Visitor Sites Research Articles

Overview of the geology, paleontology, and geoscience education opportunities of the University of Tennessee at Martin Coon Creek Science Center for visitors, researchers, and docents

The Coon Creek Formation is an internationally recognized Upper Cretaceous (Campanian, 76 million-years-old) marine clastic lagerstätten deposit with over 500 identified species of nearly perfectly preserved invertebrates, vertebrates, plants, and trace fossils with original shell geochemistry and paleoecological fidelity preserved. The type-locality and type-section, located in rural McNairy County, Tennessee, was preserved for research and education in 1988 when the Memphis Pink Palace Museum constructed a 232-acre geoscience education facility on the site, now run as the University of Tennessee at Martin Coon Creek Science Center. Visitors to the site participate in a wide variety of geoscience education programming and citizen science research that is based upon open-ended inquiry methodology. On the occasion of the 46th Biennial Convention, hosted at the site by the Eta Alpha Chapter of Sigma Gamma Epsilon (SGE), this paper summarizes the overall geologic setting, general paleontology, geoscience education history, and opportunities of the site for SGE field trip participants, potential researchers, visitors, and potential interns. Additionally, this paper highlights some of the numerous geoscience education programs for docents and research opportunities available for geology students who wish to participate in ongoing research at the site.

Communication with international visitors

Abstract According to Statistics Estonia, in 2022, there were 170 museums in Estonia with 277 visitor sites, all of which contribute to preserving, shaping, and communicating our memory and identity, translating our culture to the people of Estonia and international visitors alike. Among European countries, Estonia has the most museums per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2022, nearly 2.5 million people visited museums, which makes 1,769 attendances per 1000 inhabitants. Museum translation is integral to translation studies but has not been thoroughly studied in Estonia. The article attempts to reflect on the communicative potential of interlingual translation in the University of Tartu Museum, using the concepts developed in museum translation research. Estonia is an interesting case for discussion because, while it is a country with a very small population, it is a multilingual country, where about 30% of the population do not speak Estonian as their first language. As a small and multilingual country, museums cannot rely on Estonian-speaking visitors only; they also depend on foreign visitors. The research objective is to find out how the University of Tartu Museum communicates with visitors who do not understand Estonian and what communicative strategies have been used in the past.

Systematic conservation planning for Antarctic research stations

The small ice-free areas of Antarctica are essential locations for both biodiversity and scientific research but are subject to considerable and expanding human impacts, resulting primarily from station-based research and support activities, and local tourism. Awareness by operators of the need to conserve natural values in and around station and visitor site footprints exists, but the cumulative nature of impacts often results in reactive rather than proactive management. With human activity spread across many isolated pockets of ice-free ground, the pathway to the greatest reduction of human impacts within this natural reserve is through better management of these areas, which are impacted the most. Using a case study of Australia's Casey Station, we found significant natural values persist within the immediate proximity (<10 m) of long-term station infrastructure, but encroachment by physical disturbance results in ongoing pressures. Active planning to better conserve such values would provide a direct opportunity to enhance protection of Antarctica's environment. Here we introduce an approach to systematic conservation planning, tailored to Antarctic research stations, to help managers improve the conservation of values surrounding their activity locations. Use of this approach provides a potential mechanism to balance the need for scientific access to the continent with international obligations to protect its environment. It may also facilitate the development of subordinate conservation tools, including management plans and natural capital accounting. By proactively minimising and containing their station footprints, national programs can also independently demonstrate their commitment to protecting Antarctica's environment.

Still on UNESCO’s “Tentative List of World Heritage”? Heritage, Tourism, and Stunted Growth in Sarnath (Varanasi), India

It is not unusual for a place to wait for years before being inscribed on the World Heritage List, but Sarnath—the place where the Buddha delivered his first sermon—has been on UNESCO’s “tentative list” for close to 25 years. As a sacred place for Buddhist pilgrimages, Sarnath continues to attract thousands of visitors annually and yet, remains under-developed, unlike other pilgrim towns or religious tourism destinations. This paper examines the reasons for the stunted growth of Sarnath. The findings are based on fieldwork conducted in Sarnath in 2019. The analysis of stakeholder interviews suggests several reasons for Sarnath not being able to capitalize on its religious and cultural heritage for tourism-led development. It was found that the protection of the site as an archaeological park by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which has been controlling development surrounding the park as well as prohibiting the performance of any rituals, have been the key endogenous factors that have contributed to the relative under-development of a Buddhist pilgrimage economy in the town. A handful of monasteries are where Buddhist followers stay and perform their pilgrimage rituals, rendering them as enclaves. Private-sector accommodation is also limited to around 15 hotels and guesthouses. Administratively, Sarnath does not have an independent governance structure. It is governed as just one ward (an electoral constituency) by the Municipal Corporation of Varanasi and is, thus, always under the shadow of Varanasi city. Varanasi is one of the most significant Hindu sacred cities and, hence, visitors stay there for much longer durations to soak in cultural offerings, including religious ceremonies around the Ganga River; a visit to Sarnath is secondary and often limited to a half-day tour. Moreover, the archaeological park at Sarnath serves a recreational purpose as a picnic site for domestic visitors. The exogenous factors mean that the interests of Sarnath (as a Buddhist site) are hardly acknowledged by the Hindu city of Varanasi. This paper argues that the multi-layered contestations that exist at the site level, the town–ward level, and between visitors and managers have further contributed to the poor state of heritage and tourism in Sarnath.

Behaviour change interventions to facilitate forest trail users’ biosecurity compliance

Natural resource management can struggle with increased visitation that inadvertently deteriorates the environment. In Aotearoa New Zealand, visitors to kauri forests are spreading a lethal soil pathogen resulting in cultural and conservation risk. While public awareness of kauri dieback disease is growing, compliance at hygiene stations has not similarly increased. To overcome this apparent knowledge-behaviour gap, five interventions (ambassadors, normative messaging, watching eye effect, hazard perception, and pledge board) were evaluated for their impact on visitor compliance with footwear/equipment cleaning behaviour. Behavioural observations (n = 10,536) and intercept surveys (n = 3,061) were collected. Ambassadors resulted in increased compliance for both visitors and local trail users. The pledge board resulted in increased compliance for local trail users only and normative message increased compliance at one visitor site. Hazard perception and watching eye resulted in a decrease in compliance behaviour. This research demonstrates the need for careful assessment of interventions designed to mitigate the impacts of visitors to conservation areas. The success of the ambassador intervention, the pledge board for locals and, to a lesser extent, the normative message at one location, offer field-based empirical evidence supporting the use of social norms in communication approaches aimed at influencing visitor behaviour in natural resource settings.

Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine. Sustainable Tourism Developments in an Early Industrial Landscape

SummaryIwami Ginzan Silver Mine is located in Shimane Prefecture, Western Japan, and consists of urban and mining areas. The historic town, Ōmori, developed in the early modern period (1573–1868) in conjunction with the exploitation of the silver mine. The archaeological remains comprise mine shafts, tunnels and workshops, located in a forested mountainous landscape. Although ideal for hiking or trekking, the area slopes upward within a narrow valley making the whole area difficult to access for satisfactory and inclusive sightseeing. The significant increase in visitors that followed the inscription of this area onto the World Heritage List (2007), was short-term but exacerbated the issue. After some trials and errors, a sustainable, effective and safe solution for access to the site for both inhabitants and visitors is now underway, taking advantage of a newly established governmental grant scheme for “green slow mobility” linked to the Internet of Things (IoT) technology.© The Author 2023

The cost of not acting: Delaying invasive grass management increases costs and threatens assets in a national park, northern Australia

Globally, invasive grasses are a major threat to protected areas (PAs) due to their ability to alter community structure and function, reduce biodiversity, and alter fire regimes. However, there is often a mismatch between the threat posed by invasive grasses and the management response. We document a case study of the spread and management of the ecosystem-transforming invasive grass, Andropogon gayanus Kunth. (gamba grass), in Litchfield National Park; an iconic PA in northern Australia that contains significant natural, cultural and social values. We undertook helicopter-based surveys of A. gayanus across 143,931 ha of Litchfield National Park in 2014 and 2021–2022. We used these data to parametrise a spatially-explicit spread model, interfaced with a management simulation model to predict 10-year patterns of spread, and associated management costs, under three scenarios. Our survey showed that between 2014 and 2021–22 A. gayanus spread by 9463 ha, and 47%. The gross A. gayanus infestation covered 29,713 ha of the total survey area, making it the largest national park infestation in Australia. A. gayanus had not been locally eradicated within the Park's small existing ‘gamba grass eradication zone’, and instead increased by 206 ha over the 7-year timeframe. Our modelled scenarios predict that without active management A. gayanus will continue spreading, covering 42,388 ha of Litchfield within a decade. Alternative scenarios predict that: (i) eradicating A. gayanus in the small existing eradication zone would likely protect 18% of visitor sites, and cost ∼AU$825,000 over 5 years – more than double the original predicted cost in 2014; or (ii) eradicating A. gayanus in a much larger eradication zone would likely protect 86% of visitor sites and several species of conservation significance, and cost ∼AU$6.6 million over 5 years. Totally eradicating A. gayanus from the Park is no longer viable due to substantial spread since 2014. Our study demonstrates the value of systematic landscape-scale surveys and costed management scenarios to enable assessment and prioritisation of weed management. It also demonstrates the increased environmental and financial costs of delaying invasive grass management, and the serious threat A. gayanus poses to PAs across northern Australia.

Cryptic fungal diversity revealed by DNA metabarcoding in historic wooden structures at Whalers Bay, Deception Island, maritime Antarctic.

We provide the first assessment of fungal diversity associated with historic wooden structures at Whalers Bay (Heritage Monument 71), Deception Island, maritime Antarctic, using DNA metabarcoding. We detected a total of 177 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) dominated by the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierellomycota, Chytridiomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Rozellomycota, and Zoopagomycota. The assemblages were dominated by Helotiales sp. 1 and Herpotrichiellaceae sp. 1. Functional assignments indicated that the taxa detected were dominated by saprotrophic, plant and animal pathogenic, and symbiotic taxa. Metabarcoding revealed the presence of a rich and complex fungal community, which may be due to the wooden structures acting as baits attracting taxa to niches sheltered against extreme conditions, generating a hotspot for fungi in Antarctica. The sequences assigned included both cosmopolitan and endemic taxa, as well as potentially unreported diversity. The detection of DNA assigned to taxa of human and animal opportunistic pathogens raises a potential concern asWhalers Bay is one of the most popular visitor sites in Antarctica. The use of metabarcoding to detect DNA present in environmental samples does not confirm the presence of viable or metabolically active fungi and further studies using different culturing conditions and media, different growth temperatures and incubation periods, in combination with further molecular approaches such as shotgun sequencing are now required to clarify the functional ecology of these fungi.

Travertine cascades

Travertine is widespread in karst terrains, and less so elsewhere, and some of its varieties constitute spectacular landforms, many of which become popular visitor sites for geologists and non‐geologists alike. Among the many forms of travertine, barrages are the most spectacular, especially where they still have streams or rivers cascading over them. Carbonate travertine is polygenetic, both chemical and organic, and both karstic and geothermal, with a full range of sites between those extremes.

Behavioural responses of two penguin species to human presence at Barrientos Island, a popular tourist site in the Antarctic Peninsula region

AbstractVisitor Site Guidelines are the principal instruments guiding tourist activities and behaviour at intensively visited sites. These instruments attempt to minimize tourist impacts on Antarctic wildlife, including penguins. However, some recommendations still need to be reinforced by empirical research. Although penguins have enjoyed considerable research attention, a knowledge gap still exists regarding penguins' behavioural responses to realistic tourist activities, including talking sound, viewing distance and movement speed. To fill this gap, we conducted a series of experiments to simulate these activities on two penguin species breeding at an intensively visited site during the 2019–2020 season. We performed 106 replicates of passive and active human presence treatments. Responses varied between species, but active human presence consistently triggered significantly higher responses of strong vigilance behaviour. Our results reinforce Visitor Site Guidelines' recommendations of keeping quiet, moving slowly and increasing viewing distance if changes in behaviour are observed. We also recommend adopting a more conservative viewing distance in the early breeding season. Additional management-orientated empirical studies are needed, including on different species, sites and stages of the breeding season, as such results are valuable for strengthening tourism guidelines and assessing the efficacy of management measures under a post-COVID-19 scenario of increasing Antarctic tourism.

Ethical Considerations Associated with the Display and Analysis of Juvenile Mummies from the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily

The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo (Sicily) are a unique and culturally rich site utilized from the late sixteenth to mid-twentieth century. The Catacombs are home to the largest collection (n = 1,284) of partly or completely mummified remains in Europe, and the largest assemblage of juvenile mummies (n = 163) in Sicily. As a result, the site attracts thousands of visitors every year. This raises a number of ethical concerns in terms of the preservation, display, and scientific analysis of these mummies. This article will investigate the ethical challenges associated with the display and analysis of juvenile mummified individuals in the Capuchin Catacombs. Initially, ethical issues that arise when displaying mummified children at a visitor site will be explored. Subsequently, the value of adopting non-invasive techniques to answer highly focused, ethically grounded research questions will be addressed. Furthermore, this article will demonstrate the importance of transparent, open dialogue with religious groups and cultural heritage bodies in the study of juvenile mummies. Recommendations for best practice are provided at the end of this paper. These guidelines aim to ensure that juvenile mummies are displayed and analysed appropriately, whilst simultaneously respecting the beliefs and wishes of the living and deceased.

Minimizing tourist impact on the Argentine Islands ecosystem, Antarctic Peninsula, using visitor site guidelines approach

There has been an ongoing increase in tourist visits to the Antarctic since 2010. These visits primarily concentrate on a small number of sites, increasing the possible environmental impact. One of the tourism hotspots is the central Argentine Islands in Wilhelm Archipelago. These islands, being one of the top 20 most visited Antarctic sites, consist of Galindez Island, Winter Island, and Skua Island. They are known for wildlife, rich vegetation (old moss banks, rich bryophyte and lichen communities, Antarctic pearlwort Colobanthus quitensis and hairgrass Deschampsia antarctica populations), spectacular views. They include one of the oldest Antarctic research stations: the Ukrainian Antarctic Akademik Vernadsky station. Previously no measures have been developed to minimize the impact of tourism on this region. Thus, the Visitor Site Guidelines (VSG) approach and the numerous studies in the region were used to determine the central values of this site and to identify those key features that can be opened for tourists. In addition to the most frequently mentioned values, such as seabirds and mammals, we considered it necessary to mention the vegetation. We assessed threats to these values, distinguishing known and potential impacts. We have also analyzed and developed landing requirements for the studied area, including the most critical requirement to be considered, namely the number of visitors. We think that the maximum number of visitors should be 36 at any time and 270 per day, not counting passengers of yachts. This is the first time that the Visitor Site Guidelines were modified to limit the number of yachts visiting the site to three yachts per day. To reduce the tourist load at the station itself and at the same time to concentrate tourists in the studied region, we proposed two tourist trails: one for Galindez Island, the other — the existing trail for Winter Island. The prepared draft of Visitor Site Guidelines is given in Appendix 2.

Uncovered pathways: Modelling dispersal dynamics of ship‐mediated marine introduced species

Abstract Marine traffic is the main vector for marine non‐indigenous species (NIS) that may hitchhike in ballast water tanks or attached to vessel hulls. Understanding marine traffic dynamics and estimating the associated risk of NIS dispersal reveals points of leverage for preventive NIS management. This study presents a method to quantify the risk of ship hull fouling‐mediated NIS dispersal and identifies main dispersal hubs in marine traffic networks. We use the Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR) as a case study to test the applicability of this method. Ship position data derived from the automatic identification system (AIS) served as a basis for a network consisting of nodes (moorings and anchorages) and edges (ship routes). Wetted surface areas (WSA) describe the parts of vessel hulls submerged by water and were used to parameterize dispersal risks of individual vessels. We combined the constructed network with a numeric dispersal model and sequentially removed network elements to test their effectiveness on decreasing the overall dispersal capacity. Marine traffic hotspots, such as ports and popular marine visitor sites, represented the main dispersal hubs and incoming edges into the GMR crucial links for the overall dispersal capacity. The removal of passenger vessels had the strongest effect on the overall dispersal capacity, reducing it to 1%. Based on our findings, we suggest management recommendations to curb the spread of marine NIS in the GMR, including the implementations of (a) vessel hull controls at main dispersal hubs (ports); (b) species monitoring programmes at popular marine visitor sites and (c) hull husbandry regulations for passenger vessels. Synthesis and application. In an increasingly connected world, the development of risk assessments for marine non‐indigenous species (NIS) dispersal is a crucial step towards the sustainable use and protection of marine ecosystems in Galapagos and other places. The presented methodology is solely based on the pathway component and thus applicable to any place with available ship position data. Therefore, it may provide useful baseline information for preventive measurements especially in places where ecological data about NIS are scarce.

Museum translation as a political act: narrative engagement for affective experiences in the War and Women's Human Rights Museum in Seoul

ABSTRACT Featuring both collective memories and individual stories of trauma, the War and Women's Human Rights Museum in Seoul serves as a site for visitors to learn about and experience the history, generate emotional responses to, and to shape their ethical outlooks. However, the role of translation as it is used for the benefit of international visitors, who most likely will have different mind-sets and cultural backgrounds from native Koreans, has not been examined to date. Therefore, drawing on Arnold-de Simine's ‘memory museums’ and Landsberg's ‘prosthetic memory’, triangulated with questionnaire surveys, this study examines the role of the English translations of the audio guide in the museum. This study ultimately argues that translation, in tandem with both a museum's narrative construction and its display strategy, can be a catalyst for reconfiguring public narratives about past events and the victims of them, by involving visitors in active social engagement.

Assessing the conservation values and tourism threats in Barrientos Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Antarctica has been witnessing continued growth of tourism, both in the overall visitation and in the diversity of itineraries and visitor activities. Expanding tourism presents unique business and educational opportunities, but it is also putting immense pressure on Antarctica's natural, and for the most parts, pristine environment. Understanding the effectiveness of different tourism management strategies and instruments, like the Visitor Site Guidelines adopted by the Antarctic Treaty, is fundamental to the sustainable management of Antarctic tourism. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Visitor Site Guidelines and other tourism management actions in reducing impacts to the natural environment and for this, we used Barrientos Island as our case study as this is one of the most popular sites for tourism activities in the Antarctic Peninsula Region. First, we conducted a literature review and biological inventories to enable a thorough description of Barrientos Island's ecological values. The results show that Barrientos Island occupies the third highest biological richness among the top 15 most visited sites in the Antarctic Peninsula Region. We then assessed how tourism use on Barrientos Island affected biodiversity and the environment, and how Visitor Site Guidelines and other management measures helped alleviate these impacts. As intended, these instruments has been positive and valuable by providing operational guidance. However, they may lack significant information for tourism decision-making processes. To this end, we propose an alternative adaptive management approach that can more efficiently conserve biodiversity and environmental values while allowing the development of sustainable tourism activities in Antarctica.

Some Notes on Maintaining Authenticity in the Presentation of Archaeological Sites in Bulgaria

We present the challenges facing Bulgarian experts in finding the balance between preserving the authenticity of archaeological structures and their context, and turning them into a comprehensible and attractive visitor site. Thanks to European funding over the past ten years, a number of projects have been implemented in Bulgaria for conservation, restoration, exhibition and public presentation of archaeological heritage, where the main aim is to achieve a complete visitor product. The economic and social effect, on the one hand, has a positive impact as an inspiration for archaeological research and the popularisation of this type of cultural heritage, but has led to a compromise of the scientific value at some sites. We note some examples to illustrate the combined role of experts, participants and stakeholders in their 'reading' and 'translating' the archaeology – seeking to generate interest, clarify and convey the experience of 'genius loci'. The role of the state in the management of archaeological heritage is examined through its different governmental levels and interaction. The requirements imposed by legislation and practice are also observed. First, the development of the archaeological heritage conservation system in Bulgaria will be briefly reviewed, its current state of the processes, its actors and the interactions between them, the positive and the negative aspects, and, in more detail, the problems we face in preserving authenticity while turning the archaeological site into an attractive one. Then we focus on our main topic; the authenticity and the attractiveness of archaeological sites in Bulgaria.

Результати дослідження фауни вогнівок (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) природного заповідника «Михайлівська цілина»

Studies of the night butterflies fauna of the «Mykhailivska tsilyna» reserve were fragmentary until 2000. The species composition of the most groups of these butterflies is still unexplored. A number of papers, including Klyuchko Z.F., contain information about Noctuidae family of that locality. Based on our research, the total list of Noctuidae species of the reserve includes 91 species, which is almost 50% of the potential in the region. In addition to the butterflies of the bombicoid complex, the fauna of Gelechiidae moth was also studied (14 species) on the territory of the reserve, as well as a number of night butterflies families, including Pyralidae moth. The study of pyralid moths species composition of the «Mykhailivska tsilyna» reserve was started in 2002 and continued in 2018. The aim of this work was to continue the study of butterflies fauna of the territories of the «Mykhailivska tsilyna» reserve in 2019 under the program of the Research Laboratory «Monitoring of Populations of Animals and Plants of Sumy Region». Pyralid moths were collected during three expeditionary trips: May 2-4, July 19-21 and September 6-8,2019 inthe village Velyki Luky on the estate site for visitors of the reserve (50 ° 44′44 ″ N, 34 ° 9′48 ″ E). With the onset of twilight (21.00-21.30) 2 arc-mercury lamps of 250 W were switched on (on July 19-21 and September 6-8, another lamp was replaced with a more powerful one - 500 W). Lamps were fixed at a height of 2-2.5 mfrom the ground surface against white screens. Caught butterflies were immediately placed in mordants filled with ethyl acetate. At dawn (4.00-5.00) the light was switched off. Insects were mounted on entomological needles or inserted into mattresses for further determination. Butterflies were also collected by the manual method at the day-to-day locations (vegetation, trunks and stumps, fences, walls of buildings, warehouses, etc.). Thus some species that did not fly into the light were collected. We also managed to collect material at points where it was impossible to use the light of the lamps. Species identification was performed by external morphological features, in particular wing pattern and genital apparatus preparations. In total, in 2019, 360 species of night butterflies were collected in the reserve, and about 100 of which were pyralid moths. Thus there were detected 44 species of pyralid moth from 6 subfamilies. 11 species of them are indicated for this territory for the first time. The generalized list (taking into account previously published data) of pyralid moths in the territory of the «Mykhailivska tsilyna» reserve is 78 species. In 2019, the list was supplemented by 11 species: Synaphe punctalis , Sciota rhenella , Eurhodope rosella , Isauria dilucidella , Anagasta welseriella , Cadra furcatella , Scoparia subfusca , Agriphila poliellus , Pyrausta purpuralis , Uresiphita gilvata , Phlyctaeni a coronata . It is worth noting that A. welseriella , a common species in southernUkraine, was found inSumy region for the first time.

Evaluation of two outreach tools, an educator program and a mobile tidepool exhibit, in reducing deleterious visitor activities and raising marine protected area awareness in rocky intertidal ecosystems of southern California, USA

Rocky intertidal habitats in urbanized settings, such as in southern California, USA, are heavily perturbed by human visitors (tidepoolers) through the deleterious activities of collecting, handling, and trampling. To protect rocky intertidal biota, certain locations have been designated as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), yet MPA status can be ineffective when public knowledge of regulations is low and regulations do not protect flora and fauna from the impacts of handling and trampling. To help reduce detrimental activities of visitors, propagate environmentally-safe tidepooling behaviors, and increase public knowledge of MPA regulations, two outreach tools were instituted in southern California, USA: 1) an education program whereby trained educators are on-site, interacting with the public and educating visitors about MPA regulations, and 2) the ISOpod (Interactive Sealife Outreach pod) vehicle, a mobile tidepool exhibit parked near the site for visitors to observe organisms in a controlled setting and where MPA awareness is emphasized. To determine if these tools were effective in reducing deleterious activities, visitors were discretely observed at two sites, counted, and placed into behavior categories under four scenarios based on combinations of the presence and absence of both the ISOpod and educators. A questionnaire was conducted at one site to determine if MPA regulation and conservation knowledge increased with public interaction with outreach programs. The ISOpod and, in part, educators were effective in reducing the frequency of individuals engaged in detrimental activities. This occurred despite high MPA awareness of visitors, which was further increased by public interaction with the ISOpod. Results from this study suggest that outreach programs focused on conservation education can be effective options to assist with protection of coastal ecosystems.

Envisioning Ambiances of the Past

Outdoor museums of archaeological excavations function as sites of both scientific research and public display. Often, long-term archaeological research means postponing the preparation of the site for visitors. This paper focuses on digital tools for the representation of architectural reconstructions, i.e. possibilities for representing a range of hypotheses regarding the past ambiances of the ancient city. It proposes an augmented immersive revisit of the cultural heritage through mobile devices. Based on mobile phones’ current technical capacities, which enables rendering of 3D content combined with camera input, we developed the proposed mobile AR application for mobile Android devices. TeosAR offers a real-time, in-situ 3D depiction and visualization of architectural artifacts of the ancient city implementing model-based tracking methods.

Characterising patterns of engagement of different participants in a public STEM-based analysis project

ABSTRACTA STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) analysis project undertaken in the context of a historic visitor site is described. The project offered different types of opportunity for scientific working, and involved four distinct groups of participants. Two distinguishing features of the different groups of participants were their primary motivation for engagement with the activity, and their level of previous engagement with formal STEM education. Participants in different parts of the project were assessed as to their level of science capital (Archer, L., Dawson, E., DeWitt, J., Seakins, A., & Wong, B. (2015). Science capital’: A conceptual, methodological, and empirical argument for extending bourdieusian notions of capital beyond the arts. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52, 922–948). Drawing upon engagement theory, the observable behaviours were used as an indicator of engagement and then categorised according to (Barriault, C., & Pearson, D. (2010). Assessing exhibits for learning in science centres: A practical tool. Visitor Studies, 13(1), 90–106) taxonomy. The analysis showed that learner engagement was exhibited at different levels by the different categories of participants, with higher levels of engagement exhibited by participants with a higher level of science capital. Although there was general correlation between the level of science capital and the proportion of higher engagement learning behaviours, one group of participants deviated from this trend. The findings indicate that the level of science capital is a key determinant of engagement and associated learning behaviours, but did not completely account for participants’ engagement in the science outreach activity.