The Catalyst: The Newsletter for Interpretation in California State Parks

Lessons from BIGI 13 True learning happens through community, not through top-down instruction. The Basic Interpretation for Guides and Interpreters (BIGI) training has always embraced a community learning style. In this January’s offering of the class, participants grappled with the tough stuff of our past, shared ideas and insights, and left the week feeling energized and empowered. Here are but a few of the tips and tricks that emerged from the BIGI community.    Gamify Your Program  In an age of apps and smartphones, everything from banking, to tracking your likes or dislikes of coffee, tea, and beer, offers a badge, ribbon, or some other electronic accolade. That’s not even to mention the opportunity for side-quests. People like to collect, track and earn points and rewards. So, why not harness the human desire to be rewarded by, for example, turning animal identification into a mystery to be solved? You could talk about food chains in an interpretive program, or you...

Hello Esteemed Colleagues—The purpose of this article and subsequent articles is to succinctly highlight various interpretive techniques that all of us can use in our interpretive endeavors. While I am starting with this article, I am reaching out to anyone interested in sharing techniques and tips for future articles. Please reach out to me at  elizabeth.hammack@parks.ca.gov if you would like to share tips/techniques for future editions. The Power of Pragnanz Have you ever read a book or watched a movie where the ending brought you back to the beginning? Do you remember that satisfying feeling and sometimes an “ah-ha” moment when the conclusion brought you back to the start? Think about the beginning of the “Forest Gump” movie when the feather is falling from the sky. Then, at the end, one lone feather falls, and you know that the ending has arrived. You feel whole and complete. Pragnanz is a German word that can refer to wholeness, completeness, or unity. Another definitio...