My narrative case study focuses on how one family uses the exhibitions and educational resources at the Denver Art Museum. I gathered stories of the family’s experiences at the museum in order to determine what their choices reflected about their family values and how they integrated those experiences into their daily lives. This study draws upon socio-cultural and constructivist learning theories by proposing that each family member contributes their prior knowledge and life experiences to the process of making meaning and drawing connections within the art museum. Moreover, even though the family acted as a social learning group, each member constructed personal knowledge in different ways from their shared experiences. I used narrative analysis and coding as means to interpret the meanings of the family’s stories. In addition to identifying the family’s values regarding art museum learning, findings pointed to the imperative need for museum educators to address preparing adult learning partners for visits to art museums with children. The lack of current research pertaining to family learning in art museums was a chief motivator for conducting this study (Sterry & Beaumont, 2006). Research of family interactions in museums has largely focused on non-art museums (Borun, 2002; Borun et al., 1998; Ellenbogen, Luke, & Dierking, 2007). Family art museum experiences are distinct and should be studied separately from those in other types of museums. Research, such as this study, that look specifically at how families use art museum exhibitions and educational resources will address the lack of literature and emphasize the value of art museum experiences for life-long family learning. / text

This study explores the part that child-orientated exhibitions play in the child and family museum experience. Such exhibitions are characterised by their distinctive approaches to learning, interpretation, and design, being especially devised for children. The research was carried out in children's galleries from three types of museum (a maritime museum, a science museum, and a children's museum) in order to compare and contrast similarities and differences between them. Since most of the research in this area has been carried out in science centres or science museums, there is a need to explore the situation in child-orientated exhibitions and compare it to studies carried out in other informal learning settings. Understanding the qualities of their experience in a child-orientated exhibition which children and families value and why and how design and interpretation decisions may affect family behaviour, perceptions, and learning, will enable educators, museum designers and other museum professionals to plan more responsive and meaningful child-centred exhibitions. Children from seven to eleven years old and their accompanying adults were considered in this study. The research involves both qualitative and quantitative approaches and the use of different methods of investigation, such as face-to-face interviews with children and an adult relative; unobtrusive observation of family group interactions at three exhibits in each gallery; and collection of children's drawings about their favourite exhibit in the galleries. The sample sizes for each investigation varied: 150 families, totaling 300 individuals, were interviewed (150 adults and 150 children); 450 different family groups were observed at the galleries (150 in each gallery); and 120 children's drawings were collected. The guiding principle was to adopt an holistic approach to the situation under investigation, taking into consideration Falk & Dierking's interactive museum experience model (Falk & Dierking, 1992), which considers the personal, social, and physical contexts of a museum visit. Findings from the observations indicated gender effects in adult splitting behaviour from the family group at exhibits according to family members joint-activity compositions, and that differences in exhibit design/tasks affected adult manipulation of hands-on exhibits and the level of proximity between family members. Nine attributes from attractive child-orientated exhibits were drawn from the observed exhibits: element of fun, challenging situation, element of surprise, child-sized exhibit design, imaginative design, opportunity for experiencing things, opportunity for role play, interactive machine/game, and teamwork. The analysis of the children's drawings revealed that drawings can be a valuable source of information about children's interactions with hands-on exhibits and can be used to assess children's understanding of exhibits through the depiction of the exhibit outcomes. The interview data was analysed qualitatively (inductive content analysis) and statistically (chi-squared tests). The analysis of the open-ended interview questions indicated that adult relatives were enthusiastic about the opportunity for the children to interact with exhibits and perceived the hands-on gallery approach as motivating to the child with regard to learning. Children perceived the exhibitions as exciting places and reported positive feelings. A few children mentioned negative feelings, which were related to problematic exhibit design. The majority of children said that they prefer to visit museums in a family context rather than in a school context. The statistical analysis of the closed questions indicated twenty-two significant associations between the adults' and children's interview variables, related to adults' and/or children's age, gender, education, perceptions, behaviour, preferences, visiting habits, and type of museum, supporting the notion that personal, social, and museum aspects affect the child's and adult's museum experience, perceptions and learning. Children's perceptions of their learning in the galleries were found to be affected by the time spent in the gallery, the type of museum, the accompanying relative, and the child's preference for the social context of the museum visit. This investigation provided new insights into the study of galleries designed for children, and has demonstrated that child-orientated exhibitions have features which positively affect the child and family museum experience, that children do perceive that they are learning in this environment, and that it is a effective catalyst for family social activity. Therefore, child-orientated exhibitions are a valuable museum provision for the child and family audiences.

This thesis examined an interactive, intergenerational gallery entitled MoMA Art Lab: People, located within the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. It is composed of various stations that visitors can explore, which include activities appropriate for people of all ages. The motivation for this research came after noticing a lack of family programming in art museums that truly engaged both the adults and children in family groups. Often the children would be active but the parents would sit passively nearby. This was not the case in the MoMA lab, where people of varying ages interacted with both the stations and each other as they explored the activities. This study sought to focus on the aspects of the lab that most often led to the engagement of adults who visited the lab as part of an intergenerational group. In order to examine possible reasons why the lab was able to engage adults, I conducted a case study that involved observing nine groups who entered the lab, interviewing seven of them, and also interviewing five educators in the Family Programs department who held significant roles in the development and running of the lab. The findings revealed that the aspects of MoMA Art Lab: People that most engaged adults were stations focused on art-making and were designed in a way conducive to conversation. / text

Abstract Nature-based tourism and wildlife tourism are becoming increasingly popular worldwide and are often promoted as a means of protecting and preserving environmental resources. These forms of tourism are usually accompanied by interpretation such as signs, presentations and activities specifically designed to raise visitors‟ awareness of, and concern for, environmental issues. The rationale behind this approach is that enhancing visitors‟ environmental knowledge, understanding and attitudes prompts the adoption of environmentally responsible behaviours. This is supported by a growing body of research that suggests that environmental interpretation has considerable potential to impact upon visitors‟ conservation knowledge and attitudes, and that well-designed interpretive experiences and messages are an effective means of reducing a range of negative „on-site‟ behaviours such as littering, straying from walkways and feeding wildlife. However, there has been little exploration of whether environmental interpretation influences the uptake of conservation practices „off-site‟ or how the positive impacts of nature-based tourism can be maintained over time. Until recently, tourism research exploring post-visit behaviour has used visitors‟ immediate post-visit intentions as a measure of behaviour change. There is increasing evidence, however, that stated intentions to engage in conservation behaviours rarely manifest as actual behaviour, and that visitors‟ on-site enthusiasm and commitment tends to wane following their visit. The current research aimed to investigate whether providing visitors with post-visit support in the form of learning materials and reminders would prevent this decline and enhance long-term conservation learning (hereby defined as knowledge, attitudes and behaviour). This research explores short and long-term changes in families‟ conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour following their visit to Mon Repos Conservation Park, a world renowned turtle rookery in Queensland, Australia. Stage one of the study involved surveying 100 Australian families to identify barriers and benefits associated with six conservation practices (re-using containers, buying minimal packaging, reducing use of plastic bags, picking up litter, recycling and composting). Using Community-based Social Marketing theory, responses informed the development of printed and online post-visit action resources specifically designed to reinforce the wildlife tourism experience and support families‟ conservation learning. Resources focused on the six conservation behaviours outlined above but also included other environmental activities and conservation information of relevance. v In stage two, two hundred Australian families visiting Mon Repos in December 2007 and January 2008 were sampled and assigned to either a treatment group (provided with post-visit action resources and regular contact) or the control group (no post-visit support). All families were asked to complete pre-visit, post-visit and follow-up questionnaires to enable the researcher to ascertain short-term and long-term changes in their conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and to identify factors contributing to the uptake of off-site conservation practices. The final sample comprised the one hundred families who completed all three questionnaires. Comparisons between responses of the control and treatment groups revealed that post-visit action resources reinforced respondents‟ knowledge of threats to turtles and enhanced their attitudes towards protecting wildlife and the natural environment. Families who received post-visit support were also significantly more likely to pick up litter and introduced more conservation actions than those who did not receive this support. Aspects of the post-visit action resources that were particular effective were updates of turtle activity at Mon Repos, emails, fact sheets and the newsletter. Other factors that prompted the adoption of conservation practices included Mon Repos‟ interpretation and the opportunity to view wildlife in its natural surroundings. The influence of other family members and pre-visit knowledge and interest were also found to be associated with subsequent uptake of conservation behaviours. Implications for wildlife interpretive practice and the design and delivery of post-visit support are discussed and recommendations for future research presented.

Abstract Nature-based tourism and wildlife tourism are becoming increasingly popular worldwide and are often promoted as a means of protecting and preserving environmental resources. These forms of tourism are usually accompanied by interpretation such as signs, presentations and activities specifically designed to raise visitors‟ awareness of, and concern for, environmental issues. The rationale behind this approach is that enhancing visitors‟ environmental knowledge, understanding and attitudes prompts the adoption of environmentally responsible behaviours. This is supported by a growing body of research that suggests that environmental interpretation has considerable potential to impact upon visitors‟ conservation knowledge and attitudes, and that well-designed interpretive experiences and messages are an effective means of reducing a range of negative „on-site‟ behaviours such as littering, straying from walkways and feeding wildlife. However, there has been little exploration of whether environmental interpretation influences the uptake of conservation practices „off-site‟ or how the positive impacts of nature-based tourism can be maintained over time. Until recently, tourism research exploring post-visit behaviour has used visitors‟ immediate post-visit intentions as a measure of behaviour change. There is increasing evidence, however, that stated intentions to engage in conservation behaviours rarely manifest as actual behaviour, and that visitors‟ on-site enthusiasm and commitment tends to wane following their visit. The current research aimed to investigate whether providing visitors with post-visit support in the form of learning materials and reminders would prevent this decline and enhance long-term conservation learning (hereby defined as knowledge, attitudes and behaviour). This research explores short and long-term changes in families‟ conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour following their visit to Mon Repos Conservation Park, a world renowned turtle rookery in Queensland, Australia. Stage one of the study involved surveying 100 Australian families to identify barriers and benefits associated with six conservation practices (re-using containers, buying minimal packaging, reducing use of plastic bags, picking up litter, recycling and composting). Using Community-based Social Marketing theory, responses informed the development of printed and online post-visit action resources specifically designed to reinforce the wildlife tourism experience and support families‟ conservation learning. Resources focused on the six conservation behaviours outlined above but also included other environmental activities and conservation information of relevance. v In stage two, two hundred Australian families visiting Mon Repos in December 2007 and January 2008 were sampled and assigned to either a treatment group (provided with post-visit action resources and regular contact) or the control group (no post-visit support). All families were asked to complete pre-visit, post-visit and follow-up questionnaires to enable the researcher to ascertain short-term and long-term changes in their conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and to identify factors contributing to the uptake of off-site conservation practices. The final sample comprised the one hundred families who completed all three questionnaires. Comparisons between responses of the control and treatment groups revealed that post-visit action resources reinforced respondents‟ knowledge of threats to turtles and enhanced their attitudes towards protecting wildlife and the natural environment. Families who received post-visit support were also significantly more likely to pick up litter and introduced more conservation actions than those who did not receive this support. Aspects of the post-visit action resources that were particular effective were updates of turtle activity at Mon Repos, emails, fact sheets and the newsletter. Other factors that prompted the adoption of conservation practices included Mon Repos‟ interpretation and the opportunity to view wildlife in its natural surroundings. The influence of other family members and pre-visit knowledge and interest were also found to be associated with subsequent uptake of conservation behaviours. Implications for wildlife interpretive practice and the design and delivery of post-visit support are discussed and recommendations for future research presented.

Abstract Nature-based tourism and wildlife tourism are becoming increasingly popular worldwide and are often promoted as a means of protecting and preserving environmental resources. These forms of tourism are usually accompanied by interpretation such as signs, presentations and activities specifically designed to raise visitors‟ awareness of, and concern for, environmental issues. The rationale behind this approach is that enhancing visitors‟ environmental knowledge, understanding and attitudes prompts the adoption of environmentally responsible behaviours. This is supported by a growing body of research that suggests that environmental interpretation has considerable potential to impact upon visitors‟ conservation knowledge and attitudes, and that well-designed interpretive experiences and messages are an effective means of reducing a range of negative „on-site‟ behaviours such as littering, straying from walkways and feeding wildlife. However, there has been little exploration of whether environmental interpretation influences the uptake of conservation practices „off-site‟ or how the positive impacts of nature-based tourism can be maintained over time. Until recently, tourism research exploring post-visit behaviour has used visitors‟ immediate post-visit intentions as a measure of behaviour change. There is increasing evidence, however, that stated intentions to engage in conservation behaviours rarely manifest as actual behaviour, and that visitors‟ on-site enthusiasm and commitment tends to wane following their visit. The current research aimed to investigate whether providing visitors with post-visit support in the form of learning materials and reminders would prevent this decline and enhance long-term conservation learning (hereby defined as knowledge, attitudes and behaviour). This research explores short and long-term changes in families‟ conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour following their visit to Mon Repos Conservation Park, a world renowned turtle rookery in Queensland, Australia. Stage one of the study involved surveying 100 Australian families to identify barriers and benefits associated with six conservation practices (re-using containers, buying minimal packaging, reducing use of plastic bags, picking up litter, recycling and composting). Using Community-based Social Marketing theory, responses informed the development of printed and online post-visit action resources specifically designed to reinforce the wildlife tourism experience and support families‟ conservation learning. Resources focused on the six conservation behaviours outlined above but also included other environmental activities and conservation information of relevance. v In stage two, two hundred Australian families visiting Mon Repos in December 2007 and January 2008 were sampled and assigned to either a treatment group (provided with post-visit action resources and regular contact) or the control group (no post-visit support). All families were asked to complete pre-visit, post-visit and follow-up questionnaires to enable the researcher to ascertain short-term and long-term changes in their conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and to identify factors contributing to the uptake of off-site conservation practices. The final sample comprised the one hundred families who completed all three questionnaires. Comparisons between responses of the control and treatment groups revealed that post-visit action resources reinforced respondents‟ knowledge of threats to turtles and enhanced their attitudes towards protecting wildlife and the natural environment. Families who received post-visit support were also significantly more likely to pick up litter and introduced more conservation actions than those who did not receive this support. Aspects of the post-visit action resources that were particular effective were updates of turtle activity at Mon Repos, emails, fact sheets and the newsletter. Other factors that prompted the adoption of conservation practices included Mon Repos‟ interpretation and the opportunity to view wildlife in its natural surroundings. The influence of other family members and pre-visit knowledge and interest were also found to be associated with subsequent uptake of conservation behaviours. Implications for wildlife interpretive practice and the design and delivery of post-visit support are discussed and recommendations for future research presented.

Abstract Nature-based tourism and wildlife tourism are becoming increasingly popular worldwide and are often promoted as a means of protecting and preserving environmental resources. These forms of tourism are usually accompanied by interpretation such as signs, presentations and activities specifically designed to raise visitors‟ awareness of, and concern for, environmental issues. The rationale behind this approach is that enhancing visitors‟ environmental knowledge, understanding and attitudes prompts the adoption of environmentally responsible behaviours. This is supported by a growing body of research that suggests that environmental interpretation has considerable potential to impact upon visitors‟ conservation knowledge and attitudes, and that well-designed interpretive experiences and messages are an effective means of reducing a range of negative „on-site‟ behaviours such as littering, straying from walkways and feeding wildlife. However, there has been little exploration of whether environmental interpretation influences the uptake of conservation practices „off-site‟ or how the positive impacts of nature-based tourism can be maintained over time. Until recently, tourism research exploring post-visit behaviour has used visitors‟ immediate post-visit intentions as a measure of behaviour change. There is increasing evidence, however, that stated intentions to engage in conservation behaviours rarely manifest as actual behaviour, and that visitors‟ on-site enthusiasm and commitment tends to wane following their visit. The current research aimed to investigate whether providing visitors with post-visit support in the form of learning materials and reminders would prevent this decline and enhance long-term conservation learning (hereby defined as knowledge, attitudes and behaviour). This research explores short and long-term changes in families‟ conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour following their visit to Mon Repos Conservation Park, a world renowned turtle rookery in Queensland, Australia. Stage one of the study involved surveying 100 Australian families to identify barriers and benefits associated with six conservation practices (re-using containers, buying minimal packaging, reducing use of plastic bags, picking up litter, recycling and composting). Using Community-based Social Marketing theory, responses informed the development of printed and online post-visit action resources specifically designed to reinforce the wildlife tourism experience and support families‟ conservation learning. Resources focused on the six conservation behaviours outlined above but also included other environmental activities and conservation information of relevance. v In stage two, two hundred Australian families visiting Mon Repos in December 2007 and January 2008 were sampled and assigned to either a treatment group (provided with post-visit action resources and regular contact) or the control group (no post-visit support). All families were asked to complete pre-visit, post-visit and follow-up questionnaires to enable the researcher to ascertain short-term and long-term changes in their conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and to identify factors contributing to the uptake of off-site conservation practices. The final sample comprised the one hundred families who completed all three questionnaires. Comparisons between responses of the control and treatment groups revealed that post-visit action resources reinforced respondents‟ knowledge of threats to turtles and enhanced their attitudes towards protecting wildlife and the natural environment. Families who received post-visit support were also significantly more likely to pick up litter and introduced more conservation actions than those who did not receive this support. Aspects of the post-visit action resources that were particular effective were updates of turtle activity at Mon Repos, emails, fact sheets and the newsletter. Other factors that prompted the adoption of conservation practices included Mon Repos‟ interpretation and the opportunity to view wildlife in its natural surroundings. The influence of other family members and pre-visit knowledge and interest were also found to be associated with subsequent uptake of conservation behaviours. Implications for wildlife interpretive practice and the design and delivery of post-visit support are discussed and recommendations for future research presented.

No description available.

What is the nature and purpose of Family Learning? The discourses relating to how a strong home-school relationship affects attitudes to Lifelong Learning and the impact of paternal involvement in young children's development have been well researched and document clear links and positive, enduring benefits for families and professionals. In spite, or perhaps because of this focus, the means by which these connections are achieved and maintained remains less well explored. The issues that need addressing now are more tangible challenges, such as: what does good practice look like, who decides which notions are consolidated, when and why? Coupled with questions such as how do we get more fathers more involved and what will enable these relationships to flourish, this research reports on the initial findings from a small-scale exploratory inquiry, conducted as part of a professional doctorate, which considers a possible approach to these issues. It is an illuminative case study, located within an interpretive research paradigm, based on ontological assumptions of empowerment and emancipation for participants. A sociocultural epistemology informs and frames the work. The study sets out to explore the value and potential of Family Learning as a means of focused intervention in response to the questions raised, whilst also examining and increasing awareness of the issues involved, as seen by participants, to facilitate the expression of paternal agency and voice within the research process. The data collection, conducted over a period of six months, focuses on an existing Fathers’ Group, as they participate in a Family Learning project. It seeks to establish the nature and purpose of this type of provision, by clarifying the processes, outcomes and determinants of involvement through the eyes of the fathers, as they define and ultimately come to terms with their own identity and roles, in relation to their young children's development. The research centres on two workshops supported by several participant-led focus meetings. Two semi-structured staff interviews offer insight into the role that both professional and personal cultural and historical understandings of Family Learning play in the process, whilst the data analysis illuminates and describes the relationships between parents and practitioners, policy and pedagogy. The research observations could be used to inform approaches to both the establishment and the development of individual, personalised family frameworks for Lifelong Learning. The findings may also contribute towards a fresh perspective and offer creative approaches for professionals, in which pedagogical practice is not pre-determined but constantly evolving, on an equal and collaborative basis, between professionals and participants. This study offers a critical examination of grassroots Family Learning in practice. It is firmly embedded within and responsive to the needs of its local community. It aims to provide independent evidence to reinforce and extend the current knowledge base and ultimately, to maintain, strengthen and expand the connections between Family and Lifelong Learning.

The following qualitative study sought to answer three questions: (1) What are the high priority design values used by expert exhibit developers to create meaningful exhibits at children's museums? (2) How do exhibit developers prioritize these design values? (3) What are the desirable outcomes that exhibit developers seek to achieve with the guests who interact with the exhibits? These questions were answered through interviews with children's museum exhibit developers, personal observations, and artifact analysis. The data collected was organized into four cases, each representing a different children's museum and corresponding exhibit developer. The cases were then compared against each other using multiple case study analysis as described by Stake (2006). The data revealed that most of the developers designed exhibits which promoted family learning by encouraging meaningful interactions between parents and children. Other high priority design values used by exhibit developers included physical engagement, multiple entry points, simplicity, durability, multisensory engagement, staff and volunteer facilitation, safety, and immersive environments. Successful museum exhibits empowered guests and were always created using multiple design values. This thesis may be downloaded for free at http://etd.byu.edu.