January 17, 2007
Ongoing research into museum education practice? Evaluation project?
Visitor study? Audience investigatation?

MUSEUM EDUCATION MONITOR (MEM), the e-newsletter, is now compiling a
list of ongoing research and evaluation projects related to
museum/gallery education and interpretation for our upcoming February
2007 issue. 

We define research in the broadest sense - "methodical investigation
into a subject in order to discover facts, to establish or revise a
theory, or to develop a plan of action based on the facts discovered."
Projects undertaken by practitioners (paid and volunteer), students, and
academics are all equally welcome.
 
If you wish to share your research or evaluation with others around the
world, please send an e-mail to mem at mccastle.com  that includes:
- name of project
- research or evaluation question(s) [no more than 50 words, please]
- how the data will be presented/used [report, article, dissertation,
program, training event, workshop, curriculum, plan for change, etc.]
- principal researcher(s)/ evaluator(s)
- site(s) where research is being conducted
- time span
- contact information
- key words to describe the project [no more than 4 or 5, please]
Deadline for this issue is *Friday, February 9, 2007.*

Listings are, of course, free of charge. Submissions are included in the
current MEM and catalogued afterwards in our archives, which now
contains over 1,100 entries. Full access to the MEM Archives is
available only to subscribers. However, time-limited guest passes are
available to students and interested others by contacting MEM at
mem at mccastle.com .

FYI, the following research projects were listed in MEM, December 2006:
- 21st century review of attendance statistics for Australian museums
(Australia)
- Learning in the Science Centre: Is there a relationship between
exhibit design characteristics and visitor learning behaviours? (Canada)
- What previous knowledge, experience and interest do Science North
visitors have of polar science? (Canada)
- The Visitor Experience at the Cochrane Polar Bear Conservation and
Education Habitat (Canada)
- Groups in Digital Dialogue in Museums: Post Doc project (Norway)
- Cultural Hubs (UK)

UPDATES on research listed in earlier issues of MEM
- Personalised Learning Trails (UK)
- Best practice in developing educational websites & E-learning and
Indigenous communities in New South Wales, Australia (Australia)
- "Writing Labels for Exhibitions" online workshop using WebBoard
(chatroom and bulletin board functions) (Canada)
- Trading Spaces: Museum-Schools As Unique Learning Environments (USA)

A complimentary copy of the December 2006 issue of Museum Education
Monitor noted above is available upon request to mem at mccastle.com .    

Please get in touch for more information about these listings, this call
or to discuss your own research. I look forward to hearing from you!

Cheers,
Chris

M. Christine Castle, Editor,
Museum Education Monitor Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
mem at mccastle.com                  
For more information about Museum Education Monitor, please go to
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(Please excuse cross-postings. We try to extend the call as widely as
possible. Inevitably many of us are subscribed to several electronic
discussion lists related to museum education. For those who are, your
patience is appreciated. CC.}