Adult learning and prior experience
Adults in museums behave very differently to children. They learn differently too. Image Credit: public-domain.zorger.com
This past weekend I worked as an interpreter for a late night, adult event at THEMUSEUM. I like working with kids in museums, but I enjoy engaging adults too. However, there are distinct differences between teaching grown-ups and kids. Researchers have articulated adult teaching as 'andragogy', different to 'pedagogy' that is teaching children.
Boss battles for science- Talking with the creators of 'Pluto's Revenge'
Credit: Angry Squid GamesROM for the Holidays is in full swing at the Royal Ontario Museum and this year's theme is "Escape from Planet ROM". With a prototype Mars rover from the Canadian Space Agency, a star lab, and earthbound aliens there's something for everyone. But no talk of space exploration is complete without bringing up video games. The ROM game arcade is back and this year the Holiday Space Arcade features five fun space-filled games.
Heatmiser's coming to town...actually it's El Niño
"I'm Mister 'Green Christmas'. I'm Mister 'Sun'." (Credit: Rankin and Bass Productions)
I was out and about yesterday and my goodness it was warm. It got me thinking of having a 'Green Christmas' rather than a 'White Christmas' and that inevitably made me think of Heatmiser from Rankin and Bass' stop-motion Christmas Special "The Year without a Santa Claus".
My 'Star Wars' confession
I have a confession to make. I watched the original Star Wars movies for the first time last Christmas. I had seen them; they were on TV all the time when I was a kid. But I never sat down and intentionally watched them from start to finish. I remembered snippets: Han cutting open the tauntaun on Hoth, Leia killing Jabba the Hut with her slave-chain, the Ewoks celebrating in their arboreal town. I remembered R2-D2 and C-3PO. But the scenes were all jumbled together and in the wrong places and the wrong order.
My partner, B, was horrified when I admitted that I hadn't seen the films, so he went out and bought the DVDs, and we watched them on Christmas Day.
I was delighted by the movies. I grew up with Star Trek (with Picard), and I was used to clean, uniformed officers. I liked the grittiness of Star Wars compared to Star Trek. I marveled at the range of alien races and the breadth of landscapes. From dry, dusty lands to icy wastes to lush temperate rainforests. I'm glad I got a chance to watch the originals all in one go. The story was exhilarating, and I had loads of fun.
Precarious Ecological Moment
Image Credit: Public Domain Image from- A monograph of the Hirundinidae: or family of...