The experience of reviewing many stimulating and useful books and articles in this field has led us to continue to post an "editor's pick" as suggested reading. We will continue to change our editor's pick quarterly.
The editor's pick for the first quarter of 2000 is:
- Daedalus Summer 1999 Special Issue "America's Museums," vol. 128. 3.
The editor's pick for the first quarter of 2000 is a special issue of Daedalus on "America's Museums." This issue provides a unique opportunity to reflect on the state of museums, with wide-ranging essays about the history of American museums as well as social and economic changes currently affecting museums. Many of the articles include examples and case studies of controversial issues, and emerging theoretical directions for museum practice, providing a useful and highly readable primer of issues affecting the museum field. Representing a diverse sample of the museum field, contributors include, Stephen Weil, Elaine Heumann Gurian, John Falk, Neil Harris, Susanna Sirefman, Victoria Newhouse, Bonnie Pitman, Charles Correa, and Chon A. Noriega.
The editor's pick for the fourth quarter of 1999 is:
- Callanan, M.A., Shrager, J., & Moore, J.L. (1995). Parent-child collaborative explanations: Methods of identification and analysis. Journal of Learning Sciences, 4 (1), 105-129.
The authors describe methods for analyzing parent-child explanations in the context of everyday conversation. The research, which was conducted in the homes of the participants, contributes to the literature on learning in informal environments, and connects to the MLC theme of explanatory engagement.
The editor's picks for the third quarter of 1999 are:
- Borun, M., Chambers, M., & Cleghorn, A. (1996). Families are learning in science museums. Curator, 39(2), 124-138.
- Borun, M., & Dritsas, J. (1997). Developing family-friendly exhibits. Curator, 40(3), 178-196.
- Borun, M., Chambers, M.B., Dritsas, J., and Johnson, J.I. (1997). Enhancing family learning through exhibits. Curator, 40(4), 279-295.
For the third quarter of 1999 we have chosen a set of articles that connect to the MLC theme of learning environments. An integral feature of the museum as a learning environment is its exhibits. The articles by Minda Borun and her colleagues describe the Philadelphia-Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative (PISEC)'s Family Learning Project, a three-phase endeavor which tackled the question of behavioral indicators for family learning, then built on this research to enhance exhibits, and finally, investigated the relationship between enhanced exhibits and performance indicators for learning.
Previous editor's picks:
Parsons, M. J. (1987a). How we understand art: A cognitive developmental account of aesthetic experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Roberts, Lisa. (1997). From knowledge to narrative: Educators and the changing museum. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
Wallace, M. (1996). Mickey Mouse history and other essays on American memory. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (1992). The Museum Experience. Washington, DC: Whalesback Books.
Doering, Z. D., & Pekarik, A. J. (1996). Questioning the entrance narrative. Journal of Museum Education, 21(3), 20-22.