Questionnaires; Science Education

The competence of interpreters, so called "docents," influences visitors ' learning in museums. The study reported in this paper investigated 16 interpreters ' perceptions about: the educational goals of the science museum in Taiwan, the function of the interpreter in the science museum, the requirements for a competent interpreter, and the interpreter as a professional using open-ended questionnaires, follow-up interviews, and observation from the interpretation. Results indicate that interpreters believe that the goal of the-science museum was mainly to transfuse scientific knowledge to visitors. Although instructional skills were employed to motivate museum visitors, most of the interpreters did not consider the importance of affective objectives in informal science learning. Interpreters also thought that science museums should build firm relationships with the public and the school systems and that they could become more professional. Problems regarding training policy, welfare, and job descriptions are discussed. An open-ended quettionnaire about interpreter's perceptions of museum education is appended. Contains 5 tables and 16 references. (Author/JRH) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original dccument