Beautiful guides. The value of explainers in science communication
During the last annual conference of ECSITE (European Collaborative for Science and Technology Exhibitions; Helsinki, June 2005), for the first time two discussion sessions were devoted to explainers, the innumerable people – young students mainly – who welcome visitors at exhibitions, museums and festivals, who animate laboratories and science shows, who guide, explain and lately also stimulate and manage discussions and participatory procedures. Thanks to the involvement of the speakers, who agreed to submit a broadened version of their papers, JCOM is glad to host the proceedings of these meetings. A great deal has to be done yet in order to analyse the complex European context and to fully understand the explainer’s professional profile.
Before analysing the role of the mediators in relation to scientific education, I deem it important to provide a short overview on how …
Should explainers explain?
One of the most common, and probably one of the crucial questions about science centers and interactive exhibitions is often phrased as “Ok, …
Techniquest was established in 1986, and in 1995 moved to its current premises at Cardiff Bay, South Wales. This was the first purpose-built …
Hiša Eksperimentov (The House of Experiments) is a very small science centre. We are situated in the centre of Ljubljana, the capital of …
Heureka is situated in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. Every year, on average, 300.000 visitors come to Heureka; it is one of the largest …
Literature review
Few research studies have been conducted on the interpreter’s role in a Science Centre. Although the importance of this role is always stressed …