What the Volunteer Experience Means to Senior Citizen Science Museum Exhibit Interpreters Grant Williams School of Education University of Massachusetts - Amherst

University of Massachusetts Amherst This study was conducted under the auspices of the School of Education at UMass-Amherst with guidance from Dr. Linda Griffin and Dr. Patt Dodds

Museum of Science - Boston The study was conducted with the gracious assistance of the Museum of Science – Boston and its Senior Interpreters

Introduction Why would retired senior citizens want to volunteer their free time in a science museum and what could they possibly have to offer there anyway??

Research Questions 1) What are the personal meanings and effects on senior citizens of their work as volunteer exhibit interpreters at a science museum? 2) What unique qualities do senior citizens bring to the role of exhibit interpreter at a science museum?

Study Rationale In an aging society in which 85 million, year old baby boomers currently comprise over 25 percent of the total North American population, it is important to start gaining understanding of the impact of such post-retirement volunteer experiences on the quality of life of senior citizens

A Glimpse at the Future In another seven to ten years, there will be unprecedented numbers of senior members of our society who will be prime candidates for this kind of volunteer work

Setting and Participants This study focused on nine senior citizens who regularly volunteer one to two days a week as exhibit interpreters at the Museum of Science in Boston The seniors ranged in age from and consisted of 7 men and 2 women. Ethnically, there were 7 Caucasians and 2 Asians

Data Collection & Analysis

Data Collection The fieldwork and data collection took the following three forms: 1) Personal Interviews 2) Field Notes 3) Document Reviews

Personal Interviews 1) A personal tape recorded interview with each of the participants (approx min. each) broken into three sections: a) The focused life history b) The details of experience c) Reflection on the meaning

Field Notes 2) Written field notes of observations of each of the participants at work. Their verbal and non-verbal interactions with museum visitors, other interpreters and staff were noted with specific reflections on their use of questioning, delivery, timing, humor, facial expression, body position, contact with others, gesturing, etc.

Document Review 3) Review of written documents provided by the Museum of Science. These included: Museum of Science Vision Statement Museum of Science Volunteer Newsletter Museum of Science Volunteer Guidebook List of Online Resources for Volunteer Services

Data Analysis After transcription of the interviews was completed and triangulated with field notes and other documents, the process of creating explicit Categories and subtle Themes was undertaken

Results

Categories Childhood Career Family Science experience Volunteerism

Themes Keeping Active Feeling Appreciated Interaction with Kids Being Challenged Continued Learning Relief from Stress Access to Resources Connection to Science Engaging Others Thrill of Performance Having a Purpose Intellectual Stimulation Peer Socialization Getting out of the House

Many Meanings With Respect to the first purpose of the study, it was determined that the informal science volunteer experience meant many things to the seniors The following slides contain quotes from the interviews to represent these meanings:

Lifelong Love of Science “I can associate with people to whom science is important. I learn something new every time I come here. I'm using some of the knowledge that I have.”

Better than the Sox?? “I’m used to being intellectually stimulated and this keeps it up. Because if you're not, all you're interested in is watching the Patriots and the Red Sox.”

A-Ha Moments!! “The great thing is when you see something in a kid's eyes. A-ha!”

An Oasis “Oh, my - this place is an oasis. It really is. Because when I get home, not only is my daughter ailing, but my wife's having some problems. And I come over here and it gives me an opportunity to do something else that involves kids running around, doing this and that, and people interacting with the people here you know just - something completely different – an escape”

Lessons Learned Each and every one of the nine participants in the study shared a very salient trait as expressed by the following answers to the question, “How old do you feel on the inside?”

I Don’t Feel That Old! “I don't feel that old. I have to keep telling myself that I'm old. There's gotta be aches and pains in places, but I don't feel them.”

I’m Still Learning “My attitude is that I'm in my 40s. I've had experience in life, OK, and I can go ahead and onward. I'm still active, I'm still learning things, OK, I'm not out the in the workplace, but nonetheless, I'm learning things.”

A Shared Quality or a Perk of the Work? In repeatedly hearing this theme of “eternal youthfulness”, one has to ask the question of whether this is simply a shared quality of those seniors who chose to this activity. - or - perhaps it is the activity of informal science education volunteering that has fostered this incredible attitude within them.

Aged to Perfection With respect to the second purpose of the study, it was discovered that senior citizens bring unique and valuable traits and talents to the work of informal science education.

Unique Qualities of Seniors as Informal Science Educators Life Experience Been There Done That Patience for working with the public-kids Time to spend without compromise Knowledge from years of study and work Reflection on the changes they have seen in the world A need to share what they know and care about Lifelong Passion and Love of Science A sense of Humor and Relaxed Attitude

Conclusions This study has brought to the surface many important aspects of the value and importance of senior volunteerism in informal science education. Considering the demographics of North American life and an aging population, this study contributes important information to the understanding of the effects of this type of activity on seniors and the special roles they play within it.

Implications for Science Teacher Education STE programs need to include components focusing on: Informal science education School/ Community Science Collaboration Inter-generational Science Issues Seniors as Science Learners/ Teachers

ASTE-NE Conference October 27-28, 2005 University of Massachusetts - Amherst