Are Science Centers and Theme Parks Merging?
Alan J. Friedman, Ph.D.
Science-technology centers like the New York Hall of Science have enjoyed a near monopoly on providing the public with hands-on learning experiences. In the 1990’s, however, commercial playgrounds are calling themselves “Discovery Zones” and theme parks are offering curriculum guides. “Edutainment” has become a common descriptor of computer games and simulations, and CD-ROMs. The pitch of the edutainment industry is similar to that of any science-technology center: “Come and have a great time and learn a little something too.” Despite the apparent similarities, I believe there are deep, underlying differences between a science-technology center like the New York Hall of Science and our edutainment competitors.
How Do Education and Entertainment Relate?
The first major difference between commercial leisure time programs and science-technology centers is in the relationship they assume between education and entertainment. Both enterprises contain both education and entertainment. But in the edutainment industry, education and entertainment are viewed as opposite ends of a single continuum. The more education you have, by necessity the less entertainment. Edutainments believe they must be much closer to the entertainment end of the chart in order to be successful. If there is to be any education content, it must be sugar coated, diluted with lots of entertainment. In a science center like ours, we do not regard education and entertainment as opposing qualities. the field of play is of two dimensions, not one. If we are clever enough, we can create an experience that’s completely educational and entertaining. Visitors at the New York Hall of Science get fully engaged with our exhibits--whether learning how to build an arch bridge they can walk over, creating giant bubbles, or looking for a pink microbe. They are learning a skill, learning how the laws of nature or the rules of technology operate. But they also find their engagement entertaining. They frown and smile and laugh, and they will tell their friends and neighbors what they achieve. Our basic belief is that learning itself can be entertaining.
Who Manipulates Whom?
A second major distinction is the intended relationship between the exhibit and the visitor. For science centers, the visitor manipulates the exhibit. For theme parks and most edutainment media, the exhibit manipulates the visitor. In a typical successful theme park exhibit, such as EPCOT’s “The World of Motion” in the GeneralMotors Pavilion, visitors are literally on a ride. They sit down on moving chairs, or before a moving stage, and the exhibit controls what they see and hear, and in what order. There are cues when to laugh, when to smile, and when to be surprised. At the New York Hall of Science and other science-technology centers, visitors usually (if not always) determine what they are going to do, in what order, and for how long. Nobody tells you which microscope to look in or how long to look. The theme park strategy guarantees crowd control and a uniform experience for all visitors. By contrast, the science center offers the visitor a wider range of experiences at each exhibit, and some of those experiences will be more satisfactory than others. Our advantage, however, is the possibility of a sense of individual accomplishment when the visitor is finished. One can boast, “I made that arch stand up!” or “Hey come here, let me show you how to do this!”
What’s the Bottom Line?
The bottom line for evaluating commercial enterprises is straightforward: money. A satisfactory return on investment, over both the short and long term, is the critical evaluation tool. For the New York Hall of Science, the financial bottom line may well determine whether we can survive, but finances do not justify that survival. Providing authentic experiences with science and technology; evaluating how much learning and what kind occurs; and being accountable for the learning promised to visitors (especially school groups and teachers)--these goals are the bottom lines for us.
Can We Cohabit with Edutainment?
Theme parks, edutainment products, and science centers are all valuable enterprises, but the basic differences are fundamental, We can cohabit only if we understand and articulate these significant differences, for ourselves and for our public.
Alan J. Friedman, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the New York Hall of Science and a member of ISR’s Advisory Board. This article originally appeared in the Hall’s April-June 1996 newsletter.