As scientific knowledge grows and the planet's human population makes unprecedented changes, decision-making places more and more demands on the everyday democratic participant. Yet efforts to help the public acquire and make use of evidence-based information fall short. We present preliminary comparisons of three participatory design models of…

This study reports the results of a mixed-methods investigation on the impact of a virtual reality (VR) tool on Iranian EFL learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) and oral proficiency. Twenty upper-intermediate EFL learners were divided into experimental and control groups role-playing as museum guides with and without Google Expeditions VR…

In light of ongoing debates about religious education as hermeneutical, this contribution proposes a 'hermeneutical-communicative' (HCM) paradigm for RE through the development of a twofold reflection: (a) a critical (re-)evaluation of the theological and anthropological foundations for RE in light of (b) a context marked by religious and…

Beyond Words: Engaging Young Children and Families in Gallery Education at Tate Liverpool, is a three-year ethnographic case study that explores what happens when preschool children, parents and nursery practitioners from a Sure Start Children's Centre, visit Tate to participate in an extended series of gallery visits and workshops with artists.…

In December 2017, the Smithsonian unveiled a new Strategic Plan. The plan sets goals to help be more collaborative and efficient in work, build and deployment of digital competency, and engage new and more diverse audiences in meaningful ways. The plan also continues to improve facilities maintenance and collections care to be even better stewards…

This research presents results for the design and creation of supporting teaching materials using additive manufacturing. The materials are inspired by selected artwork of four animal species, which belong to a collection from the museum of the University of Antioquia. The topic selected was fauna in Colombia, and the animals in question were…

The aim of this study is to determine the opinions of teacher candidates regarding the use of museums in social studies lessons as an educational environment. The study group of the research was determined through purposeful sampling method. The study group consists of 114 teacher candidates studying in the social sciences teaching department at…

Understanding the weight of words and how they are used as signifiers of social and political ideas became important during the Transatlantic Seminar -- a four-day seminar organized by Fulbright Germany and the Leibniz Association, in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C -- and a glossary of sorts resulted. In exploring…

This dissertation aims to: 1) characterize the range of beliefs museum practitioners have about racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity; 2) their understanding of the role of race, culture, and ethnicity in minoritized learners' sensemaking; and 3) the areas of tension and symmetry between practitioners' values and their perception of their…

Introduction: This article investigates an early STEM family engagement program offered during the pre-kindergarten (pre-k) year. Pre-k is an important juncture for community organizations to support children's STEM engagement and parental involvement in informal STEM learning. We evaluated a program called Teaching Together STEM, which offers a…

A STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) analysis project undertaken in the context of a historic visitor site is described. The project offered different types of opportunity for scientific working, and involved four distinct groups of participants. Two distinguishing features of the different groups of participants were their…

Museums' social resources, along with their status as places of informal learning, make them well-suited to serve people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As autistic young adults report high instances of social isolation and receive fewer services after high school, there is a clear need for more programing for this audience. In 2017, the San…

Using the case study of an unstaffed, interactive making space at the Portland Museum of Art, this article explores the potential for museums to facilitate visitor to visitor learning without the in-person assistance of a gallery educator. It offers concrete steps to design activities, environments, and supporting resources which prompt close…

In this article, the authors present early research in using 3-D printing to develop tactile experiences to improve understanding and enable broader aesthetic participation in arts learning contexts for all learners that would benefit from tactility and in particular those with low vision. Their exploration of 3-D printing to create assistive…

This action research study examined the impact of the Historical Thinking Method (HTM) on how students interacted with actual and virtual historical sites and museums. From September 2017 to May 2018, students engaged in analysis and evaluation of online exhibits and actual sites in the Washington, DC, and Columbia, South Carolina, areas using the…