Training Goals

  • Facilitators will gain an understanding of what NGSS and disciplinary practices visitors might use when interacting with the exhibit space.  
  • Facilitators will practice identifying the practices visitors use for a specific open-ended exhibit and consider how to encourage visitors to engage with varied practices.

Materials

Training Slide Deck: (Link)

Training Guide

Introduce Practices. Welcome participants and explain that they will be working to understand the practices that visitors engage with in your exhibit space. “Practices” are the actions that experts in a field engage in that learners need to develop knowledge around and practice to develop their own expertise. MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, where this training was developed, uses the Next Generation Science Standards’ Science and Engineering Practices as their starting point when considering the practices visitors might engage in.

If the participants are unfamiliar with the NGSS practices, read through them and discuss how these do or do not align with their views of what a scientist/engineer does. To learn more about these practices visit the NGSS website or Appendix on Practices.

Identify Discipline-specific Practices. While the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices are a great place to start, these do not encompass all the practices scientists/engineers use nor are they applicable across all informal learning institutions. As a group, discuss what practices experts in your institution’s disciplinary field use that visitors could also engage with. Below are some examples to help inspire discussion if needed.

               Engineering: Finding connections, Perseverance to achieve a goal, Taking creative risks.

               Outdoor education (i.e., botanical gardens): Exploring natural spaces, Identifying plant structure that leads to plant function.

               Art education: Critically considering the composition and symbolism within a piece, Taking creative risks.

Explore the Exhibits with a Practices Lens. In small groups, ask participants to explore the exhibit space and select an open-ended exhibit to consider. Have them discuss the following questions:

  • What practices could the visitor use at this exhibit?

  • How could a facilitator encourage the use of each possible practice at this exhibit?

After roughly 10 minutes, reconvene and ask participants to share out their experiences and thoughts they had when looking at their respective exhibits.

Connect to PBF. Within Practice-based Facilitation, there are three different facilitation pathways: Change engagement, Expand practices, and Optimize practices. By understanding which practices visitors might engage in at different exhibits, facilitators can intentionally make decisions about how to guide a facilitation interaction to encourage visitors to use a new practice or deepen their engagement with a practice a visitor is already using.

Practice Applying the Practices. Practice identifying practices using the list of practices (NGSS and disciplinary) generated earlier in the training session with the Vignette provided in the slides. Encourage discussion about what practices are being used, what facilitation moves are made to encourage the use of practices, and how might they participants respond similarly or differently.

In small groups again, ask participants to consider a visitor engaging in one of the practices identified earlier at the exhibit they considered. Have them discuss how they might facilitate an interaction to change the practice a visitor is using.

Optional: Have someone in the group role play being a visitor engaging with the exhibit. Ask the other group members to identify which practice the role-player is using and practice facilitating an interaction that encourages them to use a different practice.

Discuss as a whole group how this interaction went, any questions that are still lingering about changing practices visitors are engaging with, and how they might apply this to their own facilitation.

Optional Homework

Participants should spend time on the floor observing visitors and trying to identify the practices that the visitors are using.

Then ask them to try to facilitate at least one interaction by asking a question or set of questions that would help the visitors add a practice they aren't already using. 

Have them reflect on this experience and write up what happened during their facilitation attempts. 

Additional Readings

Science Practices and NGSS: (Link)