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- Enhancing informal learning in an Aquarium
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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Enhancing informal learning in an Aquarium McIntosh, Lisa M
Abstract
Educators in zoo sand a quaria today present general information in an attempt to educate visitors about animals and conservation issues. This presentation of biological information is isolated from the any observable animal activity in the exhibit. The Vancouver Aquarium has a different approach to visitor learning. This thesis examines one of its innovative approaches to visitor education designed to initiate visitor involvement with animals in the exhibits. This innovative approach uses changeable , handwritten whiteboards to highlight new animal events in the Vancouver Aquarium. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to investigate the effect of these whiteboards on the behaviour of groups of visitors at an exhibit through observations and short group interviews. Sixty-two percent of the visitors observed in the study used the whiteboard. The average time whiteboard users spent viewing the exhibit (57.06 seconds) was significantly greater (t = 36.65, df = 129, p < 0.001) than the time non-whiteboard users spent viewing the exhibit (25.94 seconds). Whiteboard users also exhibited a significantly higher level of interactivity (the number of behaviours , pointing, peering , conversing and rereading the whiteboard an individual demonstrates while at an exhibit) than the non-whiteboard users (X2 = 237.16, p < 0.01). Interview comments revealed that whiteboard users understood the Vancouver Aquarium's intent to convey real, relevant, current and changing information about animals within the exhibits using whiteboards.
Item Metadata
Title |
Enhancing informal learning in an Aquarium
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1996
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Description |
Educators in zoo sand a quaria today present general information in an attempt to
educate visitors about animals and conservation issues. This presentation of
biological information is isolated from the any observable animal activity in the exhibit.
The Vancouver Aquarium has a different approach to visitor learning. This thesis
examines one of its innovative approaches to visitor education designed to initiate
visitor involvement with animals in the exhibits. This innovative approach uses
changeable , handwritten whiteboards to highlight new animal events in the
Vancouver Aquarium. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to investigate
the effect of these whiteboards on the behaviour of groups of visitors at an exhibit
through observations and short group interviews. Sixty-two percent of the visitors
observed in the study used the whiteboard. The average time whiteboard users spent
viewing the exhibit (57.06 seconds) was significantly greater (t = 36.65, df = 129, p <
0.001) than the time non-whiteboard users spent viewing the exhibit (25.94 seconds).
Whiteboard users also exhibited a significantly higher level of interactivity (the number
of behaviours , pointing, peering , conversing and rereading the whiteboard an
individual demonstrates while at an exhibit) than the non-whiteboard users (X2 =
237.16, p < 0.01). Interview comments revealed that whiteboard users understood the
Vancouver Aquarium's intent to convey real, relevant, current and changing
information about animals within the exhibits using whiteboards.
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Extent |
6765484 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-02-14
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0054771
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1996-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.