The term social participation is widely used and has various meanings in different contexts. This article aims to enhance the understanding of social participation in science museums. The research was conducted using a cultural-historical perspective in six steps: (1) survey to identify the meanings attributed to the term social participation and…

This paper draws on a multi-phase project that sought to understand and increase young children's engagement with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) objects. The paper presents findings from one aspect of this project that involved using storytelling to support young children's agency with STEM objects in a UK science museum.…

This study aims to reveal pre-service teachers' experience in virtual museum design that they can use in social studies teaching, and their opinions on virtual museum applications. In line with this purpose, phenomenology design was used as one of the qualitative research approaches. Selected by the criterion sampling method, the study sample…

This article examines the Wurtele Gallery Teacher Program Method as a replicable model for training cohorts of museum educators. Since 2005, this program has trained and paid graduate students to be museum educators for the Yale University Art Gallery's public education initiatives, which include school, youth, family, teen, access, and adult…

This paper captures thinking around the design of a technology-focused play space for children that is on a university campus. Drawing upon characteristics of play and the importance of the goals and values that shape contexts, the opportunity to develop a space designed for children's digital play required careful conceptualization. Children's…

As with many Volunteer Programs, volunteerism at Filoli began in support of a fledgling organization in 1975. Initially a separate nonprofit, Friends of Filoli was created with the purpose of fundraising and other support, but was dissolved in 1989 as it was not self-sufficient. The leadership structure, however, remained and later merged with the…

Art-based education has been gaining the attention of healthcare educators as a means of promoting empathy, observation, and mindfulness in healthcare practitioners. This paper discusses using art-based education to encourage transformative learning and social justice in healthcare education. Specifically, we explore how this approach can…

Museums are increasingly transforming from passive repositories of history and culture into dynamic spaces that facilitate interdisciplinary learning and active community engagement. This shift is evident in the integration of art and science within museum settings, which enhances public understanding of complex global challenges such as climate…

In 2015-2016, the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, North Carolina, featured "¡Nuevolution! Latinx and the New South," an interactive exhibit that explored the bidirectional ways Latinx and the US South influence one another. To strengthen the exhibit's impact, LMNS launched a dialogue program aimed at enhancing attendees'…

This article examines how community art centers of the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration served as a third space, one that was explicitly designed to be different from art museums at that time. Created to employ artists during the Great Depression under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, goals of FAP programs included…

Research into teaching and learning in science museums has led to innovations in pedagogy, exhibits, and educational programming. Science museum facilitators play a critical role in advancing the educational missions of their institutions, yet the roles that these facilitators have in academic research projects aimed at understanding learning…

Object-based learning includes the active incorporation of historic artifacts into educational environments, which may yield meaningful learning experiences. However, gaining access to artifacts and coordinating object-based curricula with museum staff pose immense challenges to educators. Furthermore, digital representations of historic artifacts…

The article describes the experience of Ukrainian teachers in organizing pedagogical work with preschool children by means of museum pedagogy. Museum pedagogy in Ukraine plays an important role in the process of socializing children by involving them in the historical and cultural heritage of society. It is an effective factor in the cognitive,…

Multilingual families have received limited attention in the field of informal science education, especially in the context of science museums. These families may encounter challenges that do not exist for English-speaking families when engaging in science learning within museums that are primarily designed and developed in English (Ash, 2003;…

A personal account of a school group museum visit that had an impact beyond the classroom, crossing language barriers, and transcending time and geographies.