Virtual Visitors and Real Readers - Programme update September 2006
The Visitor Studies Group are delighted to confirm the updated programme
for the 2006 Visitor Research Group Summer School which will examine and
explore different approaches to research and evaluation of interactive
learning experiences.
Evaluation research in contemporary free-learning environments - Virtual
versus Reality.
How can we evaluate the power of experiential learning against a
backdrop of an obsession with the virtual, push-button, touch-screen
world? Methods of evaluation have been developed separating these two
domains, and considering these as mutually exclusive environments, but
are they? Are the methods used to research and evaluate the virtual
world transferable to the experiential domain? Can an interactive
exhibit be evaluated using methods designed for experiential learning
environments?
Hosted by the award winning At-Bristol Science Centre
Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5DB www.at-bristol.org.uk
The two-day event will consist of:
o Day One (21-9-06 10:00 - 17:00)
o The Engaged Tone. Andrew McIntyre (Morris Hargreaves McIntyre)
sets the scene reminding us that engagement with interactive doesn't
necessarily mean that people are learning.
o Great Expectations. Helen Featherstone discusses the necessity
to set realistic goals for interactive exhibits.
o Real Learning from Virtual Environments. Martin Bazley (SEMLAC)
focuses on evaluation techniques used to measure learning from online
resources
o Art and the Interactive. Debbie Syrop; how talk based research
has been used by artists to inform hands-on exhibit design.
o Pow WOW! Anne Linneen; how the Bristol Commonwealth Museum uses
interactive research techniques to evaluate exhibits
o Generation Genome. Ben Gammon and Emma Cooke (At:Bristol)
present a case study illustrating decisions made to overcome challenges
of creating an exhibit on something too small to see that will engage a
diverse target audience (the tech-literate teens as well as text panel
craving older visitors)
o Provocative (and hopefully entertaining) evening debate (18:45 -
19:45) where the summer school will adjourn to the Watershed Bar, to
debate research, methodological and ethical issues raised during the
day. The debate will begin from the following points:
o High-tech versus low-tech,
o Real learning from real experiences versus learning from virtual
experiences
o Day Two (22-9-06 09:30 - 16:00)
o From one frontier to another - Exploratorium to At-Bristol.
Goéry Delacôte (At:Bristol CEO) shares his experience of using research
in these two leading interactive science centres
o Exploration as a journey not a destination. Ian Russell
(Interactive Science Ltd) advocates the importance of encouraging
exploratory behaviour in visitors
o Common Pitfalls of interactive design. Harry White
(Techniquest) shares lessons learnt by interactive exhibit developers
over many years of research and experience.
o Entwined Engagement. Vivien Bell (National Museums Liverpool)
reveal how Liverpool Museums have developed evaluation research
techniques to become an integral part of their overarching visitor
research programme
o Affecting Immersive Experiences. The Eden Project with the
University of Exeter describe how they use simple but robust research
techniques to monitor and evaluate low-tech multi sensory immersive
learning experiences.
To book please contact Mary Phelps on 020 8392 2357 or
[log in to unmask]
The event will cost £120 for non-members, £90 for members of the Visitor
Studies Group and £65 for Student members. (One day fee
£60/£45/£32.50).
This fee includes all speaker events, debate and workshops, and
refreshments and lunch on both days. Evening meals and accommodation
are not included; accommodation close to the venues can be booked
through the Bristol Tourist Information Centre.
Emily Johnsson
VSG Committee
**********************************************************************
1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,
send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following message:
set psci-com nomail
2. To resume email from the list, send the following message:
set psci-com mail
3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message:
leave psci-com
4. Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including list archive,
can be found at the list web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psci-com.html
5. The psci-com gateway to internet resources on science communication and science
and society can be found at http://psci-com.ac.uk
**********************************************************************
|
