Exhibition critique
To the writer:
This assignment is for a Master teaching program in Canada. The course is about teaching and learning science beyond schools. So the course is focused on how to make museum/exhibition more meaningful in Science education. I’ve attached a file “article list”, please choose any 3 articles listed in the table to incorporate it into the body of writing. Please add quotes (page numbers in APA citation) and include citation of it in the body of the paragraphs. You can choose any museum to explore (whether you have visited or not, since you’ll use virtual (i.e. website) information to answer the questions), but please choose the one that you know well enough to do this assignment. For question 4 – I’ve attached the book pdf that you’ll need to use.
Please note this is an analysis + critique.
Assignment Instruction: From the course outline.
Exhibition Analyses and Critique (2,000 words, excluding references or any images you might include)
For this assignment, please locate a science museum exhibition that will allow you to engage in analyses and critique of its content, structure, etc. (you may have visited an exhibition in the past that could be used for this assignment).
Of course, you cannot go in person to see the exhibition, however you may be able to visit virtually (i.e. website). Accordingly, your analyses and critique will be based upon what you can ‘see’ via a virtual visit/search. In addition to going through the exhibition virtually or viewing images, you might be able to learn more about the exhibit by accessing promotional materials, educational guides, etc. through the science museum website and other sites. There may be media releases, and/or professional and academic publications out there as well. All of these resources can help inform your report. If you are looking for some examples of ‘critical’ or ‘agential’ exhibitions, the Pedretti&NavasIannini (2020) book is a good starting place for ideas (e.g., see the coloured plates, index, text, etc.).
Context:don’tneed to writetoomuch for this section. Write more for the analysis + critique part.
- provide the name of the exhibit, where it is located, and a link (feel free to include visuals, images– this may help!).
- Briefly describe the exhibition – what it is about; is it for example, built around an issue, idea,what might visitors expect to see or do while there? Etc.what visitors can do in this exhibition – activities etc) use this page: https://nature.ca/en/teacher-zone/visit-museum
- Why did you choose this particular exhibition?
Talk about why I chose this exhibition as a biology subject teacher candidate. For example – can you explain how I hope to use this exhibition for a field trip in the future and to bring in the curriculum linked to STSE (Science, technology, society and environment education)and ESE (environmental and sustainability education) etc
When you go to this page: https://nature.ca/en/teacher-zone/museum-visit/workshops it has bunch of additional links that will lead you to the specific workshops, activities they offer to students. Can you take some of them to explain the great potential use of this exhibition to teach variety of scientific concepts to students in the classroom.
Analysis and Critique(please incorporate– and cite– three articles from the course that we have read so far). Feel free to use an article from a module we have not yet reached (again, not necessary, but some of you may want to do that). Below are some questions to guide you as you craft your assignment. (you need to seriously read the articles listed in the “articles list” pdf. Please choose 3 articles from the “articles list” pdf and actually read them to write up this content, if you don’t read, you will have no idea how to approach this and end up writing non-sense things)
- Using the exhibition typologies we discussed in week three, what aspects of the exhibition typologies are reflected in the exhibition you chose? Please provide some description of the exhibit where necessary to support your analyses. (refer to this book attached in pdf: Chapter 3 (pp. 48-65). Generations of science museums: Changing roles, changing goals, found in: Pedretti, E., &NavasIannini, A. (2020). Controversy in science museums: Re-imagining exhibition spaces and practice. New York: Routledge. Typologies are noted in page 57-63)
You need to specifically address the six typologies that were listed in the book Pedretti&lannini(2020) that I attached. Page 57-63, it says the six typologies are: 2. According to Pedretti and Iannini (2020) a fourth-generation science museum: choose the typologies that applies to this exhibition (should be more than one) and discuss how this exhibition follows the typologies suggested by the book.
(1) challenges dominant cultural and scientific narratives
(2) brings together various disciplines
(3) recognizes the complex and often messy relationships which co-exist
(4) asks critical questions
(5) invites civic participation, reflexivity, and engagement
(6) works towards agency, and ultimately, social change.
- What do you think are the goals of this exhibit for visitors? What is the messaging??
- How are models of communication being used? In other words, what sorts of things might
visitors (be they the general public, or students) be doing? How does it support (or perhaps not?) deeper visitor engagement?
- Has controversy played a role? If so, in what ways? Again, please provide examples from theexhibit – or related materials you may have found.
- Is there anything that you would like to have seen in the exhibit? (e.g., Lost opportunities for a broader view of scientific literacy? Deeper engagement? Etc.)
- How might you use this exhibition in a teaching context? (very general text here – a grade, a
subject, a unit, 2-3 goals or expectations, and a brief description of what your students might do (although it is a science museum exhibit, it does not necessarily need to be visited by a science class or through a science curriculum! – integration is indeed part of this!). (can you refer to the Ontario science curriculum document – You can use any science units (i.e. SBI3U, SBI4U) listed in the document to answer this question. Talk about as a teacher how will you use this exbhibition to engage student learning etc).
- Other comments or points of analyses?
Criteria:
Keep in mind that this is a graduate level course, and as such, there is no template J. I like to leave room for creativityJ- there is no single way to do the assignment. My grading considers the assignment as a whole, and of course I look for coherence of your critique and analyses, quality of writing, structure of the paper, inclusion of three course articles, flow, logical sequence of sections, plus the usual grammar/spelling etc., adherence to APA and word length (as stipulated in the assignment description).
