Thanks so much. This is of great help!
Jeffrey Allison
-----Original Message-----
From: Carey Tisdal [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 1998 4:56 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Visitor Behavior in the Museum Setting
Jeffrey:
There is a large body of research and literature on visitor
learning
and behavior in museums. It dates back to the 1930's, but
is growing
daily. There is a wonderful annotated bibliography being
produced by
the Museum Learning Collaborative. Say a big thanks to
IMLS, NSF, and
NEH for the joint funding that produced this wonderful
resource for
all of us and made it assesible via the WWW. Here is the
address:
http://mlc.lrdc.pitt.edu/mlc/Annotatedlit.html
The annotations are divided into three themes.
I. Learning and learning environments
II. Interpretation, meaning, and explanation
III. Identity, motivation, and interest
To me the best overall introduction to how people learn and
behave in museums is
Falk and Dierking's 1992 book. It is readable, has a coherent
point of view,
and is based on research. Below is the full bib and annotation
from the MIC www
site:
Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (1992). The Museum Experience.
Washington, DC:
Whalesback Books.
Museum researchers Falk and Dierking propose in this book a
comprehensive
framework for understanding people's museum experiences. This
framework, the
Interactive Experience Model, represents a dynamic process that
occurs at the
intersection of three overlapping contexts--personal, social,
and physical--each
of which influences a visitor's museum learning experience. By
personal context
the authors mean the expectations and anticipated outcomes each
person has for
his or her museum visit; by social context they mean the people
visitors come
into contact with while at the museum, such as companions,
museum staff, and
other visitors; and by physical context they mean the museum
environment--for
example, the building structure and the type of exhibits. In
discussing the
personal context, the authors describe the agendas that visitors
bring to
museums, including social-recreational, educationċal, and
reverential reasons
for coming. They argue that since learning in museums is largely
a social
activity, much more research on the social context is needed.
They point out
that the limited research in this area, specifically that on
families visiting
museums, has already produced significant findings, such as the
gender
differences between how mothers and fathers interact with their
children. For
the physical context, the authors discuss how various aspects of
the size and
structure of the museum and of individual exhibits influence the
overall
learning experience--for example, the routes people tend to
take, the time they
spend, and the onset of "museum fatigue." Falk and Dierking
devote a section of
their book to learning theory and its application to learning in
museums. Taking
memory and recall as critical indicators of learning, the
authors emphasize
"recollection" research, noting that when people are asked to
remember
everything they can from a museum visit, recall focuses on the
personal, social,
and physical contexts of the museum. These findings provide the
authors with
support for their Interactive Experience Model as well as for
the amount and
durability of learning that occurs in museums. Finally, the
authors offer
suggestions to museum professionals for creating and evaluating
exhibits in a
way that takes into account what is known about visitors' needs
and levels of
knowledge so that museums can have the greatest impact and
visitors feel
satisfied with their experience. Based on years of research on
museum learning,
Falk and Dierking provide an excellent framework for
understanding the museum
experience as a whole, and offer many helpful suggestions for
future research in
this area, as well as concrete recommendations for museum
professionals. This
book is consistent with the Museum Learning Collaborative's
mission to
investigate exactly how the personal, social, and physical
contexts interact to
facilitate or inhibit learning in museums. (KCA)
If you are looking for specific titles check the AAA and ASTC
bookstores at the
www sites of those organizations.
Good luck on you quest!
Carey Tisdal
Research and Evaluation, Director
St. Louis Science Center
______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
Subject: Visitor Behavior in the Museum Setting
Author: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
at INTERNET
Date: 11/24/98 1:06 PM
I'm looking for sources for information on visitor behavior in
the Museum
Setting. Signage, exhibition design, etc. Any sources that are
more
current than things published in the 1980's would be greatly
appreciated.
Thanks
Jeffrey Allison
Coordinator, Statewide Programs
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
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