Written by: 5th World Congress Blogger
6/17/2008 1:28 PM

This session focused on the direct interface, human to human, and the importance of training and motivations for effective floor staff. Panelists and congress delegates agreed that staff who interact directly with the visitors are very important to the visitor experience.

Convenor Tengku Nasariah Ibrahim (PETROSAINS, Kuala Lumpur) started the session by presenting a three-step program developed to train and retain floor staff at their facility. During the first year staff are introduced to the mission and vision, learning theory, science training, programs training, introduction to the exhibits/content. After one year they can progress to the experience stage in which they have individual development plans. There are three parts: functional (which pertains directly to the job), developmental (which adds to personal growth and skills development), and supplementary (which enhances their general knowledge). After a number of years staff can progress to the mastery level in which they continue to develop their skills but also take on the role of training others. Within the floor staff group, which they call facilitators, is a new program called wonderology.

Paola Rodari, of THE (Thematic Human interface and Explainers) Group, shared the results of a study funded by the European Union called the DOTIK (the Slovenian word for contact). It identified that we use many titles for our floor staff and they have many different duties. “Their (the floor staff) role is more and more crucial because science communication is more and more based on dialogue.”

This project was two years in length and was designed to test methodologies in training.  Like many projects it started with a survey: collecting data on who worked as floor staff, the ratio of floor staff to visitors, the training staff receive. Results of the survey and information about the program can be found through, http://medialab.sissa.it/THE. Floor staff from around the EU were sent to participate in training programs. One of the interesting points that she shared was the response to defining a professional profile for floor staff. The benefit of a definition is a key understanding of their role. The problem with defining the role is that it may be stuck being just that and the reality is that the role of floor staff is ever changing and specific to environments. These discussions continue with the development of the THE group.

Chantal Barriault described the importance of including learning theory as well as evaluation skills for any staff working on the floor from volunteer to full-time scientist.  What does learning look like? An evaluative tool created by Chantal as her master’s thesis using basic observation skills to note the actions of the visitors categorizes them into three types of learning behaviours: Initiation – such as doing the activity or watching others, Transition – such as an emotional response or repeating the activity and Breakthroughs – such as seeking additional information or acknowledging relevance.  Being able to measure the level of learning creates a feedback mechanism to then make changes to the exhibit, re-evaluate and change again.

Each of these programs stressed the importance of floor staff training as a method not only to prepare them for working in the museum but also as a tool for self-improvement and motivation.

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