Museums are used in every discipline to collect, classify, and present information for scientific purposes. They also serve as an effective educational medium. Since the establishment of a boutique anatomy museum at Bahçesehir University, lectures, conferences, and seminars have been organized there over the past four years on the history of human…

Museums frequently default to simple attendance measures to define success, measures that fall well short of the mission impact these institutions seek to have. Mixed methods studies can integrate quantitative and qualitative findings to paint a robust picture of the impact a museum's educational programming is capable of having, although this…

The informal learning environment of the Museum of Science Fiction's "Escape Velocity" event offers an integration of science and science fiction in a variety of activities, talks, events, exhibits, and panels to further attendees' interest. This study examined the efficacy of this event as a learning experience through a survey of…

It is through the collective work of museum educators that an organization grows its social capital in its local community and beyond its physical footprint. Given the significant contributions of museum educators to an institution's outcomes, we argue for a shift in mindset on investing in their growth and development. We share our reasoning for…

Beyond Words: Engaging Young Children and Families in Gallery Education at Tate Liverpool, is a three-year ethnographic case study that explores what happens when preschool children, parents and nursery practitioners from a Sure Start Children's Centre, visit Tate to participate in an extended series of gallery visits and workshops with artists.…

For marginalized girls in developing countries whose life outcomes are threatened by poverty and gender-based discrimination, life skills education can arm them with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to rewrite their futures. Oftentimes, their only access to education is through non-formal spaces provided by non-governmental organizations…

This project sought to understand guest engagement during great ape demonstrations conducted at the "Regenstein Center for African Apes" in the Lincoln Park Zoo. We were interested in how these demonstrations engaged audiences, relative to a non-demonstration-viewing experience, as well as how they compared to each other. In 2012 and…

The theories of cultural reproduction and cultural mobility have largely shaped the study of the effects of cultural capital on academic outcomes. Missing in this debate has been a rigorous examination of how children actually acquire cultural capital when it is not provided by their families. Drawing on data from a large-scale experimental study…

It is generally accepted that intrinsic student motivation is a critical requirement for effective learning but formal learning in school places a huge reliance on extrinsic motivation to focus the learner. This reliance on extrinsic motivation is driven by the pressure on formal schooling to "deliver to the test." The experience of the…

Research suggests that art programs have positive therapeutic effects on children, including improved self-concept. This pretest/posttest intervention study examined changes in self-concept in children (N = 176) who participated in an art program at the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Results indicated significant, positive increases in…

This pilot study aimed at developing and validating an evaluation model to assess the impact of participation in the National History Day in Ohio program (NHD-OH) on students academic achievement and intellectual growth by using as key indicators: a) High-stakes tests, i.e., Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT) in Social Studies, Reading and Writing; b)…

Discusses an 8-year follow-up study to a smoking prevention program for 13- to 15- year-old students, who were taught the skills to resist pressures to start smoking. Consistent evidence of preventive effects was found among those students who had been non-smokers when the program began. (Author/JS)

Examines the growing demand for English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in business and industry. Presents study findings on the characteristics of six ESL programs offered in Fortune 500 companies, identifying factors that commonly facilitate or impede ESL program design. (DMM)

Critically examines a study reporting that children who had attended infant and preschool programs had significantly higher rates of meeting school requirements than did controls, and that IQ measures taken on the same subjects showed large initial gains which vanished five years after preschool completion. Includes rebuttal by original…

There are three main parts to this report of a study that used case studies to showcase the different approaches used to encourage more continuing training within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the European Union (EU). Section 1 discusses the importance of funding training in SMEs and highlights the various types of funding…