John Veverka & Associates

An introduction to planning and presenting live interpretive programs and tours for Museum/Heritage Site Docents and Volunteers.

 

12 Units - 1.5 CEU credits. $50.00

This course is especially designed for Museum/Heritage Site  volunteers and docents who have a passion for sharing their love of history, art, nature or other topics with visitors to their particular site, and provide their services on a volunteer basis.  

Many of the docents I have had the pleasure of providing training workshops for are retired teachers, historians, naturalists or others with a desire to instill that love of their subjects with the visitors they meet and guide and really like connecting with people of all ages.

This would be a great course for docents/volunteers working in:
- Museums
- Zoos
- Historic homes and gardens
- Science museums
- Botanical Gardens and Arboretums
- Heritage attractions and facilities.

Meet me here on YouTube for a brief course introduction: https://youtu.be/3KAKj9x0YeM


About the Instructor: Prof. John Veverka




- B.S and M.S in Heritage Interpretation - The Ohio State University (Taught a course on
 Interpretive Master Planning - wrote the first Interpretive Planning Text book).
- Ph.D. program in Interpretation at Michigan State University.  (Taught introduction and
 advanced interpretive courses including interpretive planning units.)
- Adjunct Professor Heritage Interpretation (summer heritage tourism institutes) North
 Carolina State University, New York State University.
- NAI Certified Interpretive Planner and Trainer
- NAI Fellow
- Certified Professional Heritage Interpreter (Canada).
- Author of several interpretive planning/training college text books.
- Publisher of InterpNEWS - the International Heritage Interpretation e-Magazine.
- 40 years of interpretive planning, training and writing experience.


Course Goals: Upon completion of this course participants will:

- Have a working knowledge of Tilden's Interpretive Principles.
- Have a working knowledge of the Model of Interpretation for program planning.
- Will have developed proficiency in:
  * Developing an writing interpretive themes for tours or programs.
  * Developing and writing interpretive objectives (learn, feel, do).
  * Develop skills in understanding how visitors learn and remember in recreational settings.
  * Develop a solid understanding of the interpretive planning process for live/conducted interpretive  tours
     or programs.
  * Acquire practical applications of interpretive program and tour presentation skills.
  * Simple techniques for evaluation (self-evaluation) of interpretive programs and services you present.
- Have the skills to present truly "interpretive" tours and programs that Provoke, Relate and
 Reveal your stories and topics in magical and memorable ways.

This course consists of 11 Units, each of which will has a project or assignment associated with it.  Assignments will be sent directly to the course instructor for review and, if necessary, any coaching.  As a e-LIVE course you can talk with Prof. Veverka via e-mail, SKYPE or phone to discuss any assignments or concepts.

Course Units Include:

Unit 1 - How visitors learn and remember in a recreational learning environment.

Unit 2 - Ten Learning Concepts to use for your tour planning.

Unit 3 - Definitions, Theories and Objectives of  Interpretation.   

Unit 4 - What makes the communication "Interpretive" - a review of Tilden's Interpretive Principles.

Unit 5 - The model of interpretive communications (we use it for planning any/all interpretive programs,  services or activities).

Unit 6 - Developing your interpretive program or tour objectives.

Unit 7 - Developing your tour or program interpretive theme.

Unit 8 - Understanding your visitors - who are they, what do they hope to gain from your program or
           interpretive services?  Maslow's Hierarchy  of Needs.  Developing a quick visitor profile and analysis.

Unit 9 - Live Interpretive Program/tour delivery planning:  Developing your interpretive  program planning
           form and check list.

Unit 10 - using tangibles and intangibles and universal concepts in your interpretive presentation
             to better relate to your visitors.

Unit 11 - self evaluation check list.  How do you know you accomplished your objectives?

Unit 12- what's next - professional organizations, conferences, books and courses.  What's your game plan
            for using the knowledge an stills you gain in this course to keep learning more, and sharing your
            skills with others?


Estimated time to complete this course is 20 hours.

When will the course start?  You can start this course at any time and work at your own pace.  It is estimated that it will take about 20 hours to complete this course.  The cost of the 20 hours of training is $50.00 USD, which can be paid for by credit card or PayPal using the Pay Now button below.

As the course is limited to 10 participants at one time,  if you would like to see if the course has current openings or have us send you the course Registration Form, or  if you have any questions at all please feel free to ask: jvainterp@aol.com