Making Math (More) Fun for Museum Visitors

As I've been working on exhibit installations and new museum building (re)opening at The Discovery Museums in Acton, MA, I've been thinking about how to present and interpret different bits of content -- like MATH.

Lots of people claim to "hate" math topics, but I've recently fallen down the rabbit hole of Numberphile, a great math-oriented website and related YouTube channel filled with all sorts of clever ideas that should be of interest to educators and exhibit designers alike.

One of the things I like best about the Numberphile videos is that each mathematician is so enthusiastic, you can't help but get excited and interested in things like "circle inversions" that you might not have even given a passing thought to before.

While I've honestly enjoyed every Numberphile presenter I've seen, some are particular standouts.

Tadashi Tokieda often relates his math talks to toys or familiar materials.  Here's a video (embedded below or on YouTube) that shows all the fun topological ways to play with a strip of paper, some paper clips, and rubber bands.

Hannah Fry is a funny presenter who often ties the mathematics of game theory to real life situations like winning Rock, Paper, Scissors (video below or on YouTube) or Secret Santa, or making the best online dating profile.

If you are a bit "math shy" or even an avowed mathphobe, click on over to Numberphile!  I'm sure you will find something to pique your interest there.


Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

President Trump is No Friend to Museums (or Libraries, or PBS, or NASA ...)

Follow the money.  As with any budget, you can tell a lot about the interests and priorities of the White House by looking at their latest proposed budget.

While lawmakers are unlikely to enact most of Trump's proposal, here’s a direct look at some of the pages from the FY 2019 Budget that proposes to eliminate the primary government agencies that fund museums and cultural agencies.

IMLS

NEH

NEA

The proposed FY 2019 Budget also calls for the elimination of PBS and the NASA Office of Education, as well as agencies like the National Wildlife Refuge Fund and the Chemical Safety Board.

Just because the current President is a short-fingered vulgarian doesn't mean that the United States government should not support arts, culture, and science.

Please contact your Representatives and Senators in Washington to tell them that a great country does not eliminate support for agencies like IMLS, NEA, NEH, and PBS.



Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

What If You Evaluated EVERY Part Of Your Museum Every Day?

What if you evaluated EVERY part of your museum every day?  That was the question I asked myself after reading this NewYorker magazine article about the Finnish company HappyOrNot.

These "frictionless" 4-button terminals let people leave feedback without even breaking stride. And HappyOrNot's terminals have already been installed in more than a hundred countries and have registered more than six hundred million responses --- in airports, gas stations, shoe stores, you name it.

While this happy/sad button approach seems incredibly simple (if not downright simplistic) the article is filled with direct business changes and improvements that were made due to the data generated by the HappyOrNot terminals.

And again it makes me wonder what would happen to a museum if you scattered these 4-button wonders throughout your exhibit galleries and near your gift shop, your bathrooms, your cafe?
And if not HappyOrNot terminals how can cultural institutions generate more real-time visitor feedback to improve visitor satisfaction?

Does this seem like an interesting idea or a hare-brained pipe dream?  Are there any museums currently using HappyOrNot terminals.? Give us YOUR feedback in the Comments Section below!



Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)