The museum extends the word interactive beyond computer screens or electric boards that squawk if you press the wrong button.
Complete environments engage the visitor.
Television monitors offer interviews with ordinary people and experts. Press a button, and a state map lights up selectively, showing mountains, rivers or other features. Turn the pages of a spiral book and you'll find vintage photographs of California missions in a crumbled state. The variety of display modalities reflects current learning theory, says Ross McGuire, director of the museum. It's a kind of pedagogic strategy being used now.