Argues that the power of technology is its ability to transform instruction by breaking down geographical and logistical barriers; while not replacing actual museums, virtual museums contribute by bringing their collections to students. Outlines a project in which students create their own virtual museum. Includes Web addresses for virtual…

Discusses the forces compelling young adolescent females toward early parenthood, a community-based art therapy/pregnancy program for elementary and junior high school girls, the use of interactive museum gallery visits to enhance art-therapy treatment goals, and case vignettes that illustrate issues raised for the adolescent and art therapist…

Describes the Africa Project, an undergraduate art education course in which college students and elementary students were brought into creative interaction with the University of Illinois' Krannert Art Museum's Africa collection. Addresses the development of the Africa Project and explains how the college students taught kindergarten students.…

One effect of the standard design of science center programs that equate science with entertainment is that visitors are prevented from acquiring scientific literacy. Examines the discursive construction of science and explores what entails citizenship in a risk society. (DDR)

Students from a Kansas technology magnet school helped create a CD-ROM depicting the Wichita Art Museum's collection. Project evaluation examined development of the school-museum partnership; benefits to students, museum, and community; and partnership problems. A brief literature review discusses partnership features and barriers, and benefits of…

One of the major roles adopted by libraries is the long-term preservation of selected material within their collections. Traditionally, this role comprised identifying individual physical objects or collections based upon the library's own view of its role and the significance of items in its collections. With the rapid growth of digital materials…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a combined museum and classroom intervention project on science learning in low-income children. The focus of the program was on children's content knowledge and concept complexity. Thirty children were in the experimental group. A control group of 18 children visited literacy and social studies…

This paper examines children's and adults' attitudes to virtual representations of museum objects. Drawing on empirical research data gained from two web-based digital learning environments. The paper explores the characteristics of on-line learning activities that move children from a sense of wonder into meaningful engagement with objects and…

Archaeological methods of analysis, research directions, and theoretical approaches have changed dramatically since the early days of the discipline, and today archaeological research topics relate to various aspects of cultural heritage, representation, and identity that overlap with fields such as ethnic studies, cultural anthropology, art and…

This activity geared for grades 5-9 involves students in creating museum stations on eight solid waste and energy topics. While working in groups, students present their station topic to other students who are conducting a "museum tour." In doing so participants are encouraged to enhance their reading, writing, public speaking, and artistic skills…

As part of the education reform movement seeking change in both teaching and teacher education, a graduate teacher education course at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, "Integrating Museum Resources into Classroom Instruction," offers teachers a chance to engage in problem solving for their own students through varied…

Some researchers have argued that students often learn to operate in two domains, the domain of the science context in school, and the domain of everyday life outside of school. Outside of school, students are exposed to many media from which to learn science concepts. This document is one of a series on research seminars at the Western Australian…

This study investigates student learning in science center exhibitions as a form of informal education and examines intrinsic, instrumental, and situational student motivation. Subjects (N=130) consisted of 6 comprehensive school classes of 7th graders in the greater Helsinki area. The design of the study was quasi-experimental with two…

A hypermedia simulation, Sickle Cell Counselor, has been developed to anchor instruction for museum visitors using the task of advising couples about the decision to have children when there is a substantial genetic risk of sickle cell disease. A visitor can perform simulated laboratory tests and ask questions via interactive video. The anchored…

This paper reports on a study at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis that examined how two-way audio/visual interactive learning (2WAVIL) technology can be used to help prepare students prior to a museum visit, hoping that this preparation may help students interact with exhibits in a more constructivist manner. The study focused on children's…