Useful Links*
The Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) is dedicated to advancing and improving the practice of informal science education in its many and varied forms—through film and broadcast media, science centers and museums, zoos and aquariums, botanical gardens and nature centers, digital media and gaming, and youth, community and after-school programs.
www.aera.net
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and evaluation and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results. A special interest group (SIG) for Informal Learning Educational Research (ILER) presents VSA-relevant content at the annual conference.
oerl.sri.com
The purpose of this system is to collect and make available evaluation plans, instruments, and reports for NSF projects that can be used as examples by Principal Investigators, project evaluators, and others outside the NSF community as they design proposals and projects. OERL also includes professional development modules that can be used to better understand and utilize the materials made available.
museumstudies.si.edu
The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies (SCEMS) assists the museum community in acquiring and strengthening its understandings and practices of museology. This website is one of the Center’s tools for serving the educational and informational needs of the field.
www.eval.org
The American Evaluation Association is an international professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation, technology, and many other forms of evaluation.
www.informalscience.org
A resource and online community for informal learning projects, research and evaluation. A large searchable database of informal learning research is not limited to science content but includes listings of work conducted in all types of museums and informal learning environments.
www.aam-us.org
AAM is an organization for professionals in museums and museum related fields. Has an annual conference, provides professional development workshops and has an online bookstore of resources. The Committee of Audience Research (CARE) www.care-aam.org focuses specifically on VSA-related issues.
www.astc.org
ASTC is an organization of science centers and museums dedicated to furthering the public understanding of science among increasingly diverse audiences. ASTC encourages excellence and innovation in informal science learning by linking its members and advancing their common goals.
www.big.uk.com
The British Interactive Group (BIG) is a not-for-profit organisation for all people involved in interactive science communication activities and hands-on education projects in the UK.
www.visitors.org.uk
The Visitor Studies Group is a national group of museum professionals that gather to promote visitor studies in the UK. The site includes links to papers and events.
Journals that publish Visitor Studies research:
Curator: The Museum Journal
Science Education
Journal of Museum Education
* A listing here does not imply endorsement by VSA.