Narratives, or stories, are used every day by people as a way of making sense of and communicating events in the world. Narratives can be highly useful as a learning tool in science education. Though research on narrative-based pedagogy in science education and communication is very common, most of that research was done in formal settings. Our…

Art classrooms and museums are places where teachers and students talk about artworks. However, there is a lack of empirical research into dialogue--the most basic component of classroom teaching and the most used education strategy in museums. I investigated the development and experimentation of a dialogue-and-questioning framework for art…

Traditional museums of culture and history are failing to develop or make effective use of augmented reality (AR) technology. To address this deficit, the present study sought to develop online and offline experiential AR learning tools that would enable children to more fully explore museum artefacts. The study approach was based on the Blended…

The theory of evolution can be a useful basis for developing students' understanding of ecology. Our study used concept maps to examine the development of sixth-grade students' understanding of the Antarctic ecosystem following several evolution 'Science Days' conducted at 'Nature Campus' -- an informal learning environment comprised of a natural…

Inspired by critical literacy practices, sixth-grade students at Carter Elementary designed, curated, and publicly displayed a museum exhibit to expose and confront issues of social justice. Through this case study of one display within the exhibit, we analyze the ideas and stances represented in each of its artifacts and investigate how,…

This article describes how one state museum's mission is to illuminate the natural world and inspire its conservation. Educational specialists from the museum achieve this mission by helping educators across the state use and enhance the natural resources available on their school grounds as a teaching tool. The article shares a lesson that…

This article centers on the results of a two-year study of a museum-university partnership conducted with 81 secondary preservice student teachers enrolled in a large public university in the Midwestern United States. The focus is on preservice student teachers' experiences working in a large urban museum which also houses a public middle school…

This research explores learning in science museums through the most common activity in a science museum--interaction with exhibits. The goal of this study was to characterize the learning behaviors exhibited by students as they engage with interactive exhibits in order to draw insight regarding the design of the exhibits. In order to do so, we…

Many schools in industrialized and developing countries are now using mobiles devices. This has the potential to connect learning that occurs in classrooms and museums. This article focuses on the use of iPads by a year 6 class (12 years old) in Sydney Australia, which were used both in the classroom and on a museum excursion. The study uses a…

This study tested an iPad application using a dichotomous key as a scaffolding tool to help students make more detailed observations as they identified various species of birds on display in a museum of natural science. The Mobile Dichotomous Key (MDK) iPad application was used by groups of fifth- and seventh-grade students. Analysis of the…

The aim of this study was to design and evaluate an inquiry- and activity-based learning unit for the classroom that uses biological collections to teach key evolutionary concepts and to support the understanding and appreciation of the work of a museum. The unit consisted of three parts that focused on the most important tasks of museums:…

The aim of this qualitative case study was to explore the use of stories as tools for learning within formal and informal learning environments. The design was based on three areas of interest: (a) the story as a tool for learning; (b) the student as subjects engaging with the story; and (c) the context in which the story learning activity takes…

Despite the potential of augmented reality (AR) in enabling students to construct new understanding, little is known about how the processes and interactions with the multimedia lead to increased learning. This study seeks to explore the affordances of an AR tool on learning that is focused on the science concept of magnets and magnetic fields.…

In America, there is a growing consensus that educational video games should be used in the classroom to meet the needs of 21st Century learners. According to the American Federation of Scientists (2006), students that "have grown up with digital technology and video games are especially poised to take advantage of the features of educational…

Picture books are the first visual arts experience many students encounter. A picture book equally emphasizes text and illustrations, and though the text often receives most of the attention, in the best cases, the pictures are excellent resources for teaching about creating and responding to images. For a resourceful teacher who knows how to use…