Please excuse this cross-posting.

Institute for Learning Innovation Professional Development Seminar

           THE LEARNING CULTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE MILLENNIUM:
                Performance Measures and Audience Response

                           Barbara J. Soren, PhD
                             Senior Associate
                     Institute for Learning Innovation


Two relevant questions for learning cultural organizations as they enter
the next millennium are:

·    How can a learning organization best determine if participants?
experiences are sufficiently meaningful that they are motivated to
return
either by themselves or with others from their communities?

·    How can performance measures be used to assess the impact of museum
visits and performing arts organization experiences on individuals?

Performance measures have become powerful tools for learning
organizations
to apply in  measuring the effect of programs on individuals, in
enhancing
internal management processes, and in strengthening and deepening
educational mandates. "Performance measures" can be described as a
process
that contributes to continuous improvement and increased accountability
of
learning organizations by being linked into their planning and
management
cycles.

Dr. Soren will provide an overview of the topic as she summarizes
findings
in The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts? Adult Arts
Education
Project report, "Learning Audiences: Adult Arts Participation and the
Learning Consciousness."  Core questions for the Project were: Can
anything
be done to stimulate interest and participation in the arts by
non-participating adults, the uninclined; and, can anything be done to
increase and diversify the involvement of the inclined, adults who do
participate?

Dr.  Soren will also present a case study on how a science and history
museum in Michigan used performance measures related to feedback from
visitors and from community stakeholders  to develop an evaluation
management plan.

Barbara Soren is an educator who has been working with schools, museums,
science centers and performing arts organizations since the mid 1970s
Her
background includes a Ph.D. in Education from University of Toronto and
a
Master of Science in Teaching from McMaster University.  Both degrees
have
focused on Arts/Museum Education.  She has become increasingly intrigued
with educational experiences beyond what schools can typically provide,
and
how people grow and learn throughout their lives in rich and meaningful
contexts.  Her consulting work, research and teaching have focused on
lifelong learning and human development, understanding ways in which
experiences in schools, museums and arts organizations interact, and
evaluating how effectively schools and community organizations educate
publics about arts, science and culture.


          Thursday, February 18, 1999 from 4:30-5:30 PM
                      A wine and cheese reception will follow
                         LOCATION TBA

               Institute for Learning Innovation
                       166 West Street Annapolis, MD
                              (410) 268-5149

          Please RSVP by Friday, February 12, via phone or email,
                       to Dale at: [log in to unmask]
                     Limited seating, no fee required
     (Please indicate if you need directions and include email or fax
number.)

The Institute for Learning Innovation seminars are designed to provide
area
professionals with opportunities to share new ideas and information
related
    to research, evaluation and educational development in the area of
                           free-choice learning.

Please mark your calendars for future seminars:

Thursday April 15:  Michael Blakeslee, Director of the Graduate Program
in
Museum Exhibition Planning and Design at the University of the Arts,
will
speak on  "It's Alive, Alive, Alive ... Madman or Miracle Worker:
Designing a Designer"

Thursday June 17:  Speaker:  John Chadwick, founder of the internet
server
list "museum-L."