoming homesick. During her brief stay in Cologne, she had admired the educational programs for children the museums had developed to accompany their exhibition Nofret, the Beautiful. She then decided that she wanted to work in museum education programs, especially for children and the handicapped. From 1988 to 1991 the author worked on the study about an Egyptian children's museum, writing it first in Arabic, then in a German version.

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Wonder House

Innocent Experiments ◽

10.5149/northcarolina/9781469629476.003.0002 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Rebecca Onion

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Science Education ◽

Middle Class ◽

Early Twentieth Century ◽

Children's Museum

The Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the first children’s museum in the country, aimed its offerings at middle-class children who they saw as independent strivers. In discussing the types of science education available at their museum, the educators who ran the Brooklyn Children’s Museum showed how science education for boys in the early twentieth century was pitched at a higher level than the equivalent offerings for girls.

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