The current challenge of maintaining accessible, effective museum education amid an unprecedented global health crisis has proven that the necessity of public education and museum relevancy is more critical than ever. Rachel Zollinger's former employer, Explora Science Center & Children's Museum (Explora), demonstrates daily how a commitment…

In 2008, China's museums began to offer free admission, which led to an explosive growth in the number of visitors. As a result, more researchers are examining how to determine the learning experience of museum visitors, and improving it gradually will be the next direction for the development of Chinese museums. The Contextual Model of Learning…

This article, prepared in the form of a conversation among the authors, discusses the role of a museum's repatriation of human remains or sacred objects to Indigenous communities in their efforts around Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI). Presenting case studies from their museums or from their own research in Germany and the…

Local implementation of science reform efforts in part relies on science teacher leaders (STLs) to improve science instruction in classrooms and beyond. The lack of science-specific professional learning resources drives STLs to act as boundary spanners to locate resources outside their local context to fill that gap. Museums and other informal…

The transformation of natural history and science museums from receptacles (temples) to facilitators (forums) of knowledge fosters discourse around issues relating to science and society, known as social scientific issues (SSI). To assist guests with enhanced object-based learning, extended reality (XR) technologies are thought to leverage the…

Concerns have recently been expressed about the continuing availability of human bones from India, obtained originally for educational purposes but lacking the requisite informed consent that would be expected today. More generally, a broader claim is being made, namely, that the practice of using any unconsented bones in educational settings is…

Computational thinking (CT) has emerged as an important method in the United States for helping children learn to solve complex problems and develop skills necessary for coding and other computer science-related endeavors. Research has revealed that CT can be encouraged with children as young as 3-4 years of age. While some preschools and schools…

This research article reports results of a study centered on an undergraduate instructor who facilitated a practice-based field experience with undergraduate preservice teachers (n=125) in an urban museum setting, working with middle school students with a public museum school. In addition to exploring this practice-based field experience, we also…

The purpose of this study is to examine how preservice middle-school mathematics teachers connect mathematics with museum resources in their lesson plans. Nine museum-based mathematics lesson plans developed by preservice teachers were examined, based on the interactive experience model. The findings showed that although the preservice teachers…

This study aims to reveal the effect of examining photos/documents in museums with traditional and STEM approach on students' success in history lesson, interest, attitude, national value and historical awareness. A control group pretestposttest trial model, which is one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the research. The study…

According to the International Committee of Museums (ICOM), museums "preserve show, communicate and promote the understanding of the natural and cultural heritage of humanity." To achieve this, they need to engage with their audiences and engage in (ongoing) dialogue. Many stories are told with the aim of reaching different publics,…

As critical posthumanist and (new) materialist scholarship become more established in educational research, a reconsideration of methodological approaches suited to a radical relational onto-epistemology is required. A popular figuration adopted by researchers to help think and do such research is the Deleuze-Guattarian "rhizome." Coming…

We have elaborate systems of formal instruction--schools, universities, and training institutes--all to facilitate learning within the walls. At the same time, there are ample opportunities for learning in the wild--in nature, libraries, and museums, online, in play and work, and through daily interaction with others. But the potential for…

"Communities of practice" is a concept employed by Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner (2015) to refer to "groups of people who share a… passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly" (p. 1). In the museum context, a community-of-practice model provides educators the opportunity to…

This article reflects understandings of artful encounters in relation to ecologies of practice and walking with public art. Introduced as a pedagogic inquiry among art education students training to become teachers in community settings, meaningful event-encounters transpired while walking with the museum. Navigating spaces of becoming-with…