Over the past three decades, open storage facilities have been established at four major museums in order to address the long-standing problem of lack of gallery space for putting collections on view. While making tens of thousands of objects available to visitors represents a great leap forward in accessibility, it raises inherent questions about…

This publication follows the tradition of publishing selected papers from the Pacific Islands Association of Libraries, Archives and Museums (PIALA) annual conferences. This 27th annual conference was held in Kolonia, Pohnpei State, Federated States of Micronesia, November 13-17, 2017. This volume includes a listing PIALA Officers and Executive…

As coordinator of childhood science education at Brooklyn College, Eleanor Miele found an able partner in the school's assistant principal for instruction in a school where the PTA science committee wanted to improve science teaching at their school. They began by asking themselves how they could jump-start a change in science teaching culture.…

The teen behavior typically exhibited in school visit groups is often read by museum teachers as resistance or disengagement, when the opposite is more likely the case. This paper attempts to dispel some of the myths around teen behavior and serve as a practical guide to museum educators who desire a deeper, more successful engagement with teen…

In spite of the economic climate which has led to financial retrenchment in school districts, the Tsongas Industrial History Center (TIHC) in Lowell, Massachusetts, which was formed through a collaboration between the National Park Service Lowell National Historical Park and the University of Massachusetts Lowell Graduate School of Education,…

This article explores the impact of technology on contemporary art museums using case studies of teen media programs from the Hirshhorn Museum and the ICA Boston. Teens, as "digital natives," help to define the use of technology in museums. Responding to their needs opens up an institutional dialogue concerning issues of expertise,…

To improve on the classic school trip to the museum and the traditional distinctions between formal and informal learning, every year we run a project where the schools (first the teachers and then the pupils) are actively involved right from the very first stages of planning. The various projects realised so far involve schools with children of…

Every day we creatively communicate both our individual tastes and our social affiliations through the way we style ourselves. College students explore the methodological, ethical, and theoretical implications of representation in building an exhibition.

The future of arts education is at stake. This paper attempts to examine the future of arts education via the responses of a qualitative survey, student samples, individual interviews, and research regarding arts education as essential education for all learners during a pandemic and beyond. The sudden decree that all attendance at public and…

In this article the authors focus on three sites in different areas of the world that share the characteristic of having been schools, prisons, concentration camps, and, in two cases, museums, sometimes in that order and on all occasions with periods of overlapping functions. The main goal of the authors will be to explore the questions that…

This paper calls for greater use of educational research in the development of science exhibitions. During the past few decades, museums and science centres throughout the world have placed increasing emphasis on their educational function. Although exhibitions are the primary means of promoting visitors' learning, educational research is not…

This article describes a case study that explores the question of how some art museums can appeal to teenagers. The significance of teenagers as the most underrepresented age demographic to visit museums is relevant to current museum practice where visitor studies have assumed increasing importance. As teenagers mature into adults, the long-term…

This paper examines the need for more holistic, narrative-based research into the identities of museum educators. The author explores the increasing demands being placed on museum educators along with the substantial challenges experienced by these professionals amidst the changing climate of museums. Many museum educators feel that their museums'…

Despite science learning in settings such as science museums being recognized as important and given increasing attention in science education circles, the investigation of parents' and their children's metacognition in such settings is still in its infancy. This is despite an individual's metacognition being acknowledged as an important influence…

School visits and field trips to museums and science centres are considered a powerful learning resource given their recreational and educational potential, but visits need to be integrated into classroom programming to optimize learning. In this study, we have attempted to design and build bridges between what a school needs and what a museum can…