History of Science and Science Museums

Abstract

The activity presented in this article is intended for elementary school students and focus on the pioneering oceanographic work of the Portuguese King Carlos I. This activity involves the exploration of the exhibits belonging to two different science museums, the Aquarium Vasco da Gama and the Maritime Museum. Students were asked to study fish adaptations to deep sea, through the exploration of a fictional story, also based on historical data from the work of the King that served as a guiding script for all the subsequent tasks. In both museums, students had access to observations of: historical collections of organisms, oceanographic biological sampling instruments, fish gears and ships. They could also observe the characteristics and adaptations of diverse deep-sea fish species. The present study aimed to analyse the impact of this activity on students' scientific knowledge, on their understanding of the nature of science and on the development of transversal skills. All students considered the project very interesting.The obtained results suggest that the activity promoted not only the understanding of scientific concepts, but also the development of knowledge about science itself and the construction of scientific knowledge. This emphasizes the relevance of creating activities informed by the history of science. As a final remark we suggest that the partnership between elementary schools and museums should be seen as an educational project approach, in which the teacher has to assume a key, mediating role between the school and the museums.

Young Children's Engagement with Objects in Science Museums: A Rapid Evidence Assessment of Research

“…23 further papers presented qualitative studies investigating how children and adults/peers construct learning together. Of these, 15 papers reported ethnographies and/or case studies of individual children or museum spaces (Anderson et al, 2002;Anderson et al, 2008;Carr et al, 2012;Carter, 2018;Degotardi et al, 2019;Della Croce et al, 2019;Dooley & Welch, 2014;Eckhoff, 2008;Faria et al, 2015;Letourneau et al, 2020;Lifschitz-Grant, 2018;McInnes & Elpidoforou, 2018;Piscitelli & Penfold, 2015;Rönkkö et al, 2016;Watson et al, 2002). Two papers reported action research with teachers and museum educators (Clarkin-Phillips et al, 2014.…”

“…Children are often motivated to find out about objects that relate to their own knowledge, experience and interests (Anderson et al, 2008;Carter, 2018;Faria et al, 2015;Hope, 2018). Making connections between museum objects and children's lives helps bridge the gap between new and existing knowledge (Della Croce et al, 2019;Dockett et al, 2011), and children often remember familiar objects after museum visits, such as rainbows or robots (Carter, 2018).…”

“…Adult-child dialogue is reported as most effective when children have time to respond and contribute their own ideas (Callanan et al, 2017;Carr et al, 2018), when there is genuine reciprocity in the exchanges and when children are valued as experts in their own knowledge and interests (Clarkin-Phillips et al, 2018). As well as enjoying interacting with educators, peers and family members (Faria et al, 2015), young children enjoy learning from experts during museum trips, such as artists pointing out technical features in paintings (Dooley & Welch, 2014). Well-designed digital and virtual learning resources can also scaffold children's conceptual understanding of museum objects (Prosser & Eddisford, 2004).…”

Experiências De Aprendizagem Em Visita Familiar À Exposição “Quando Nem Tudo Era Gelo” Do Museu Nacional

“…Esses espaços têm papel fundamental na aprendizagem de temáticas científicas e no engajamento de diversos públicos com a ciência (Scalfi, 2020), já que possibilitam que os visitantes interajam entre si e nos ambientes expositivos e vivenciem a experiência museal ao mesmo tempo em que se apropriam de temas científicos. Muitos museus de ciências possuem ainda recursos, como coleções históricas, que podem fomentar a consciência da relevância da história e da filosofia da ciência para o progresso do conhecimento científico e podem funcionar como poderosas máquinas do tempo, com o potencial de transportar os visitantes mental e emocionalmente para o passado, em que lições importantes podem ser aprendidas (Faria et al, 2015;Ramey-Gassert et al, 1994). Nesse sentido, tem havido um esforço de pesquisas que visam entender a construção de sentido por meio da experiência direta com objeto e o papel das interações do visitante com as exposições (Achiam; May & Marandino, 2004;Jakobsson & Davidsson, 2012;Shaby et al, 2019;Rowe, 2002;).…”

Crianças em visitas familiares a museus de ciências: análise do processo de alfabetização científica

“…Considerados como espaços educacionais, nos museus, as experiências vivenciadas pela audiência se projetam para além do deleite e da diversão (MARANDINO, 2005), oferecendo aos visitantes oportunidades para compreensão sobre a ciência, a pesquisa científica, o papel da experimentação, a discussão entre ciência, sociedade e ambiente, entre outros. Muitos museus de ciências possuem recursos especiais que não estão disponíveis em outros lugares, como coleções históricas, que podem fomentar a consciência da relevância da história e da filosofia da ciência para o progresso do conhecimento científico (FARIA et al, 2015;RAMEY-GASSERT et al, 1994). Além disso, muitos museus de ciências possuem ambientes interativos, onde dispositivos, aparatos e programas são pensados para envolver ativamente o público no processo da ciência e geram ambientes de aprendizagem baseados na curiosidade e na motivação intrínseca, que estimulam a aprendizagem ativa através da exploração e da manipulação das exposições (BAMBERGER, TAL, 2007;FALK, DIERKING, 2000;GRIFIN, SYMINGTON, 1997).…”