The informal learning environment of the Museum of Science Fiction's "Escape Velocity" event offers an integration of science and science fiction in a variety of activities, talks, events, exhibits, and panels to further attendees' interest. This study examined the efficacy of this event as a learning experience through a survey of…

Writing Salon at the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC, is a series of free creative writing workshops for adult audiences. The program uses art as an inspiration for writing and embraces writing as a powerful way to experience art. Highlighting the parallels between the writing and art-making processes, the program demonstrates that…

In 2016, the education department at the National Building Museum offered a series of Late Night programs in conjunction with the Summer Block Party installation, ICEBERGS. The museum wanted to evaluate the programs but had limited resources to do so. In the following article, we describe the use of critical appraisal, an economic method applied…

Many educators in community-based adult education organizations are attempting to adopt Integrated Education and Training (IET) strategies. In this paper, the author describes how he has collaborated with instructional and program staff to develop and deliver an integrated,contextualized industry mathematics curriculum. He highlights the impact of…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the effects of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's work in partnering with professors from universities across the United States during a 1-year collaborative partnership through an educational program referred to as Belfer First Step Holocaust Institute for Teacher Educators (BFS…

As Howard Gardner persuasively argued, movement, or kinesthetics, can be a powerful educational tool and one to which some learners are particularly attuned. Museums, however, are typically places that discourage movement (don't run, don't jump, watch out for the artifacts). This makes incorporating kinesthetic learning challenging. This article…

This case study of "Listen, Look, & Do," a multi-visit preschool program at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, provides a model for how other history museums can program for young learners in their neighborhoods. In striving to meet local community audience needs identified by annual evaluations, staff created a program that…

This report describes collaborations between the disciplines of museum education and art therapy, which inspired the implementation of a pilot art therapy program at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Tennessee (USA). Because relatively limited research has been conducted on this trend, the author reviewed museum exhibits and programming, as well…

At a time of economic recession, museums are called upon more than ever to demonstrate their public value while simultaneously finding funding for their work. This series of case studies examines how three museums balance mission-based programming with generating revenue for their organizations. The Newseum, in Washington, DC, has repurposed…

Thinking about three- to six-year-olds rarely brings to mind an image of young children engaged in conversation in the formal setting of an art museum, yet these are actual comments made by preschoolers and kindergartners who spend time on the Mall in Washington, DC, visiting museums as part of their early childhood program. Today, an increasing…

Since 1998, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has developed educational programs targeting adult audiences. Engaging public service professionals--those charged with serving and protecting our nation's democratic principles--has become a core outreach strategy to achieve the Museum's mission. This article describes the Museum's process…

Striving to provide public good and maximize public value strike many as highly abstract and idealistic ideas. Written in the form of an interview, this article, written from the perspective of a practitioner, addresses some of the pragmatic issues that arise when trying to conceptualize approaches to museum offerings and demonstrate their…