Research at
Gallaudet University
2005 - 2006

The Roles of Immediacy, Authenticity, and Framing in Informal Learning During Interpreted Performances at Living History Sites

Status: Ongoing Begin date: September 1, 2005 End date: No set date

Description

This is a rapid ethnographic study of nine Eighteenth Century living history sites in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina that involve craft demonstrators. Informal interviews were conducted with site administrators and interpreters at the sites. A visual ethnography using digital images was also done in order to identify the key physical themes of a site. Site documents such as mission statements and site plans as well as formal evaluations of the sites were also reviewed. This project attempts to address several methodological challenges through posing three questions or themes. - How is information presented to the visitor by the site? (Framing) - How and what information is presented in the performance of the interpreter? (Immediacy) - How faithfully do both the site and the interpreter present the information? (Authenticity) Analysis has yielded ten themes related to the physical site and 12 themes related to the performance of the interpreter.

Investigators