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…

Annual fieldtrip visits offer an excellent opportunity to engage teachers and students in learning opportunities that may not otherwise be available in their classrooms. Here we describe a collaborative project designed to support teacher engagement before, during, and after a classroom fieldtrip to a children's museum. We found that providing a…

Presents a variety of activities for using museum exhibits to teach concepts such as line, movement, rhythm, space, sound, and shape. (JMB)

The Discovery Room at the Cincinnati Art Museum was professionally designed by an architect to help students in third through sixth grades discover art for themselves. A typical Discovery Room tour is described. (RM)

Presents suggestions to help teachers enhance class trips to the museum, noting today's museum outreach programs are very useful. After describing what museums have to offer, the article explains how to plan such a trip and how to make the trip run smoothly. A list of must-see museums is included. (SM)

Identifies misconceptions concerning the effect of gravity on planetary motion and attempts to foster conceptual change through the hands-on, informal environment of a science museum. (Author/CCM)

Explains that the Center for Applied Theater Research was awarded a major grant to undertake research in the effectiveness of theatre work in museums in the United Kingdom. Describes how and why one particular research project was designed as research and discusses its closeness to, but difference from, evaluation. Explains that children responded…

Voices and Visions is an initiative launched cooperatively by a school district, museum, and university. Situated within the museum, it is intended to help children feel curiosity and delight about people's differences while learning how much they actually have in common. The program also includes yearlong classroom activities, built around six…

Collecting, utilizing, and displaying old or antique items will give elementary children some firsthand experience of how people in the past lived, what they worked with, and the progress of their industrial development. Using brainstorming, interviews with senior citizens, resource people, and classroom demonstrations are suggested techniques.…

A teacher's guide to affordable field trips with tips on where to go, what to do once the class arrives, and how to cut costs with careful planning is provided. Suggestions include: local must-touch museums; miniexhibits in the class; in-school excursions; and invite-an-expert seminars. Related writing activities are also listed. (JMK)

This study examined characteristic attributes of non-formal education and the non-formal pedagogy directing its teaching and learning processes. Data were collected on organizational and pedagogical characteristics in several out-of-school organizations (youth movements, youth organizations, community centers, bypass educational systems, local…

Describes an activity entitled the "Wax Museum" in which students create a scene based on an historical event such as the Colonial Period, Revolutionary War, or Industrialization. Provides a list of children's books that can be used as resource material for the creation of the museum. Includes helpful hints and procedures. (RW)

Compares a case where a Jewish museum educator engaged Catholic-school students in ordinary conversations about Jewish people and religion with the classroom teacher's traditional pedagogical approach, arguing that culturally specific museums are valid places for authentic learning. Observation and interview data indicated that the experimental…

(MDH)

Investigated attitudes and learning of students (N=816) in 31 museum tours. Concluded that students (grades 5-7) had greater cognitive learning when participating in structured tours (led by museum docent). However, more positive attitudes were found when students participated in less structured tours lead by their classroom teacher. (JN)