INFO 284-14
Seminar in Archives and Records Management
Topic: Intepretive Exhibits and Programming in Non-traditonal Spaces
Fall 2016 Syllabus
G. Giglierano
E-mail
Other contact information: available for virtual meetings in Second Life
Office location: Rocca Sorrentina Sim
Office Hours: evenings and weekends by appointment
| Syllabus Links Textbooks CLOs Competencies Prerequisites |
Resources Canvas Login and Tutorials iSchool eBookstore |
Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning August 24th, 6 am PDT unless you are taking an intensive or a one unit or two unit class that starts on a different day. In that case the class will open on the first day that the class meets.
You will be enrolled into the Canvas site automatically.
Course Description
This course will provide students with an introduction to the principles and processes that are essential in museum work, but which also can better equip other professionals including librarians and teachers to design and execute effective, high-quality interpretive exhibits and programming in a variety of spaces and situations. Utilizing both individual and team-based approaches on diverse platforms and “museum without walls” situations, students will interact with experienced museum professionals and educators, and gain experience in conducting project and program planning, assembling and organizing content, carrying out and applying research, organizing and interpreting images and artifacts within a thematic context, creating virtual prototypes, evaluating outcomes, working with varying levels of resources, and establishing collaborative frameworks.
Course content will be suitable and useful for students considering careers in museums and the public humanities, library science, and education. By the conclusion of the course, students will have participated in design and installation of a working example of an online exhibit, a virtual interpretive exhibit or living history environment, design and presentation of an online virtual interpretive program, or design and construction of a virtual prototype for a proposed exhibit in physical space.
Course Requirements
Assignments
- Report on an experience with an interpretive exhibit or program you felt was successful – CLO 4
- Report on a museum experience you felt was unsuccessful – CLO 4
- Draft a proposal for a library exhibit or public program that would be meaningful for the community you live in – CLO 1,2,4
- Identify a real world space that is meaningful to you and summarize the story it represents or the larger theme it illustrates – CLO 1,4
- describe in a short essay an experience that “transported” you in your imagination to a different time and place: either visiting a physical site, reading a book or watching a movie – CLO 4
- Compile a story that is important to you and provides insights into your community, your family or a situation that was meaningful to you – CLO 1,4
- visit either an exhibit or educational environment in SL or another 3-D platform and do a short review of the experience, or visit and review an online interpretive exhibit presented by a museum or archival institution – CLO 1,3,4
- identify and research an object or image that is meaningful to the student, and create a presentation on this artifact or image in the form of a basic sample online exhibit component – CLO 1,2,4
- choose a story or concept to explore and illustrate with a multi-component online exhibit (as a web page or on Youtube) or a virtual immersion exhibit or exhibit prototype to be created within Second Life (or similar 3-D online platform), and generate a brief proposal – CLO 1,2,4
- as a group, create thematic outline for project or program; develop schedule and assign tasks for team members – CLO 1,2,3
- incorporate feedback from the course instructor, other students, and outside subject matter experts (if applicable) – CLO 1,2,3,4
- try to incorporate testing procedures, and develop evaluation plan – CLO 1,2,3,4
- each student will write a paper describing their experience and view of the strengths and weaknesses of the program or project they worked on – CLO 1,4
Course Calendar
| Week | Topic/Activities | Assignments/Projects |
| 1 | Course overview, introductions, and introduction to Museum Interpretive principles and processes (view video lecture followed by asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas) |
Assignment: Report on an experience with an interpretive exhibit or program you felt was successful |
| 2 | Discussion: The traditional Museum – strengths and weaknesses Discussion of students' successful museum experiences, and why those experiences worked (view video lecture followed by asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas) |
Assignment: Report on a museum experience you felt was unsuccessful |
| 3 | Discussion: Finding New Venues for “public conversations” in the physical world such as libraries, or civic and community spaces Discussion of students' unsuccessful experiences why they didn't work (view video lecture followed by asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas) |
Assignment: Draft a proposal for a library exhibit or public program that would be meaningful for the community you live in |
| 4 | Discussion of “Museums without Walls”, including the “city as museum” Discussion of heritage and cultural tour content and delivery systems Discussion of student draft proposals (view video lecture follwoed by asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas) |
Assignment: Identify a real world space that is meaningful to you and summarize the story it represents or the larger theme it illustrates |
| 5 | Discussion of “crossover” programming that incorporates theater, arts, and other disciplines to engage audiences – museum theater, storytelling, first person, living history, etc. Discussion of students' “meaningful spaces” (view video lwecture followed by asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas) |
Assignment: describe in a short essay an experience that “transported” you in your imagination to a different time and place: either visiting a physical site, reading a book or watching a movie |
| 6 | Discussion of student essays: “Transported in time and place” Discussion on the background of immersion environments in museums, and the potential for virtual immersive learning environments in online platforms Discussion of the history and the power of good storytelling and consideration of what makes a “good story” (optional exploration as a group in Second Life taking place in evening hours to accommodate student schedules, AND asynchronous online discussion for entire class conducted through Canvas) |
Compile a story that is important to you and provides insights into your community, your family or a situation that was meaningful to you |
| 7 | Share story assignment (optional) and continue discussion of the importance and significance of stories Discussion on immersion environments: presenting artifacts and images in a context; sharing of impressions by those who took optional visit to Second Life (asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas) |
Assignment: visit either an exhibit or educational environment in SL or another 3-D platform and do a short review of the experience, or visit and review an online interpretive exhibit presented by a museum or archival institution |
| 8 | Discussion of students' immersion environment and exhibit reviews Discussion of construction and use of “online exhibits” including use of artifacts and images – telling a story with “more than words” Exercise: choose an artifact or image from a sample group offered by the instructor, and briefly discuss what you think it represents or its significance; what might be the best venue to present this artifact or image to a general public audience? (asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas and posting of student sample exhibit components on Canvas) |
Identify and research an object or image that is meaningful to the student, and create a presentation on this artifact or image in the form of a basic sample online exhibit component |
| 9 | Review and discussion of students' online exhibit components Discussion of the importance of balancing artifacts, images and storytelling in exhibits (asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas) |
Assignment: choose a story or concept to explore and illustrate with a multi-component online exhibit (as a web page or on Youtube) or a virtual immersion exhibit or exhibit prototype to be created within Second Life (or similar 3-D online platform), and generate a brief proposal |
| 10 | Review and discuss project proposals; vote on top 3 or 4 to execute; divide into project teams; select cooperative work and document-sharing platforms (asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas) |
Create thematic outline for project or program; develop schedule and assign tasks for team members |
| 11 | Review thematic outlines, schedules and assignments Exercise: what challenges and opportunities do the other groups face? (asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas; project team leaders may also schedule an optional progress report session with the instructor on the platform of their choice) |
Continue working on projects and programs |
| 12 | Project progress review with course instructor and outside subject matter experts (if applicable) (Optional live session in Blackboard Collaborate with session shared through Canvas, and asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas) |
Continue working and incorporate feedback from experts |
| 13 | Discussion of challenges and benefits of collaboration; discussion of testing and evaluation (view video lecture followed asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas) |
Continue working – try to incorporate testing procedures, and develop evaluation plan |
| 14 | Initial version of projects go live to be viewed by instructor and other class project teams; discussion of prototyping and evaluation processes; teams provide feedback to each other (information and links to projects will be shared through Canvas; feedback will be discussed asynchronously online through Canvas) |
Incorporate changes or improvements based on evaluation and group feedback |
| 15 | Revised projects go live to be reviewed by instructor and others, and if possible, with general public and ouside subject matter experts also invited to view and offer feedback (information and links to projects will be shared through Canvas; any appropriate and useful feedback that is received will be posted and discussed online asynchronously through Canvas) |
Each student will write a paper describing their experience and view of the strengths and weaknesses of the program or project they worked on |
| 16 | Summary and evaluation – Students will participate in discussion of what they learned or feel they still need to learn more about; course discussion and evaluation (asynchronous online discussion conducted through Canvas) |
Grading
- letter grade is based on completion of all assignments, participation in and thoughtful contributions to all discussions, and participation and level of engagement in group project
Other Relevant Information
The key to this class will be the asynchonous discussions: students may not always have something to offer, but should be reading through each discussion thread and thinking about the points being raised and considered; if you do have a comment or question about something raised in a discussion, please be sure to post it as the quality of the discussion will be enhanced by your contributions. If all your concnerns are covered by questons and comments of other students, please post some akcnowledgement in each thread that you have followed the discussion.
Course Workload Expectations
Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.
Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.
Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.
Course Prerequisites
INFO 284 has no prequisite requirements.
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Identify, understand, and explain significant events through the balanced use of text, artifacts and images.
- Utilize the basic concepts and principles related to the selection, evaluation, and organization of digital items and collections (e.g., selection of images, documents, text, and material culture artifacts that illustrate and support interpretation of content for various audiences).
- Demonstrate communication and collaboration skills necessary to carry out a team-based approach to creation of online exhibits online or a virtual immersion environment.
- Demonstrate communication skills necessary to develop and deliver professional presentations and interpretive content for various audiences.
Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)
INFO 284 supports the following core competencies:
- D Apply the fundamental principles of planning, management, marketing, and advocacy.
- F Use the basic concepts and principles related to the selection, evaluation, organization, and preservation of physical and digital information items.
- H Demonstrate proficiency in identifying, using, and evaluating current and emerging information and communication technologies.
- M Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for professional work including collaboration and presentations.
Textbooks
No Textbooks For This Course.
Grading Scale
The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:
| 97 to 100 | A |
| 94 to 96 | A minus |
| 91 to 93 | B plus |
| 88 to 90 | B |
| 85 to 87 | B minus |
| 82 to 84 | C plus |
| 79 to 81 | C |
| 76 to 78 | C minus |
| 73 to 75 | D plus |
| 70 to 72 | D |
| 67 to 69 | D minus |
| Below 67 | F |
In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:
- C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
- B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA);
For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, BS-ISDA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation. You must repeat the class if you wish to stay in the program. If - on the second attempt - you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified. - A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.
Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).
University Policies
Per University Policy S16-9, university-wide policy information relevant to all courses, such as academic integrity, accommodations, etc. will be available on Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs' Syllabus Information web page at: https://www.sjsu.edu/curriculum/courses/syllabus-info.php. Make sure to visit this page, review and be familiar with these university policies and resources.
In order to request an accommodation in a class please contact the Accessible Education Center and register via the MyAEC portal.
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader to access PDF files.
More accessibility resources.