Teaching science in museums: The pedagogy and goals of museum educators

Abstract

Museum educators have a longstanding presence in museums and play a significant role in the institutions' educational agenda. However, research on field trips to science museums has predominantly explored teachers' and students' perspectives with little acknowledgment of the museum educators who develop and implement the educational programs the students experience. This study sought to describe instruction undertaken in, and goals driving, science museums' lessons through observations of museum educators followed by conversations with them immediately afterwards. Findings showed the ways in which educators adapted their preplanned lessons to the students' interests, needs, and understanding by manipulating the sequence and timing. The data revealed that, contrary to depictions in the research literature of teaching in museums as didactic and lecture oriented, there was creativity, complexity, and skills involved in teaching science in museums. Finally, the educators' teaching actions were predominantly influenced by their affective goals to nurture interests in science and learning. Although their lessons were ephemeral experiences, these educators operated from a perspective, which regarded a school field trip to the science museum, not as a one-time event, but as part of a continuum of visiting such institutions well beyond school and childhood. These findings have implications for the pedagogical practices employed by museum educators, and the relationship between teachers and educators during school field trips, which are discussed.

The professionalization of educators in science museums and centers

“…A study of the pedagogical actions and rationales of educators reported that the design of their programmes and the patterns of their discourse resembled schoolteachers' practice [30]. Interviews with educators about their pedagogical decisions and reasoning revealed a complexity in science pedagogy in museums, which challenged existing depictions of didacticism and inattentive to learners as suggested by previous research [7], [28].…”

Sociocultural frameworks of conceptual change: implications for teaching and learning in museums

“…Lynn: In addition to Jen's point, research on how educators in museums teach science to visitors (primarily schoolchildren) describes their practice and models of the communicative process as transmissionist (Tran 2007). I would argue that, in this case, it is not an emotional defense mechanism, which drives transmissive teaching.…”

Examining the complexities of school-museum partnerships

“…The United States cannot claim that museum educators are all formally trained educators either even though there is more evidence of museum programs having the same characteristics as a formal lesson. Tran's (2007) research on the pedagogy and goals of museum educators demonstrates that museum educators in the U.S. are interested in designing museum classes for field trips that inspire interest in science and learning. Their perspective is that students experience the museum class as part of a continuum of experiences as opposed to one-shot deals.…”