A walk down Main Street can be very much like a stroll through a museum gallery--visually rich, inviting unexpected choices, aesthetically rewarding. This article explores the concept of shop windows as visually ordered compositions, much like paintings and other art objects, and suggests some approaches to applying this concept in teaching a…

Aiming for experiences that are both culturally responsible and personally meaningful, the author offers guidelines to help museum educators and art teachers negotiate contextual information within group investigations of works of art. In people's encounters with art, dialogue exists on several levels. There is dialogue between a viewer and a…

In response to the need for Holocaust curricula in Latvia, Latvians and Americans worked collaboratively to overcome the historical silence surrounding this event. During their project, Latvian curriculum writers worked with teachers and scholars at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This descriptive analysis of the Latvians' experience…

This study analyzes the short-term consequences of visitors' use of different types of exhibits (i.e., "exemplars of phenomena" and "analogy based") together with the factors affecting visitors' understanding of and their evaluation of the use of such exhibits. One hundred and twenty five visitors (either alone or in groups) were observed …

The MathPacks program at the Science Museum of Minnesota provides students with in-depth understanding of real-world applications of mathematics and science. Students measure museum specimens and investigate ratios, patterns, and mapping while simulating the work of scientists.

The main goal of this research study is to explore the interconnection between museum learning and theatre learning. We will begin this exploratory process by analyzing the functions of role-playing and improvisation as teaching and learning strategies, and we will then expand this analysis to the idea of storytelling as a link between learning in…

Field trips are well recognized by researchers as an educational approach with the potential to complement and enhance classroom science teaching by exposing students to unique activities, resources, and content in informal settings. The following investigation addresses teachers' field trip practices in three related manuscripts: (1) A study…

Since it was coined by Tim O'Reilly in formulating the first Web 2.0 Conference in 2004, the term "Web 2.0" has definitely caught on as a designation of a second generation of Web design and experience that emphasizes a high degree of interaction with, and among, users. Rather than simply consulting and reading Web pages, the Web 2.0 generation is…

This paper presents a description and evaluation of Myartspace, a service on mobile phones for inquiry-led learning that allows students to gather information during a school field trip which is automatically sent to a website where they can view, share and present it, back in the classroom or at home. The evaluation focused on three levels: a…

A discussion of using an art gallery for learning in London, England. (HB)

Designed as a contribution to the Bicentennial observance, the Museum Education Center of Old Sturbridge Village, though devoted to the past, has all the conveniences of modern technology. (Author/MLF)

While evaluating the effectiveness of a portion of the public information system at the Toledo Art Museum, nonclassical approaches to data-gathering presented problems in measuring program aspects which are not easily quantified. There is a necessity to clarify what kinds of information can validly be gathered with naturalistic techniques for an…

Describes how high school students in Virginia helped construct a Chesapeake Bay deadrise oyster boat in order to help gain an appreciation for the culture and history of their area. (JDH)

Museums offer a range of programs for visually handicapped visitors. Professionals serving visually handicapped people are called upon to act as consultants, as are the visually handicapped themselves, to use their experience in advising museums on outreach programs, tours, and other services that will draw in the hesitant consumer. (Author/CL)

In the context of two summer courses (a science methods course and a geology course), the authors worked with 40 elementary and high school teachers enrolled in Brooklyn College's M.S.E. programs in elementary education or secondary science education. They were involved in different ways, in the teaching of these courses, the organization of a…