Studies in the current research paradigm follow a pattern of pre-exhibit activities, in-exhibit monitoring and post-exhibit test to evaluate learning and program effectiveness in museums. These efforts helped identify some important factors correlative to learning, but little is known about how exhibits are designed in a way that space, materials…

This dissertation discovers a hybrid collaborative curation and creation exhibition project at the Florida State University's Museum of Fine Arts. This research serves as a tangible application to integrate the third place theory (Oldenburg, 1997) and constructivist museum practices (Hein, 1998) under the umbrella of participatory action research.…

The purpose of this study was to explore the ways graduate students' interpretive lenses manifested in reflective storytelling of their collaborative object-based learning (OBL) experiences with Andean textiles in the John and Mary Carter Collection. This occurred in the context of visitor-centered exhibition (VCE) development. Adapted Feminist…

Initiatives to deliver financial literacy to populations are offered by a wide range of institutions. Among them, central banks focus on financial literacy because when people make wiser financial decisions, the central banks are more likely to fulfill their societal mission. One of the most common initiatives of central banks in this regard is to…

This dissertation describes the literate practices and layered technological strategies writers utilize in creating professional documents, particularly the literate activities, interaction with technologies and multimodal texts of senior writers in a workplace where many types of texts are produced and distributed as participants plan, manage,…

Urban middle school students in the United States have shown a declining interest in science and poorer science learning outcomes compared to the past. Museum learning experiences can potentially improve these students' interest and learning in science through interactive, personalized exhibits. This qualitative action research study asked the…

The following document considers the role of digital information organization in the creation of knowledge and value within and beyond the physical space of the art museum by interrogating two major scholarly products of the well-endowed, early-21st-century Western art museum's ecosystem: online catalogues and online exhibitions. The questions…

This dissertation presents three studies on learning in children museums. The first study is a literature review of the research that was done on learning in children's museums between 2010 and 2021. In this review, I focused on presenting a current state of the field with insights into what research has been done and where there may be gaps in…

This study aims to examine Black educators' experiences within cultural heritage institutions that are documenting topics that include the long arc of the American Civil Rights Movement. Black educators are powerful conduits of the African American story because they align with African American cultural heritage institution's goals to foster…

A widespread atomic science public education movement in the United States during the late 1940s provided multiple media through which the basic science of the atom moved from scientific obscurity to expected public knowledge. During the first half of the twentieth century information about atomic science for the general public was limited and…

This action research study examined the impact of the Historical Thinking Method (HTM) on how students interacted with actual and virtual historical sites and museums. From September 2017 to May 2018, students engaged in analysis and evaluation of online exhibits and actual sites in the Washington, DC, and Columbia, South Carolina, areas using the…

As an informal learning context, science museums offer opportunities for visitors to engage in shared meaning-making as they interpret the concepts and phenomena presented in exhibits. As visitors engage in social meaning-making, they may provide support by scaffolding others' learning. Scaffolding describes support that is tailored to learners'…

This action research study, informed by qualitative critical bricolage methods explored immigrant-origin adult learners' lived experiences around education. It examined a California community college's practices and campus climate that hinder adult immigrant learners' equitable access to and success in postsecondary education. In an attempt to…

What is the nature of art/science collaborations in museums? How do art objects and activities contribute to the successes of science centers? Based on the premise that art exhibitions and art-based activities engage museum visitors in different ways than do strictly factual, information-based displays, I address these questions in a case study…

This longitudinal ethnography presents the literacy story of one school through the displays of student work throughout the school year. In a time where regulations dominate school endeavors, students take their rightful place at the center of the educational process in this study. Through the work and words of the children and their teachers, a…