Working with secondary education students with learning disabilities in museums and history organizations

Research questions: Even with ADA it seems that museums and historic organizations are still behind in reaching out to people with learning disabilities.  I will explore past relationships and attempts at inclusion, the state of the situation at this time, and possible alternatives and programming developed specifically for secondary education students who have learning disabilities.  This dissertation will also include a model for museums to use in developing programming and welcoming an under-served population into their organization. 

Data presentation: Once completed this will be a dissertation, but I hope to publish it as a book or separate chapters as articles.  

Principal Researcher - Mary Kate Stringer (Katie)

Sites: Research in New York City (MOMA, Whitney Museum of Art, Transit Museum, Tenement Museum, Coney Island, and more), Philadelphia (Mutter Museum), and middle Tennessee areas (various)

Contact: Mary Kate Stringer: mkatestringer@gmail.com  http://www.katiestringer.wordpress.com

Evaluation of adult visitors' experience of the Nature Discovery Room in the Ulster Museum, Belfast

(Ireland)

Research question:  How do adult visitors interact with and within the Nature Discovery Room and do they feel their engagement with the room adds to their overall experience of the Ulster Museum?

Data presentation: detailed evaluation report (project counts towards Master of Museology degree of the Reinwardt Academy, Amsterdam)

Principal Researcher: Lise den Brok 

 Site: Nature Discovery Room in the Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Time span: 3 to 4 research days, 2-3 weeks data analysis

Contact: lisedenbrok@gmail.com  (prior permission from the Ulster Museum is needed to disclose any evaluation results) 

mix@ges - Intergenerational Bonding via Creative New Media

(Germany)

Research questions: mix@ges is a multilateral project supported by the European Commission within the "Lifelong Learning Programme". It promotes the understanding and dialogue between the two generations by using the creative potential of new media. Under the guidance of professional media artists and trainers, the participants jointly create innovative media products such as iPad movies, audio guides for a museum, video blogs on exhibitions, tagtool performances or digital photos.

mix@ges workshops in museums in May 2012:

Tagging sculptures - Tagtool Project. An intergenerational art project with new media

May 7 – 10, 2012, LehmbruckMuseum Duisburg, Germany

www.lehmbruckmuseum.de  

Intergenerational art blog

May 12 – 13, 2012, 11 am to 4 pm, Kunststation St. Peter, parish hall, Jabachstraße 1, Cologne, Germany

http://www.sk-kultur.de/medienkunst/vermittlung_generationen/index.php

Data presentation: The results and products of the workshops are showcased on the interactive web platform www.mixages.eu  The participants and their trainers will exchange their experiences at an international exchange meeting in November 2012 in Vienna and present and discuss their work with experts and stakeholders at the final conference in Ljubljana in Spring 2013.  As a central outcome of the partnership, a handbook will be published in 2013. This tool box shall inspire media educators, trainers, artists and practitioners, and transfer the gained knowledge to stakeholders and other interested in intergenerational dialogue.

Principal researchers: mix@ges is supported and financed by the European Commission in the "Lifelong Learning Programme". Five partner institutions are involved in the project: University of Strathclyde with the Scottish Centre for Intergenerational Practice, Glasgow, Scotland; Institute for Arts, Education and Culture (ibk) in Remscheid, Germany ; KulturKontakt Austria, Vienna, Austria; Entr'Ages in Brussels, Belgium; Slovenian Pensioners’ Organisation "Zveza društev upokojencev Slovenije" (ZDUS) in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Time span: November 2011 – August 2013

Contact : mix@ges - Intergenerational Bonding via Creative New Media, Institut für Bildung und Kultur e.V., Küppelstein 34, 42857 Remscheid, Germany info@mixages.eu

www.mixages.eu

Museum and memories - museums as a platform for reminiscence work

(Sweden)

Research questions: This Interregional project will develop methods of how to use museums and heritage for people with symptoms of dementia, and how the health care staff and people from heritage institutions can find new forms of unconventional cooperation to raise the quality of life for this target group.

Data presentation: The experiences will be analysed and presented in a report.

Principal researcher/evaluator: Torgärd Notelid torgard.notelid@jamtli.com  

Sites: Participants in the project are: Jamtli – Jämtland county museum; Östersund municipality;

Murberget county museum in Västernorrland; Härnösand municipality; Ringve Museum and Trondheim municipality. To a lesser extent also: NTNU Botanisk Hage; Stjördals museum (a part of Stiklestad Kultursenter) ; Sverresborg museum

Time span: 1 Jan 2012 to 31 Dec 2013

Contacts: Project managers: Jamtli britt-marie.borgstrom@jamtli.com  Murberget Länsmuseet Västernorrland margareta.bergvall@murberget.se  Ringve Musikmuseum helle.singsaas@ringve.no

Museums and the Ageing Population (a workgroup within the The Learning Museum network, EU)

Research questions: How are heritage institutions in Europe currently addressing the challenge of an ageing population? In what ways are European national policies modelled to meet these challenges and what is the role of culture?

Data presentations: The data will be presented through policy recommendations whose target groups are heritage institutions, politicians and other stakeholders with guidelines for to further development of this field and best practices from cultural institutions across Europe.

Principal researchers: Sara Grut and Henrik Zipsane, Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning

Sites: Research is conducted by partners all over Europe but the work is coordinated by the Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning in Östersund, Sweden

Time span: November 2010 to October 2013

Contacts: Sara Grut and Henrik Zip Sane (work group coordinators), sara.grut@nckultur.org , henrik.zipsane@jamtli.com  or Margherita Sani (project coordinator) MaSani@regione.emilia-romagna.it  For more information, visit the Learning Museum project website www.lemproject.eu

Design Factors in the Museum Visitor Experience

(Australia)

Research Questions:

·       How do independent adult museum visitors perceive and respond to atmospheric cues (e.g. lighting, colour, layout) in exhibition environments?

·       What are the principal underlying dimensions of visitors’ perceptions of exhibition atmospheres?

·       In what ways does perceived atmosphere influence the visitor experience (as measured through affective, cognitive and behavioural responses)?

Data presentation: Thesis and sequential publication in peer-reviewed literature

Principal researcher: Ms Regan Forrest, PhD Candidate, School of Tourism, University of Queensland (Australia). Advisory team: Dr Jan Packer & Prof. Roy Ballantyne

Principal research site: South Australian Museum

Time span: Data collection 2012-13; thesis submission 2014

Contact information: r.forrest1@uq.edu.au