Though art educators in museums and in schools share content fields and professional backgrounds, they operate under quite different practical constraints. The autonomy of museum education, shaped by museums' missions more than by state guidelines, is part of its appeal as a profession; museum programs, in shaping their very malleable subject…

Students can learn how history is made by shifting through facts and fiction. A living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts, set up a 1627 Pilgrim village has helped students learn more about other cultures and times that goes deeper than sentimentality or entertainment.

Contemporary museums define educational programs for children as a central and straightforward component of their stated missions. We problematize these programs in our critical discussion of the role of the museum as a source of non-classroom education and the centrality of these lessons in the maintenance of the museum as an organization. Our…

This article discusses Dr. Amalia Amaki and her approach to art as her signature style by turning everyday items into fine art. Amaki is an assistant professor of art, art history, and Black American studies at the University of Delaware. She loves taking unexpected an object and redefining it in the context of art--like a button, a fan, a faded…

This paper draws upon 10 interviews conducted with staff at two science centres as part of a research project on science centres and social and cultural inclusion. The authors argue that these science centres have developed a highly differentiated configuration of science that stands at some removes from the standard conception of science as a…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) helps museums and libraries preserve our cultural heritage, enhance learning and innovation, and develop staff capacities to provide the best in service to our communities. IMLS has a long-standing commitment to funding grants and sponsoring research on the subject of how both preschool and…

Inverness Research Associates served as external evaluators for the Center for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS) from its inception in 2002 as a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Center for Learning and Teaching. One of the programs that CILS developed was the Informal Learning Certificate (ILC) for informal science educators (mostly…

Most schools visit Magna Science Adventure Centre on the back of careful planning and preparation. Magna is a fairly unique environment. "Steelos", the local name for the former Templeborough steelworks in Rotherham, West Yorkshire, was a vast plant. It became home to Magna in 2001. The building is over half a kilometre long and 45…

From the World Conservation Union to front-line practitioners, there is increasing recognition of the interaction between nature and people, and a growing integration of environmental and social issues. This also rings true for natural and cultural heritage educators as the line between nature and culture education slowly blurs. Perhaps the…

Museum educators often think about what they want children to take away with them from museum visits. But at least as important is what children bring to these visits. Research in developmental psychology shows that children and adolescents progress through a sequence of ways of understanding knowledge and knowing--understanding that lies at the…

What kinds of programming should an art museum's education department offer to the K-12 school community? How can educators best contribute to students' current and future intellectual development? What type of programming best fits the needs of students and teachers, while also addressing the unique aspects of the museum setting? At the Isabella…

Many art museum programs aim to facilitate the development of young people's critical-thinking skills, but most are unclear in their definitions of critical thinking and their notions of how it is best facilitated. This article shares a diagnostic tool for identifying instances of critical thinking in art museum programs. Specifically, the authors…

According to Reinmann-Rothmeier and Mandl (2001), learning environments should provide an ideal balance between constructivist and instructive elements. Most interesting for constructivist learning processes is the combination of the cognitive and the motivational domain. In an empirical study with 207 fifth-graders of the highest stratification…

This paper focuses on field trip-based experiences across the disciplines of art, culture, and science. The author addresses gaps in the learning sciences' research about children learning both art and cultural content as well as how they learn cross-disciplinary practices. She offers one strategy, video-based interpretive case studies (VICS). By…

Everyday parent-child conversations may support children's scientific understanding. The types and frequency of parent-child science talk may vary with the cultural and schooling background of the participants, and yet most research in the USA focuses on highly schooled European-American families. This study investigated 40 Mexican-descent…