Update 8, January 2006

What contributions are science centres and museums making in your community? What best-practice approaches by science centres and museums make a difference to important government agendas such as increasing young people's interest in science careers or communicating challenging science topics to the public? This is a monthly update on a project focusing on such questions in the APEC region.

Best wishes for 2006

We wish all our readers a satisfying and productive year, both personally and professionally

After-school programs in Museums in California USA

A recent ASTC newsletter drew attention to a 20-page evaluation report about a $4 million, four-year project in which 10 Californian museums developed after-school programs. The funding was provided by the San Francisco based James Irvine Foundation, and the report covers project outcomes, evaluation observations, and lessons learned by the schools and museums participating in the project. The programs ‘may well be able to help student thinking skills and behaviours’, but the impacts on formal, in-school performance were less clear-cut. If you have not seen this already download the report (pdf, 1.1 MB).

ASPAC 2006 conference

The annual conference of the Asia-Pacific Network of Science and Technology Centres will be held in Perth, Western Australia, hosted by Scitech for the period 10-13 May. The final day of the conference will focus on the APEC Science Centre Impact Project, in particular the question of how science centres and museums deal with some of the more challenging topics. Visit the conference website for information about the conference, and take advantage of the discounted registration fee that is available until the end of January.

PCST conference

Just a few days after the ASPAC conference finishes, Korea will be hosting the 2006 Public Communication of Science & Technology (PCST) conference. This will be in Seoul, 17-20 May, with the theme ‘Scientific Culture for Global Citizenship’. Visit the conference website.

New on our website

For a summary of what’s new on the website each month, check on the main news page of the site.

Contact

APEC Science Centre Impact Project Secretariat
Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre
King Edward Terrace, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
E apecproject@questacon.edu.au