Engage Families

Encouraging family learning in museums and libraries

  • Family Learning
    • What It Is
    • Why It’s Important
    • The Family Audience
    • Resources
  • Exhibits
    • Design Strategies
    • Drafting Text
    • Steal This Idea
    • Resources
  • Programs
    • Setting Goals
      • Actively Engaging All Ages
      • Content and Learning
    • Design Strategies
      • Authenticity
      • Distinctiveness
      • Relevance and Connections
      • Environment and Set Up
      • Setting Expectations
      • Inclusionary Design for Everyone: Flexibility and Access
      • Encouraging Conversation
      • Layering Content
      • Fun & Play
      • Continuing the Experience
    • Facilitation
      • Establishing Engagement
      • Maintaining Engagement
      • Maximizing Engagement
      • Conclusion: Ending on a High Note
      • Hiring and Training Facilitators
    • Steal This Idea
    • Resources
  • Evaluation & Prototyping
    • Evaluation
    • Exhibit Prototyping
    • Program Prototyping
    • Revising Programs
    • Resources
  • About
    • 2013-2016 Engage Families Project
    • 2004-2011 Family Learning Project
    • Contact Us
Home / Archives for demographics

Growing Young Minds: How Museums and Libraries Create Lifelong Learners

Growing Young Minds: How Museums and Libraries Create Lifelong Learners

This report by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) issues a call to action for everyone to utilize museums and libraries which provide quality and effective early learning opportunities for children. This publication focuses on the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading which promotes reading proficiency for low-income students. The report provides examples and success […]

Filed Under: Why It's Important Tagged With: children, children's learning, demographics, formal learning, getting to know your audience, informal learning, libraries, literacy

Museums as Social Learning Spaces

Museums as Social Learning Spaces

Museums as Social Learning Spaces (article and video presentation), by Lynn Dierking, describes the socio-cultural context of museums (and learning!), advocates for museums as places of social interaction and meaning-making for visitors, and argues that museums see themselves as valuable in supporting social outcomes for individuals and groups. She wonders how museums can support the cultural […]

Filed Under: Why It's Important Tagged With: adding value, being a community resource, demographics, evaluation, facilitation, getting to know your audience, informal learning, interactions, meaning-making

Pew Research on the American Family Today

Pew Research on the American Family Today

The Pew Research Center compiles and makes available demographic data on the American public, including education, family structure, and information on other social trends that may be of interest to museums and libraries as they learn more about their own communities.

Filed Under: Understanding Families Tagged With: demographics, getting to know your audience

Evaluation Can Be Fun

Evaluation Can Be Fun

Marianna Adams of Audience Focus Inc., reflects on some of the problems with traditional evaluation and suggests more imaginative options. Surveys and written questionnaires are the most common but not always the best instrument for capturing the nuances of the visitor experience. Surveys can interrupt the experience for visitors, so Adams walks us through some […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: adult learning, art museums, demographics, evaluation, examples success stories and tips, getting to know your audience, methodology, programs

Designing Exhibitions to Support Families’ Cultural Understandings

Designing Exhibitions to Support Families’ Cultural Understandings

  Family learning theory assumes that learning occurs during people’s interactions, particularly in their conversations. This assumption has guided the design of museum exhibitions intended to engage families. Suzanne Gaskins complicates this picture

Filed Under: Understanding Families Tagged With: demographics, exhibit design and development, exhibits, getting to know your audience

Understanding Today’s Families

Understanding Today’s Families

The USS Constitution Museum team describes today’s Generation X families and the challenges they present to history museums.

Filed Under: Understanding Families Tagged With: authenticity, demographics, getting to know your audience, hands-on, history museums

Engage Families

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Engage Families is a project of the USS Constitution Museum
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Funding for Engage Families is provided by the Institute of Museum & Library Services
IMLS

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