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Navigating into the future of science museum education: focus on educators’ adaptation during COVID-19

1 Division of Liberal Studies, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea

Da Yeon Kang

2 Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Myeong Ji Kim

3 Department of Science Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Sonya N. Martin

4 Center for Educational Research, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Repeated closures of the world’s science museums to stem the spread of COVID-19 have significantly reduced visitors’ access to informal science learning opportunities. Interviews with educators and an analysis of the online content of a science museum were used in this case study to examine the impact of this phenomenon on informal science education. We present several education examples to highlight how educators have attempted to adapt. Specifically, we describe and characterize educators’ strategies— collaboration , networking , and feedback —to address difficulties involved in developing virtually accessible content that will engage users. In addition, we analyze essential attributes of informal learning in the science museum attributes of interaction , free-choice learning , hands-on experience , and authentic learning that the educators kept in mind while planning and redesigning educational programs and cultural events in response to COVID-19. We conclude by forecasting the future of science museums based on the educators’ perceptions of their roles and the nature of informal science learning, assuming that educators are the crucial agents to build a new future direction.

Over time, museums have changed their functions and roles to meet the needs of the public (Bradburne 1998 ; Cameron 2005 ; Pedretti and Iannini 2020 ). Historically, museums have been primarily tasked with collecting, storing, and exhibiting collections to enlighten and educate the public. Today, however, it is essential for museums to provide not only opportunities to view collections, but also to be informed through experiential educational programs encouraging visitors to directly touch and interact with the exhibits. For example, science museums play essential roles in educating the public about advances in science and technology, and they are also increasingly expected to engage citizens to consider complex social issues, such as climate change. Science museum educators are expected to develop exhibits that address modern understandings of science while also responding to changes in society, locally and globally, to not only provide the educational experiences the public needs, but to also remain relevant and accessible to all. This requires that science museum administrators and educators need to be flexible and adaptive to rapid changes. In this paper, we examine how educators in a mid-size public science museum in South Korea (hereafter, “Korea”) responded to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the global pandemic, the majority of museums around the world, including science museums, have experienced repeated closures to stem the spread of COVID-19 (International Council of Museums [ICOM] 2020). In this situation, museums that were able to remain open have been accelerating the digitization of their content and education services and utilizing online platforms to communicate with people and communities. Digitized content has been provided through institutions’ websites, social network services, and online platforms such as YouTube or Google Arts and Culture. With its Street View technology, the Google platform can offer online users virtual walks inside and outside museums. However, the website’s 2D images offer platform users have little opportunity to have immersive experiences and offer insufficient information about 3D objects within the museum (Burke, Jørgensen, and Jørgensen 2020 ). In addition, users have difficulties navigating galleries and understanding exhibitions’ storylines. Images of exhibits and artifacts on the Google Arts and Culture platform are generally displayed independently without the exhibition narratives that the museums’ professionals have carefully curated in the physical space of the museums (Google Arts and Culture 2021 ).

Nevertheless, during pandemic shutdowns, museums’ digitized content and online platforms gave museum enthusiasts an alternative option for virtual touring despite limited guidance from the online site. Even for someone who is not a fan of museums, digitalized services provide a different experience. The Getty Museum Challenge, for example, inspired many people at home to engage in arts experiences while creating and showcasing their own artwork using social network services (Potts 2020 ). The Getty Museum, through social media platforms, asked people to recreate its artworks in their online collection using everyday items at home. Their experiment was immensely popular among the general public, giving them a chance to reveal their creativity and sense of humor. One impressive example was a recreated painting of a Black servant posted by the Black opera singer Peter Brathwaite (Burke, Jørgensen, and Jørgensen 2020 ). It was shared with many people and got media attention by referencing the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Whether they are museum enthusiasts or not, people took time to access and use the museum’s artworks to express their creativity and to disseminate their opinions. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram opened up new spaces for museums to communicate to a broader audience.

Even before the pandemic, researchers had explored how digitalization and virtual museum experiences have an impact on visitor learning experiences and enjoyment (Schweibenz 2019 ). In the early 1990s, museums adopted the first generation of the World Wide Web (now referred to as “Web 1.0”), to make electronic brochures and digital archives (Gaia et al. 2020). Electronic brochures promoted the physical museum and provided information such as the exhibition schedules, museum locations, and brief introductions about special and permanent exhibitions. In addition, museums adopted digital archives to store information about various exhibits and to offer access to collections without physically visiting museums. As the internet developed to Web 2.0, museums developed even more interactive websites such as YouTube, Flickr, wiki pages, and blogs, all of which enabled individuals to communicate and exchange user-generated content (Marty 2008).

Initially, the authenticity of visitors’ virtual experiences using Web 1.0 was questioned because the websites were static and only conveyed information in a one-way manner (Kang and Seol 2010 ). Researchers such as Mintz ( 1998 ) warned of a real-virtual divide to describe the inequity of access opportunities that some museum visitors may experience when lacking access to technology or access to physical proximity to the museum. Schweibenz ( 2019 ) raised concerns about whether visitors would continue to physically visit museums if content was made available online. Over the last two decades, museums around the world have developed various relationships with technology and digitization of content. Some museums have continued to offer content similar to e-brochures that serve only to advertise and inform visitors about what is available at the museum, while other museums have embraced technological advances to establish more communication channels between visitors and museum professionals. For instance, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the New York City has provided visitors with a personal gallery area in which they could gather exhibits of interest and manage their own gallery as a visitor-as-curator (Dearolph 2014 ).

Such advancements in technology have enabled some museums to establish more communication channels between visitors and museum professionals and have allowed some museums to make their content accessible to wider audiences than ever before. However, the pandemic has required museum administrators and educators worldwide to rapidly consider how to respond to the forced closures of public institutions as part of government-mandated social distancing policies. In a very short time, the pandemic forced museums to accelerate the digitization of content and to adopt the use of new interactive platforms as the only way to provide the public any access. Some of the responses made by museums have raised unexpected concerns about whether or how museums the types of access developed during the pandemic might be maintained after it ends. For example, Nasta and Pirolo ( 2021 ) reported that the Vatican Museums actively used social media during the pandemic to invite several celebrities, such as beauty influencers, travel bloggers, and TV hosts with many followers on their social accounts, for an exclusive tour which was then shared via social media. After reopening their physical galleries, younger visitors came to the museums at higher rates than before the pandemic. However, this resulted in unexpected issues for the museum administrators regarding the sustainability of this kind of activity. Nasta and Pirolo pointed out that the museums needed more in-depth reflection on this trend to be able to involve younger people for the long term, because these visitors were more likely attracted by the influencers’ backgrounds than by the museum’s artworks. In addition, the unusual environment of the COVID-19 crisis has prompted museum staff to contemplate the essence or nature of museums. Feldman ( 2022 ), the director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, with 26 years of professional experience, discussed how she demonstrated leadership and responded with other staff during the pandemic. She contemplated the value and meaning of the museum while raising the puzzling question: “What is the National Gallery without the National Gallery?” (Feldman, p. 335). That physical museum spaces have been inaccessible to the public during pandemic has provided museum staff with the opportunity to fundamentally reflect on the institution’s mission and meaning. Feldman revised the mission statement from an earlier version focusing on conventional tasks, such as collection and preservation, to a new mission statement emphasizing exploration, creativity, and shared humanity.

The research in this paper focuses on science museum educators and explores how they responded to the pandemic and then analyzes how these educators oriented themselves to adapt to this unusual environment and to produce new types of support for visitors. We trace how educators at a science center in Korea responded to continuous challenges and examine their strategies to address difficulties. We then characterize the educators’ beliefs about the essence of informal science learning. Because a crisis can provide an opportunity for people to contemplate their role or orientation while struggling with challenging situations (Robinson 2020 ), this research focuses on uncovering the opportunities and challenges faced by museum educators when responding to the pandemic. Our research questions are as follows:

  • What kinds of education and services were provided by the science museum in response to COVID-19?
  • What strategies did the science museum educators employ to address difficulties adapting to the new environment created by COVID-19?
  • What are educators’ essential beliefs about informal science learning and how have they changed since the pandemic ?

Our aim with these research findings is to understand the dynamics of science museum education during the pandemic, and, further, to forecast future directions based on the educators’ beliefs about the nature of informal science learning and their perceptions of their role and future. We begin with the premise that the museum staff members’ beliefs were crucial and relatively stable among other uncertain influences for forecasting the museum future. This is because the essential beliefs of the science museum educators were not merely reflected in their words but also in the actions they took and decisions they made when developing and providing educational programs and cultural events using newly adapted strategies necessary to address the challenges of the pandemic.

Context of the research

We conducted a case study to identify the practices of science museum educators when responding to the disruptions caused by the pandemic (Creswell and Poth 2016 ). The case study as a methodology aims to explore an issue or problem to develop an in-depth understanding of a social phenomenon. A case is “a specific, a complex, functioning thing” that explicitly represents “an integrated system” that “has a boundary and working parts” in social sciences and human services (Stake 1995 , p. 2). In this study, we defined the Science Center (pseudonym for the museum in this study) as an independent system (or institution) that dynamically functions to implement new education and services with some strategies to thrive in the pandemic.

Case selection is one of the most critical factors in conducting case study research. The case should be representative enough to understand the social phenomenon, but it needs unique and bounded features as a single case. While participating in a larger international research project exploring science educators’ responses to the disruption of education caused by the pandemic, we found that the organizational structure and financial stability of science museums played an important role to support educators to respond to the crisis caused by the pandemic (Kang, Lee, Kim, Martin, and Lee 2022 ; Kim, Kang, and Martin 2022 ). We found that mid-size and publicly funded science museums were liberated from delays caused by complex decision-making processes required of other institutions, which afforded educators the ability to enact responses more quickly to the museum closures caused by the pandemic.

To understand how science museums responded in a time of crisis, we decided to focus on the Science Center, which was established and operated by the government, as a representative case of a mid-size and publicly funded science museum (Ministry of Science and ICT 2019 ). The first author, who had previously worked in the informal science education field, was able to track the dynamic context of the Science Center by keeping in touch with museum educators, who reported about the many approaches their institution attempted use to respond to the pandemic, enabling the building of the case study (Creswell and Poth, 2016 ). The other authors had some expertise in this area as they had done research on responses to the pandemic by educators in another Korean science museum where the teams had focused on YouTube content development (Kim, Kang, and Martin 2022 ).

The science center

While in other countries, there have been some distinctions made between “museums” and “centers,” in Korea, there are no distinctions made between these terms with regard to the roles and responsibilities of the institutes to educate the public. So “center” and “museum” are used interchangeably in research, but in this paper, we will refer to the institute as the “Science Center.” At the time this study was conducted, the Science Center (SC) (established in May 2017) was operated with an annual budget of about 1.7 million USD by the local government. The SC is a medium-sized public science education institute with 64 employees, has about 197 exhibits, and provides a variety of educational programs and cultural events. The SC aims to serve as a sustainable platform to provide science learning for visitors—especially youth. Since February 2020, the SC has had repeated closures and has operated with fewer visitors in order to follow the government’s “social distancing” guidelines. This policy has significantly affected exhibitions, face-to-face education programs, and the total number of visitors to the institution: from 216,986 to 2019 to 29,291 (an 87% decrease) in 2020. Accordingly, the proportion of educational programs and cultural events that occur online has expanded significantly in informal science education, such as streaming science lectures and providing educational content via online platforms (e.g., YouTube).

The case study involved wide arrays of data collection from multiple sources of information to build an in-depth understanding of the case and to test out the interpretation (Stake 1995 ). We conducted multi-faceted and in-depth data collection—interviews, online education content, educational program materials, and governmental documents—to capture the SC’s responses to the COVID-19 situation. Since the institutional responses were made over a short time, we tried to explore the continual progress of the changes during the pandemic.

The data collection was mainly conducted through interviews with SC educators and supported with an analysis of administrative documents and online education programs. From October 2020 to February 2021, we conducted interviews with all 11 SC educators. Follow-up interviews were conducted with three of the 11 SC educators regarding on-going changes in response to the pandemic and the government mandates that led to continual opening and closing of public education centers. We asked about the educators’ backgrounds, roles, and responsibilities at the center, their difficulties adapting to changes caused by COVID-19, and their visions for the SC in the post-COVID-19 era. Approval to conduct this study was granted by the Seoul National University Ethics Review Board. The data collected from this project were obtained with the necessary clearance from the partner institutions and participants involved in the study. The names of the participants and the institute used in this study are all pseudonyms. The following table shows the profiles of the SC educators (Table  1 ).

Profiles of Participating Professionals at Science Center

The research participants worked either in the education department ( n  = 5) or the exhibition department ( n  = 6). As shown in Table  1 , the SC is unique with regard to staff diversity related to background preparation. For example, some members majored in fields other than science. SC Educator 4, for instance, majored in the Japanese language and SC Educator 5 majored in sports and health. This diversity was a result of a “new deal” initiative, which is a jobs policy created to enable government institutions to create short-term employment opportunities to provide entry-level working experiences for graduates that could be beneficial to them when seeking future employment (Seoul Metropolitan Government 2017 ). As a result of this policy, the center staff had more diverse experience from which to draw during the pandemic.

All interviews were transcribed and repeatedly read, memoed, and coded to determine patterns based on direct interpretation (Stake 1995 ) to understand the case of the SC using the qualitative software program NVivo (Version 20; QSR International 2020 ). Researchers explored data in general focusing on the educational programs conducted at the SC during the pandemic and strategies developed and implemented by educators. Researchers repeatedly read the interview data, classified the corpus that appeared related to the research questions, and pulled out the major themes. Major themes derived from interviews were tested repeatedly until no new categories appeared. Researchers named these themes using terms that SC educators used during interviews (i.e., free-choice learning, feedback, and networking). Other data sources included online education content, education program materials, and governmental documents, which were all used to validate major themes derived from interviews. For example, the governmental documents allowed researchers to identify guidelines that educators had to follow, and the SC internal documents served as evidence of SC educators’ decision-making processes while developing new education programs. In addition, online content available on the SC YouTube channel was analyzed and is presented as evidence of the strategies adopted by SC educators in response to the pandemic-necessitated closure of the center. This process of connecting interview excerpts from SC professionals with evidence drawn from other data sources allowed researchers to establish credibility. Researchers also held regular meetings for peer reviewing and member-checking with SC educators and established inter-rater reliability for coding the data, which all served to strengthen the reliability of interpretations shared. In the sections that follow, we describe the types of educational services that emerged and the strategies SC educators developed to implement and revise these services.

Education in the SC in response to COVID-19

Before COVID-19, the SC provided guided tours of exhibitions and simple hands-on experiments in the gallery. The SC also provided advanced experiment programs in separate classrooms in tandem with various educational programs and cultural events. However, following the SC’s repeated closures, its educators developed and implemented new types of educational services that could be accessed even during the pandemic. While other museum divisions were struggling to adapt to the crisis context, we found that the education department at SC was able to draw from the various majors and knowledge of the 11 SC educators on staff to respond to the non-face-to-face environment, collaborating to create new resources, services, educational programs, and cultural events. Since the alternative styles of educational programs and cultural events were new, the SC educators worked to carefully examine and analyze various audiences’ responses. The services that attracted limited users were interpreted as problematic and seen as a chance to either further develop the content to be more appealing or to re-orient to develop the offering using a new direction. In this way, the SC educators formed networks with other science museums that were experiencing similar difficulties in contriving new educational programs and cultural events, which helped to generate synergy in a non-face-to-face situation. The educators also contemplated the Science Center’s identity and its differences from other similar institutions.

From our analysis of interview responses, policy and marketing documents, and online content, we identified and categorized the emergence of four types of services, including online content with storytelling strategies , exhibits with online content , development of real-time interactive classes , and simulated experiments . Further, our analysis revealed that the SC educators valued informal learning attributes such as interaction , hands-on experience , free-choice learning , and authentic learning . Based on our inductive analysis of strategies used to implement the four types of service with the four attributes museum educators considered crucial when designing and implementing new education programs, we were able to identify and categorize three approaches used by SC educators as alternatives to traditional face-to-face educational content. The approaches included collaboration , feedback , and networking (see Table  2 ).

Summary of Four Types of Services and Strategies that Emerged to Address Difficulties and the Educators’ Beliefs About Essential Attributes of the Science Center Education

Online content with strategy

The SC educators produced videos and distributed them through YouTube to replace their prior educational programs and cultural events. They provide three kinds of videos: science experiment videos, exhibition tour videos introducing each section of the center, and videos explaining individual exhibits together with relevant scientific concepts and principles. Notably, they applied storytelling strategies to many of the videos. One example in which elements were used is an episode in which different student characters can be selected to perform various phases of a science experiment. The characters appear like avatars that are selected at the beginning of a game (see Fig.  1 ). The viewer of the video could select different avatar options to “follow the characters” in different video clips, while they engage in a three-step rock experiment: collecting rocks, making thin flakes, and observing them with a polarizing microscope. In each step, the video provides a game-like screen composition, sounds, and items that can be selected to improve performance of the activity. This element can serve to both engage the viewer and provide a familiar environment for watching the videos as it appears game-like.

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Science experiment video with storytelling strategy

The SC educators had many difficulties, as most employees were not familiar with the filmmaking process and lacked the proper equipment and financial support to make YouTube videos, even though they are free to upload. Initially, they did not work during the first 2 months of the pandemic except to document their previous educational programs and cultural events because they did not predict the pandemic would last as long as it did. As time progressed, they felt pressure to maintain productivity and to develop some educational services in a closed learning environment to supplement their original educational programs. To start, the SC educators determined what kind of educational content would be appropriate to produce and share as YouTube videos. This resulted in the first of production of videos to be shared through the SC YouTube channel. The SC employees scripted, acted in, filmed, and edited all videos without any additional financial assistance by utilizing their mobile phones to film the videos and free editing programs on their phones and in YouTube to produce the final content for viewers. Some employees were reluctant to reveal their faces in the YouTube videos and they felt anxiety as they attempted to do the unfamiliar tasks. Over time, they found a strategy, collaboration , to reduce their stress, such as reorganizing their division of labor according to their preferences and talents. The diversity of SC educators’ backgrounds played a critical role in helping them to adapt to the new environment.

According to an analysis of viewer feedback reactions, the initial demonstration videos the SC educators uploaded to YouTube garnered only a few public reactions (such as likes or comments). During an interview, SC Educator 1 mentioned that early versions of the YouTube videos were not interesting even to herself. As the videos only allowed for one-way interaction, the staff decided to adopt a storytelling strategy to make the YouTube videos more interactive and to try to overcome this limitation. SC Educator 1 constructed a game-like plot and attempted to make the audience feel more engaged. In the following excerpt, SC Educator 1 reflects on this change in the development approach to creating online content.

We didn’t have fun, even when we watched ours [our video]. Thus, I also thought the audience would not want to watch them or look for them. I considered what it meant to make online content and then decided to make a more meaningful video. … In my opinion, the interaction between teachers and students should continue in online education. Online content is delivered in one direction, which is a limitation. At that time, I didn’t think it would be enough for us to simply change from offline to online. Thus, we decided to put four steps in the composition of the videos—introduction, development, turn, and conclusion—even if it was short, like a three-minute long video. So, if you look at the videos released in late April or early May, you can find storytelling strategy used in the content. (SC Educator 1, Interview 1, October 2020 )

By producing online content and applying storytelling techniques, the SC educators were better able to capitalize on their employees’ academic backgrounds (as they majored in various fields), their personal hobbies, and their diverse skill sets. Before the COVID-19 crisis, employees with non-science majors did not have a chance to utilize their academic knowledge for developing education content for the SC. However, diverse academic and cultural backgrounds have become unexpected resources to support new educational formats, such as YouTube video production, during the pandemic. We asked some SC educators to reflect on this shift in how people’s different expertise was viewed and how it had an impact on their work.

I majored in theater at an arts college. After graduation, I worked for a broadcasting station and then applied for a job at this science center. I am now working here. … Fortunately, I learned some related skills in college, so I was able to plan and make scenarios for the online content. When more technical skills were involved, I could ask my friends [from college and the broadcasting station] to get some help. (SC Educator 8, Interview 1, December 2020 )
When making a video, I had difficulties designing some parts, such as what fonts to use for subtitles and whether to add shadows. I didn’t know what was most appropriate. … However, one of the staff members majored in art, so I was able to ask for her advice. This was helpful. (SC Educator 5, Interview 1, January 2021 )

Through our interviews, we learned that even employees who had not majored in science were able to actively participate in the new content development. For example, SC Educator 5, who majored in sports, became interested in video editing while making the SC YouTube videos and he has even expressed plans to pursue an advanced degree in media communication for his future career. SC Educator 5 is now in charge of filming and editing at the SC. In addition, some employees opened their own YouTube channels and became YouTubers.

SC’s open and cooperative environment was significant in encouraging the sharing of ideas and creation of content with engaging stories. There was no standard to be referred to in this new environment when developing new materials. SC Educator 5 described the open working environment by stating, “Any ideas were welcome without any particular archetype.“ When asked where the ideas came from, the educators noted that they gathered ideas from their daily lives, interests, and hobbies without a predetermined framework. SC Educator 4 stated in her interview, “We simply come up with whimsical ideas, which then become entertaining resources for YouTube videos.“ The educators believed that the cooperative environment encouraged their creativity and individual contributions.

As the educators became accustomed to video production, they earnestly started analyzing audience feedback . They invited a famous YouTuber to help them learn how to analyze audience reactions and to increase viewer attention to the channel. Accordingly, they started to use new strategies, like modifying video titles to encourage “clicks” and adding thumbnails to entice viewers to watch the videos. The SC educators also began to put more consideration into the originality and purposes of different types of online content that can be developed for viewers. When asked to reflect on the need to develop content that reflected the reactions of their viewers, SC Educator 1 responded at length about this issue.

Other science centers had started releasing videos at that time. Thus, you can find similar content on YouTube. At least we have produced different content by adopting the storytelling technique. Is it reasonable to produce similar content online? … It would be okay if the services were offered offline, but if we upload a similar video online, viewers see the same thing over and over again. … Now, we have figured out at least some content or videos that we did not need to create. We realized that larger science centers were able to produce them with better quality. (SC Educator 1, Interview 2, February 2021 )

SC Educator 1 felt it was important for her and her colleagues to pay attention to the originality of their online content compared with that of other science museums. She realized that similar content could not attract audiences, so she tried to create a niche for their content in comparison with other science museums and YouTube creators. They needed to determine what role they could play in this new market and were often surprised by audience responses.

We were surprised when one short experiment video about growing bacteria gained so many more views than some of the other videos that we had created with a lot more effort. Why did this happen? Was this the kind of content viewers wanted from our science center? Later we found that the rapid increase in views for this video was because it had been linked to another educational platform. So [we thought] what direction should we go? Is it our position and role to create and distribute helpful content to schools as a public institution? (SC Educator 1, Interview 2, February 2021 )

The non-face-to-face environment and unexpected audience feedback made SC Educator 1 and the other educators question their identities as informal science educators and re-consider their roles during the pandemic. Initially, the SC educators partially replaced their original educational programs with the most accessible alternative: YouTube videos. They realized that the YouTube videos lacked audience interaction , so they adopted the storytelling technique to create new content, despite its limitations. The implementation of the new tasks was aided by the SC staff’s diverse backgrounds and collaborative spirit. While intently analyzing the audience’s responses to videos by monitoring likes and comments, the SC staff were constantly re-considering their roles and the types of educational programs and cultural events they should develop.

Exhibits with online content

The SC educators found they could also use the online content they had produced for use with the offline exhibits in future when people were allowed to visit the center again. SC educators added QR codes to relevant exhibits so that visitors could access supplemental content using their mobile phones while visiting the gallery and even access and review the linked content after they left the center. Examples of supplemental content included additional explanations from docents, interviews with historians, and more detailed images and simulations. In particular, they provided a QR codebook with serial codes of related exhibits on the exhibition hall floor map (see Fig.  2 ), providing online content for groups of exhibits based on several themes. Visitors could guide themselves with the book, thus replacing the exhibition tour led by a docent. This service started as a social distancing effort to help avoid or decrease face-to-face contacts for both visitors and staff members.

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Exhibition guided tour with QR code

It was unexpected that this method could provide more free-choice learning opportunities than the traditional guided tours using a docent. One educator depicted her experience of how this finding challenged her fixed ideas that face-to-face services are better than non-face-to-face services.

I had believed that face-to-face services and meeting visitors were the best. I thought it was friendly and good service. I changed my initial thoughts through my experiences and based on the evidence I collected while implementing the QR code service. Visitors seemed to enjoy the center more while following their interests and needs. They spent more time in the exhibits than before. This was a crucial opportunity for me to understand that sticking to face-to-face service is not everything. (SC Educator 6, Interview 2, February 2021 )

SC Educator 6 observed that visitors spent more time in the exhibits and enjoyed this self-guided tour more than the guided tours. Thus, she challenged her preconceived notion that traditional face-to-face docent tours were superior to this digitalizing method. In different interviews, SC Educators 9 and 3 remarked that visitors were pleased with the QR code service because they could utilize it at any time of day, according to their preferences, as opposed to having to schedule a guided tour.

In addition, while the SC was locked down, the educators hosted a YouTube live guided tour event featuring a famous YouTuber here in Korea. Viewers could navigate the gallery based on their preferences by controlling the YouTuber as if he were their avatar in order to view specific exhibits and conduct experiments. The SC educators discovered alternative ways to utilize digitized content and online services that challenged their conceptions of what free-choice learning entailed. The SC educators agreed that the alternatives were not only effective in the short term but could also be maintained in the post-COVID-19 era based on audiences’ feedback from the perspective of free-choice learning.

Real-time interactive online classes

Several face-to-face educational programs and cultural events such as advanced experimental laboratory classes, a 1-day ecology program designed for families, and a Science Day event were all canceled in the early stages of pandemic. As the museum closure progressed, SC educators determined a way to run a variety of programs for students, families, and adults using online interactive formats. One method that proved to be popular was to have SC educators perform experiments online while viewers who had registered for activity kits followed along at home and conducted their own experiments using the kit materials they had received in the mail. As SC educators learned how to use interactive platforms such as Zoom, these activities evolved into a new type of museum content involving real-time interactions between instructors, students, and their peers. Figure  3 presents three selected programs: crafting with everyday objects course, mentoring to guide students in their careers by engaging in dialogue with an invited science-related professional, and a course conducted in collaboration with other science museums that focused on engaging in experiments at home. It took about a month for SC educators to develop, pilot, and monitor these courses using volunteer students before they felt confident enough to market the programs and register participants.

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Three example programs of real-time interactive classes.

The first program to be introduced was crafting with commonplace objects. This course was created with the intention of assisting people in overcoming depression (known as “corona blues” in Korea) by fostering a feeling of achievement. After delivering the craft items to the applicants, the SC educators conducted the courses in real-time online with registered participants.

The second program was conducted as a small-group activity with a limited number of applicants to help ensure that students could engage in sustained conversation with invited speakers as part of a career mentoring program. Rather than invite famous people, the SC educators chose to invite young scientists and related professionals to encourage friendly and comfortable dialogues that were accessible for young mentees. Another unexpected benefit of the pandemic was that this online format even allowed the SC to recruit international speakers to serve as mentors for the course. This would not have been as feasible without the use of virtual tools.

The third program was a co-developed experimental course designed by SC educators who collaborated with educators from other informal science institutions. This program took considerable preparation as the SC educators needed to first conduct a workshop for the instructors who would be teaching the real-time online classes to become accustomed to the Zoom platform and to be able to integrate and use various functions and additional instruction tools, such as Padlet and Jamboards, to help maximize participant interaction . The SC educators hired several facilitators to help assist the instructors to ensure that students who enrolled in the courses were able to effectively communicate and interact with the instructor and their peers. When asked about the effectiveness of engaging facilitators to support the instructors in the courses, one SC educator responded:

We tried our best to maximize interaction with learners. For example, we kept learners talking using a chatbox and asked them to turn their cameras on. Staff and other facilitators assisted instructors in focusing on their lectures. They answered the students’ questions during lecturing and helped individual students when equipment malfunctioned. (SC Educator 3, Interview 2, February 2021 .

The SC instructors found that online classes made it easier in some respects to interact with students. They found that during online classes, facilitators could identify and meet the needs of individual students. For example, while the main instructor was giving lectures, the facilitators utilized a chatbox to respond to students who were having trouble understanding. In addition, facilitators could use messaging tools to try to elicit responses from less responsive students. The SC educators realized such tools provided students who may be marginalized in traditional face-to-face interactions with a means to ask questions and be engaged. Such positive outcomes challenged several SC educators’ ideas about how to best provide educational content. Additionally, when asked to reflect on the impact of collaborating with educators at other institutions to plan and develop these new courses, SC educators noted that collaboration helped to contribute to their growth and expertise. In the past, when the SC educators developed online programs, they were often in the position of competing with other programs being developed by other museums. This did not encourage collaboration. During the pandemic, however, when all content was available online, the SC educators felt less pressure to compete and develop networks to create programs of better quality.

However, due to the rapid introduction of online platforms, educators faced unexpected difficulties related to institutional regulations and lack of financial support. For example, at the start of the pandemic, employees outside of the educational content development team rejected paying instructors’ expenses for online classes and uploading lecture content instead of engaging in face-to-face lecturing. The institutional regulations did not allow for providing support for online classes. As a result, the SC educators had a difficulty finding experienced instructors and could not hire enough facilitators to assist interactive online classes due to insufficient funding. Moreover, it was challenging to assist individual students about how to use the Zoom platform, since many of the students lacked the digital abilities essential to effectively participate in online education sessions. For instance, in the course on crafting with everyday objects, numerous participants had difficulties following instructors since the right and left sides of the live broadcast were reversed. Some older participants or students with less access to resources (computers, tablets, or reliable internet) suffered a digital gap that resulted in participation hurdles that instructors and facilitators needed to address swiftly.

The SC educators suggested developing a networking strategy to find collective solutions to underlying difficulties induced by the shift of physical museums to an online space. SC Educator 1 reacted to the value of this network by stating that “in the online arena, educational content and programs must be unique compared to other institutions; alternatively, it is preferable to engage with other institutions and establish educational programs and cultural events jointly.“ The strategy was exemplified with a geology course taught jointly by four science institutes. This co-taught geology course included an overview of related concepts (provided by the National Science Museum), close-ups of geologically significant locations (provided by a docent at a geopark), an experiment class conducted to observe lipid samples with a polarized microscope (provided by a municipal science center), and a concluding activity that summarized what was learned (provided by another National Science Museum). This course was provided specifically to marginalized students in a rural area school because these students had access to few educational resources during the pandemic. The goal of the program was to maximize student meaning-making when learning through online classes by providing learners with experience with varied content over an extended period of time.

The SC educators designed real-time online classrooms with an emphasis on interaction . Hence, they hired facilitators to help participants be active and engaged during the class and organized programs with small-group enrollments to allow for an intimate, easy-to- interact atmosphere. Recognizing that they could not avoid being compared to similar institutions who were delivering programs in online contexts, the SC decided to offer audiences programs of wider variety and better quality by strategically employing a networking strategy to partner with other institutions. In addition, they aimed to provide audience members with hands-on experiences by using everyday materials that were already accessible in the home or by delivering experimental kits to people for use in their homes.

Simulation experiments

The SC’s science educators started developing simulation experiments with the goal of providing more complex activities than could be offered with simple laboratory kits. Importantly, the new project needed to be operational regardless of changes in the pandemic restrictions. Thus, educators had to assume that simulation experiments could be implemented in either face-to-face or in online educational environments. They started by first developing equipment simulations that demonstrate how different laboratory equipment works. For example, educators designed a micropipette simulation that operates with the click of a mouse. The simulation allows a user to insert a pipette tip into a sample and to extract and transfer the solution to a vial. This activity is similar to what happens in real laboratories (see Fig.  4 ). The educators devised equipment that users could select from to perform different functions while participating in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) simulation.

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Examples of simulation experiments (left: pipette; right: polymerase chain reaction)

The educators planned to design simulation experiments for students to have authentic learning opportunities rather than cookbook-style experiments. Using data collected from real-world experiments conducted at the SC before the pandemic, the educators were able to identify how and when students most often made mistakes during experiments. They were able to use these data to develop authentic simulation experiments that provided students choices that were similar to real-world activities. For example, students could encounter measuring mistakes or use of the wrong reactants that would change the results of the experiment. When asked to reflect on the importance of having this data, SC Educator 2 noted:

I try to help the students engage in authentic inquiry using simulation experiments as much as possible. The most crucial point is that students can learn from their failures. … I drew my idea of making several options in simulation experiments available to students based on the experience of conducting and assisting experiments before COVID-19. (SC Educator 2, Interview 1, January 2021 )

Similar to the other new strategies, the educators also faced challenges while developing simulations. First, it was not easy to reach a level where users felt that the simulation was realistic. Many users have high standards for graphics due to their experiences playing high-quality online games, so they are not engaged by low-quality content. Overall, the educators were optimistic about improving the quality of their simulations over time as they planned to collect ongoing feedback from users to create better versions in future. SC Educator 2 mentioned that the ultimate goal was for learners to design their own experimental procedures for a given task by being provided with many simulation options.

The educators kept the post-COVID-19 situation in mind while developing the simulated experiments. Rather than temporarily reacting to situations, they imagined different future scenarios and then tried to develop feasible educational programs and cultural events for any situation. They could utilize the simulation experiments in an exclusively online environment if the pandemic situation continued but also planned to be able to apply them as additional tools for face-to-face experiment classes when the pandemic ceased. The simulation service would let students use essential experimental equipment beforehand and save time during actual experimenting. In other words, the educators navigated into the future using different scenarios to develop education sustainability.

The science museum’s evolution in progress

This case study depicted the pandemic response of a municipal science museum located in Korea. It closely examined what kind of educational programs and cultural events the SC educators designed and operated in a situation where science museum galleries and exhibits could not be fully utilized and face-to-face programs were limited. We found four new types of educational programs and cultural events: online content with strategies, exhibits with online content, real-time interactive online classes, and simulation experiments. We also described the difficulties and limitations the educators experienced while they digitalized educational programs and cultural events and utilized online platforms, at the same time realizing the advantages and potentials of the new approaches. The science museum educators utilized a few key strategies—collaboration, networking, and feedback—to address difficulties in providing new educational services.

During the pandemic, the educators collaborated, capitalizing on other staff members’ different academic backgrounds and resources to undertake unfamiliar tasks. They then developed a networking strategy to utilize resources of similar institutions and science museums. In particular, the educators promoted a networking strategy because the educators realized that unlike non-face-to-face education targeting a local audience, virtual visitors may find and compare similar online content created at different science museums to be redundant. Developing co-conducted educational programs that can highlight unique contributions of individual museums can be more effective. In addition, while it was commonplace to seek feedback from visitors before the pandemic, during the pandemic, it was crucial for educators to develop new skills for collecting user feedback and analyzing data from new programs to understand audience reactions in online environments. By actively learning how to interpret online feedback, the educators were able to improve education programs through a systemic process.

In particular, we analyzed the essential attributes of SC education that the educators considered while planning and operating each educational program and cultural event. The SC educators quickly found alternatives, such as making YouTube videos, to continue the operation of the science museum. They then redesigned these alternatives to reflect essential attributes of science museum learning. Due to the unusual situation of the pandemic, educators were forced to pause and reflect on daily tasks and to ask questions like, “What should we do?” “How should we operate the science museum when people cannot physically attend?” “What kinds of education programs should we design?” and “Who is our audience at this time and who will be our audience in the future?” These questions are rarely raised in normal situations where the educators are busy with daily work. The COVID-19 crisis provided an opportunity for museum educators to reflect on the nature of science museum education. These attributes—interaction, free-choice learning, hands-on experience, and authentic learning—are not differentiated from currently valued characteristics of informal learning or science museum education. This study’s contribution is a description of how the educators embodied their beliefs about museums’ essential attributes, outlining both the difficulties and limitations experienced and the emergent advantages and potential of non-face-to-face methods using digitalized content and online platforms.

This research’s findings can be compared to the real-virtual divide concerned raised by Mintz ( 1998 ) more than 20 years ago when she argued that authentic museum educational experiences are only possible during a real physical visit. Mintz asserted that while media and advances in technology can be used to convey information, high-resolution photographs and links to online resources do not constitute a museum and cannot replicate the richness of real museum visits. Thus, Mintz concluded that a virtual museum experience is, at its essence, a media experience, not a museum experience. Since then, researchers and informal educators have often regarded virtual museum visits as secondary or surrogate experiences to physical ones, emphasizing the importance of having an unmediated experience with real objects in museums rather than a technology-mediated experience.

More recently, as technology has advanced and the global use of technology in daily life has been greatly expanded through smartphone and hand-held devices, Schweibenz ( 2012 ) offered that the real and virtual museum experiences are actually distinct entities. While emphasizing that a virtual visit could never substitute for visiting in person, Schweibenz noted that people have distinct motivations and expectations for visiting museums in person or online. People visit museums in person to see original objects; to learn and be entertained by exploring hands-on exhibits, particularly in science museums; to tour architectural buildings and galleries; and to have social interactions among family members and friends. A virtual visit cannot realize all of these motivations, despite the incredible advances in technology, including AR and VR components that have greatly improved the quality of virtual museum visits. However, the unprecedented global closures of museums caused by the pandemic have required museum educators to implement a wide range of digital content intended to, at least temporarily, substitute for real-world visits.

These circumstances have prompted museum educators to re-consider how to effectively balance physical assets with digitalization approaches. As in the case of the Vatican Museums, whose use of social media promotions to engage young people raised some concerns about whether the identity and integrity of the museums had been endangered as these young visitors appeared to be more were attracted by the influencers’ backgrounds than the museums’ artworks. Galani and Kidd ( 2020 ) contend that the pandemic affords the opportunity to examine the dialectical relationship that exists between the digital environment and the physical material. Their claim is that as museums have experienced digitalization shifts in lieu of physical material visits, new hybrid materiality has become conceivable within and through digital spaces. The SC educators continuously investigated the physical aspects that could be compatible with and accessible through digitalization. In real-time online classes, the educators conducted educational programs using commonplace objects or delivered sets of materials in advance, so students could physically access them. In addition, co-developed education programs provided learners with physical experiences by providing digital recordings of geopark docents explaining geological parks, while visitors accessed outdoor sites. In a paradoxical way, these attempts included physical characteristics in the digital environment, allowing the SC educators to develop a kind of hybrid materiality to afford visitors’ learning and active engagement. We hope to see more research focused on this development in informal science education contexts in future.

Forecasting the future of science museums

It is difficult to predict the future of science museum education or to suggest a common vision because each science museum is located in different cultures and contexts. Thus, we asked the educators to ponder the future of their institutions and describe their goals for long-lasting educational programs and cultural events. The SC educators forecast the future of science museum education in Korea as follows. First, science museum education will be diversified and will become more integrated. In the face of closures necessitated by the pandemic, SC educators tried and developed various digitalized content and actively utilized online platforms. In addition, they planned for the implementation of online-based education, expecting that a situation similar to the pandemic could happen if a different virus was to spread in future.

To be more responsive to change in future, SC administrators and educators devoted effort and re-allocated the budget to support the development and implementation of educational programs that could be flexible in any situation. They also sought to integrate digitalized content with exhibits and physical galleries as they continued to believe in the educational merits of the physical space and exhibits. Finally, the SC educators forecasted that science museum staff will continue to engage in sustainable collaboration through networking so that they will be able to secure more diverse resources to overcome future crises. Both the OECD and ICOM have been encouraging museums worldwide to serve as active agents to offer solutions in critical areas such as the Sustainable Development Goals and climate change education (Byun 2020 ). In this regard, ICOM has urged museums to build a variety of cooperative relationships and networks (ICOM 2019).

Kidman and Chang ( 2020 ) argued that “during times of crisis, how information is produced and consumed has an immense impact on society, economy, and education” (p. 107). We agree and believe that maintaining collaboration and networking is crucial for managing how the public can access information of importance from science museums during future crises. We hope that our research can support museum educators in other contexts to consider how they can develop and strengthen their own efforts to be in a position to be more responsive when future crises may once again globally disrupt formal and informal education systems. We can report positive evidence that this initiative is gaining some traction as it was recently announced that a network of Korean science museums has started a project to compile and arrange climate change-related teaching programs from more than 20 Korean science museums (Ministry of Science and ICT 2021 ). This kind of collaboration and networking offers informal science education researchers important research opportunities to identify the learning affordances offered and to consider the challenges for educators and visitors.

Acknowlegments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2020K2A9A1A01096596).

Biographies

is an assistant professor in the Division of Liberal Studies at Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, South Korea. She received a B.S. from the Physics department, an M.S. from the History and Philosophy of Science program, and a Ph.D. from Science Education. In addition, she had work experience in science culture, such as the National Science Museum in Korea. Her research interests lie in the areas of socioscientific issues, nature of science, and nature of technology.

is a researcher at the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity. She holds her B.S., M.S., and Ph. D. degrees in Science Education from Seoul National University. Her research focuses on expanding science teaching and learning opportunities in diverse contexts. She is particularly interested in promoting youths’ agencies to change their own lives and communities regarding socioscientific issues such as climate change. Her current research also focuses on developing innovative education platforms for adaptive learning to promote students’ competences.

graduated with an MA in the Department of Science Education at Seoul National University. Before starting her master degree research, she was a secondary school science educator. Her research interests are how to improve science learning and teaching methods for diverse students. She is also interested in considering science learning in diverse contexts, particularly, in online media and informal learning environments, including science museums.

is a Professor of Science Education at Seoul National University in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Sonya holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Bryn Mawr College, and master’s degrees in Elementary Education and in Chemistry Education from the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. She also holds a doctoral degree in Science Education from Curtin University in Australia. Her research focuses on identifying science teacher practices that promote learning for diverse students and on promoting the professionalization of science teachers through classroom-based participatory research. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Asia-Pacific Science Education and serves as an editorial board member for several other journals and book series.

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Museums as avenues of learning for children: a decade of research

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  • Volume 20 , pages 47–76, ( 2017 )

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  • Lucija Andre   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2125-3264 1 ,
  • Tracy Durksen 2 &
  • Monique L. Volman 1  

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In this review, we focus on the museum activities and strategies that encourage and support children’s learning. In order to provide insight into what is known about children’s learning in museums, we examined study content, methodology and the resultant knowledge from the last decade of research. Because interactivity is increasingly seen as essential in children’s learning experiences in a museum context, we developed a framework that distinguishes between three main interactivity types for facilitating strategies and activities in children’s learning: child–adults/peers; child–technology and child–environment. We identify the most promising strategies and activities for boosting children’s learning as situated in overlapping areas of these interactivity types. Specifically, we identify scaffolding as a key to enhanced museum learning. Our review concludes by highlighting research challenges from the last decade and recommendations for practice and future research on how to design, evaluate and guide theoretically-grounded educational programs for children in museums.

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Introduction

“A museum is an educational country fair” (Semper 1990 , p. 50) that is rich with exciting things for individuals to explore and discover through touch and inquiry. Museums direct learning by providing visitors with unique opportunities to explore various concepts of mathematics, art and social science. As with museum education experts (e.g. Falk and Dierking 2000 ; Falk and Storksdieck 2005 ; Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri 2000 ; Kelly 2007 ), we recognise the need for a conceptual change from museums as places of education to places for learning. By responding to the needs and interests of visitors, we believe that museums can transform from “being about something to being for somebody” (Weil 1999 , p. 229).

Children’s learning takes place in a range of formal (i.e. traditional classroom) and informal settings (e.g. unstructured and self-paced museum program; Falk and Dierking 2000 ). Generally, learning in museums and other non-school-based environments is referred to as informal or free-choice learning and is qualitatively different learning from that in schools (Falk and Dierking 2000 ). As a result, findings from research in school-based settings are not easily transferable to museums because learning in museums operates in rich and complex sites and focuses on concrete material such as objects and exhibits (Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri 2000 ).

Although the last three decades of museum research have resulted in significant findings and advances, there are many knowledge gaps about learning in museums. For example, the importance of visitor’s personal context (motivation and experience), social interaction and the museum context are highlighted as important factors in museum learning and meaning making (e.g. Falk and Dierking 2000 ). However, we know very little about children’s learning processes and results from experiences in different museum types, and how their learning can be best guided. Moreover, there is a need to map the appropriate research approaches that would facilitate this goal.

For the purpose of this review, we define museums as informal learning environments as accessible by the public, based on the subjects of science, history, archeology and arts, and involving various objects and exhibits (live and/or simulated) and programs. Consequently, we refer to various types of museum such as: science museums and centres, children’s museums, history and archaeology museums, and art museums/galleries. Interactivity is a focus of this review because it is increasingly seen as essential in children’s learning experiences in a museum context (e.g. Cheng et al. 2011 ; Falk and Storksdieck 2005 ). That is, learning is seen as embedded in the interactive process between children and knowledgeable ones, and media at hand, which makes children’s museum learning both dialogical and hands-on (Henderson and Atencio 2007 ).

Audiences of various ages, including children, visit museums. A bibliographic review by Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri ( 2000 ) focused on a decade (1990–1999) of general museum learning research and highlighted how children’s museum learning was mainly studied in the context of science museums in the United States. Very little was revealed about children’s learning in history and archaeology museums or art galleries, and in other countries. The majority of research in science museums concentrated on exhibits, while learning through participation in educational programs or while using educational materials was scarce. Most of the studies reviewed by Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri used a positivistic approach to learning with an emphasis on testing hypotheses.

Research on child-focused museum programs primarily aimed to understand children’s learning from a theoretical base, used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, and placed learning within the sociocultural context. The effect of interactions with adults on children’s museum experience was highlighted with attention to adult scaffolding as particularly supportive of children’s learning. Overall, Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri ( 2000 ) identified a need for more research into children’s learning across various types of museums. Also, they made a plea for research that makes the study design transparent, by clearly describing the process of museum learning, and how it is the same as or different from learning processes in other sites.

Children represent one of the major museum visitor groups and not just in children’s museums. For example, in the United States, about 80 % of museums provide educational programs for children (Bowers 2012 ) and spend more than $2 billion a year on education activities (American Alliance of Museums 2009 ). Although a surprisingly-high number of museums offer educational programs for children, there is no review focusing mainly on children’s learning within museums. In particular, very little is known about preschool and elementary school-aged children learning in museums. In order to create museum environments that are conducive to children’s learning, there is a growing desire for museum professionals and researchers in museum education to know more about children’s learning in museums. To move this process forward, there is a need to form a foundation based on previous research efforts, identify issues and present directions for future research on children’s museum learning.

This review is, to the best of our knowledge, the first that covers both theoretical and empirical studies about children’s learning in various museums types in the last decade (1999–2012) and across countries. Based on the identified gaps in the research, an agenda for future research into children’s learning in museums is offered. The review is scientifically relevant in two ways: (a) it provides an overview of learning theories and methodologies for studying learning in museums, which can be used by museum researchers and for other informal learning studies and (b) it develops a framework of facilitating strategies and activities for children’s learning in museums. We conclude with practical implications that offer a foundation for museum professionals in designing theoretically-grounded and effective educational programs for this target group of visitors, and help museum educators, teachers and families to facilitate children’s learning in various types of museums.

The overall aim of our review is to provide insight into what is known about children’s learning in museums worldwide over the last decade, while focusing on how learning can best be facilitated. Specifically, we aim to identify what has been studied, how children’s learning in museum has been studied and what knowledge this research has yielded. We focused the analysis of what has been studied about the strategies and activities aimed at facilitating children’s learning in museums. Specified questions were aimed at distinguishing the what (e.g. different strategies and activities) and how of children’s learning in museums. First, however, we want to characterise the research in terms of learning theories that inform the research on children’s learning in museums and the methodological approaches used. By mapping the well-recognised learning theories and research methods, we aim to prepare the ground for further research improvements. To this end, we posed the following research questions:

Which learning theories informed the research?

Which methodological approaches were applied?

Who and what were facilitating the learning?

Which activities and strategies were used to facilitate children’s learning?

What knowledge has the research yielded about children’s learning in museums?

Article selection

We performed the literature search for related articles in February 2012. We initially searched the database of the Web of Science for peer-reviewed theoretical and empirical articles published between 1999 and 2012 and relevant to children’s learning in museums. The reason for starting the search in 1999 was that a comprehensive bibliographic review of research on this topic until 1999 is available (Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri 2000 ). Articles were included if they were: (a) written in English; (b) published between 1999 and 2012; (c) provided a definition or description of learning in museums within the theoretical, methodological or results sections and (d) focused on preschool or elementary-school visitors under 12 years old (identified as the general age for the start of high school in most of the study populations). We excluded articles on visitors of high-school age because younger children’s museum experiences can be qualitatively different and depend on their development of abstract-level thinking/operations (Van Schijndel et al. 2010 ). We also excluded articles from our review if the focus was on museum curators’ learning or training programs and if articles lacked a clearly-stated theoretical and/or methodological approach. However, because the museum field is developing, in a few cases, we decided to include resources that did not completely match our inclusion criteria, because they could help to answer our research questions.

Our five-step review procedure is summarised in Table  1 . Step 1 involved a search of the Web of Science database. Step 2 focused on two leading journals on research and theory in museum education ( Curator: The Museum Journal and Journal of Museum Education ). In Step 3, we examined the results of 264 studies, with 33 deemed to be relevant to this review. Step 4 involved a concurrent search during which we compiled an additional eight articles from leading researchers in the field of museum education, our review of 33 reference lists, and familiar empirical research. Lastly, Step 5 centred on identifying key resources. In total, our review was based on 44 sources (identified in the reference list with an asterisk): 41 peer-reviewed articles, a review (Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri 2000 ), a doctoral dissertation (Kelly 2007 ), and a book (Falk and Dierking 2000 ). Of the selected articles, we identified articles that were written by the same author/coauthor more than once: Falk (3), Piscitelli (2), Tenenbaum (2) and Weier (2).

Analysis strategy

Our analysis of the 44 sources involved three subsequent rounds. First, we examined the articles in order to develop a general profile of the research on children’s museum learning. This round of analysis was also aimed at identifying the main learning theories (research question 1) and methodological approaches (research question 2) used in research on children’s museum learning. Our interpretations of the theories and/or the methodologies applied in empirical studies were guided by Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri ( 2000 ) and the reviewed theoretical papers. The second round of analysis sought to answer research questions 3 and 4 while contributing to the development of a framework of facilitating strategies and activities. This framework was further developed during several discussions between the first and the third author after a first reading of the articles. We present our framework in the methods section (under Analysis scheme), as it was used to analyse the literature in the third round of analysis and to organise the main part of the review (research questions 3, 4 and 5). In the third round of analysis, the first author used the framework to code the articles. Also the other columns of Table  3 in Appendix were filled. The second author checked the coding and Table  3 for unclear aspects and inconsistencies. If necessary, the original articles were consulted, and Table  3 was complemented or changed. The second author critically reviewed the interpretations as presented in the text.

Analysis scheme

The highlighted value and different forms of interactivity (as the core of a learner’s museum experience) guided our framework development. In fact, interactivity became the focus for our unit of analysis (facilitating strategies and activities in children’s museum learning). It is important to note that, within our framework, we refer to facilitating strategy in a much broader sense than activity. That is, while the latter presents a specific and single activity type or task (e.g. to tell a story), the former comprises a structured or semi-structured combination of different activities (e.g. hands-on, story-telling, explanation) that have a shared learning goal. Table  2 presents the seven descriptors that we used when coding facilitating strategies and activities. Figure  1 displays an illustration of our framework in which we distinguish between three main interactivity types (coded 1 to 3) and four that share qualities of the main types (coded 4 to 7).

The framework of facilitating strategies and activities in children’s learning in museums

In this section, we present an overall profile of the reviewed resources, theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches and information sources used, as well as results based on applying our framework for children’s learning in museums. Because research context has a major effect on the way in which learning is conceived and on the research methodologies chosen (Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri 2000 ), we present our findings according to type of museum: science museums and centres, children’s museums, natural history museums, and art museums/galleries. (In cases for which the research encompassed more than one museum type, we grouped the research within the science museums and centre type, as this was the most common type.) Findings are presented in narratives and augmented with examples. Table  3 in Appendix presents a systematic overview of the reviewed empirical studies along with methodological characteristics and study design.

Profile of the research

As displayed through Fig.  2 , our review revealed children’s learning in museums as being researched primarily in science museums and centres, followed by history museums (especially natural history museums)—adding up two thirds of the research. In contrast, very few research studies were conducted within children’s and art museums and galleries. The majority of study participants were children older than six years, with much research focusing on 9-years-old and elementary-school students (52.28 %). Out of 44 studies, about half (47.72 %) focused on children (under 9 years old) and took place in Australian and American museums (e.g. Anderson et al. 2002 ; Mallos 2012 ). About two-thirds of the studies reviewed focused on field-trip visits to museums from schools, with less of an emphasis on family learning. However, interactions within parent–child dialogues during a family visit and within whole-class and small-group settings were the focus of the majority of the studies, with peer dialogue interactions studied at a slightly lesser extent (see Table  3 in Appendix). A somewhat surprising finding was how few studies examined children’s exploratory behaviour while learning during a museum program or exhibit.

Percentage of total 44 reviewed sources presented per museum type

Of the 44 articles, more than half were conducted in the US (59.09 %), with the remainder spanning a range of locations (13.63 % in Australia, 9.09 % in the UK, 9.09 % in Europe, 6.81 % in Asia and 2.27 % in Canada). The majority of the research was empirical (31 articles) and cited descriptive or exploratory case studies and surveys (with the exception of one ethnographic study). As well, two action-research studies and 13 experimental studies were included (see “ Appendix ”). The remaining articles were categorised as theoretical (12 resources) or a review (1 article). Most of the descriptive research depicted learning activities, interactive exhibitions, conversations with museum educators or parents and peers (and the roles that they take), as well as children’s interactions and learning experiences with the exhibit or with objects in museums. Most of the theoretical studies (27.27 %) focused on the conceptualisation of the nature of learning in museums (Falk 2004 ; Falk and Dierking 2000 ; Falk and Storksdieck 2005 ), characteristics of learning in museums (e.g. Rennie and Johnston 2004 ) and the design of the research in learning in museums (e.g. Reisman 2008 ).

Theoretical perspectives

In the last decade, constructivism and, in particular, sociocultural theory have greatly impacted children’s programs/exhibition and museum learning research designs (Bamberger and Tal 2007 ; Falk and Storksdieck 2005 ; Martell 2008 ; Rahm 2004 ). Also, researchers have highlighted how the museum environment influences theory choice (Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri 2000 ). Sociocultural theory extends Vygotsky’s ( 1978 ) concept of learning as a socially-mediated process in which learners are jointly responsible for their learning. Specifically, Vygotsky outlined the idea that human activities are formed by an individual’s historical development and take place in a cultural context through social interactions that are mediated by language and other cultural symbol systems. Vygotsky’s theory highlights the importance of scaffolding when learning—as the temporal verbal and nonverbal guidance provided by adults when assisting children at tasks—in order to help them to move towards understanding, independent learning or task/concept mastery. The importance of guidance was evident in our review (Van Schijndel et al. 2010 ; Wolf and Wood 2012 ) and was provided in a variety of ways (modeling, posing of questions). Several researchers (DeWitt 2008 ; Martell 2008 ; Rahm 2004 ; Zimmerman et al. 2008 ) who used sociocultural theory focused their analyses on parent–child and school–group conversational interactions. For example, Zimmerman et al. ( 2008 ) examined the interweaving role of children’s cognitive resources, social interaction and cultural resources in knowledge construction and meaning-making of the scientific content and practices.

In 2000, Falk and Dierking applied sociocultural theory to museum learning research to highlight not only what happens during a museum visit, but also the where and with whom . This theoretical milestone centred on the development of the contextual model of learning (CML) as a general framework for learning in museums (see also Falk and Storksdieck 2005 ). The CML identifies 11 factors that influence learning and sorts them into three main contexts: personal, physical and sociocultural. The personal context represents the history that an individual takes into the learning situation of a museum (i.e. individual’s motivation and expectations, prior knowledge and experience, interests and beliefs, and choice and control). The physical context includes: advance organizers, orientation to the physical setting, architecture and physical space, design of the exhibit, and subsequent reinforcing events. On the other hand, the sociocultural context (i.e. within-group social mediation and facilitated mediation by others) involves visitors as part of a social group (e.g. family, school, preschool) that form a community of learners. Socially-mediated learning in museums also occurs through interactions with knowledgeable adults (parents, curators and teachers) using scaffolding strategies during programs/exhibits to maximise children’s learning. Sociocultural theory (as well as a moderate use of constructivism) was also evident in Tenenbaum et al. ( 2004 ) application of Fischer’s skill theory (Fischer and Bidell 1998 ). Here, skills are domain-specific and there is a high degree of variability across tasks and contexts (Fischer and Bidell 1998 ).

Overall, the specific museum environment was found to have an impact on the choice of learning theory (Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri 2000 ). The theory of social practices (a type of sociocultural theory) conceptualises knowledge as practical understanding and ability, with practice being situational ‘doing’ in relation to social and material surroundings (Reckwitz 2002 ). Based on this theory, Wöhrer and Harrasser ( 2011 ) proposed a framework that helps understanding of children’s practices in the context of, and in relation to the setting of, children’s museum. Within this framework is a focus on children’s interactions with technological objects in different settings and through games. Children’s knowledge acquisition was considered to be embedded in their handling of objects and involved task performance.

Additional theories emerged from our review. For example, Milutinović and Gajić’s ( 2010 ) study within the context of art museums/galleries was rich with multisensory experience activities and aligned well with Gardner’s ( 1999 ) theory of multiple intelligences. Another example of theoretically-framed research within children’s museums included exhibits of real-life social and nature environments (e.g. Puchner et al. 2001 ). Such research aligned well with Bandura’s social cognitive theory ( 1986 ) given the focus on learning as a change in mental representations because of experience that could, or could not, be manifested in behaviour.

Methodological approach and information sources

The last decade of research into children’s museum learning is rich with examples of how quantitative and qualitative methods can help to describe facilitating activities and strategies, children’s learning experience, engagement with an exhibit, and assessing learning. For example, we found a number of the studies that used qualitative approaches to provide a more-comprehensive portrayal of children’s museum learning (see “ Appendix ”). Compared with the previous decade, there has also been an increase in longitudinal designs about assessment of learning (e.g. Anderson et al. 2002 , 2008 ; Rahm 2004 ). The findings of this review were in contrast to those of Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri’s ( 2000 ) review, for which the methodological approach was mainly positivistic and focused on hypothesis testing.

Our review revealed 31 empirical studies whose characteristics and study designs are systematically presented in the “ Appendix ”. Much of the qualitative research performed in museums was classified as descriptive. Often case-study designs (e.g. microanalysis or multiple case studies) or action research designs were used, mainly in art museum/galleries (e.g. Martell 2008 ; Milutinović and Gajić 2010 ). Qualitative data collection included pre/post interviews, field notes and participatory observations of activities and interactions. Reviews of documents such as children’s drawings were used in art museums/galleries and science centres (Martell 2008 ; Milutinović and Gajić 2010 ), whereas worksheet assignments and children’s diaries were used in history and science museums (e.g. Martell 2008 ). The most recommended information source in all types of museums for capturing adult–child, peer–peer and child–object/exhibit interactions, learning experience, and to describe children’s behaviour, were video recordings (for example, see Martell 2008 ).

In science and (natural) history museums, quantitative research methods typically addressed the use and effectiveness of learning activities and strategies or educational programs. Quantitative information sources used in all types of museums research often involved surveys that required children or teacher/parent to answer closed- or open-ended questions (e.g. Bamberger and Tal 2007 ; Murriello and Knobel 2008 ; Zimmerman et al. 2008 ). However, measuring preschool children’s learning in relation to interactivity has proved to be a challenge in museum education research (Van Schijndel et al. 2010 ). Because a focus on children’s verbalisation is best combined with is a focus on their actions, Van Schijndel et al. ( 2010 ) used an exploratory behavioural scale that measures children’s behaviour and the quality of interactions.

All of the reviewed studies were of high quality, particularly with respect to clearly stating the purpose of their study, describing the study setting (e.g. type of the museum, exhibit, educational program and its duration, strategies and activities used) and specifying the people involved (e.g. museum educators, teachers, parents). As museum learning is difficult to measure (Reisman 2008 ), most studies we reviewed benefited from the use of the multiple instruments in assessing children’s learning (e.g. Bamberger and Tal 2007 ; Benjamin et al. 2010 ; Palmquist and Crowley 2007 ). However, we also noted a few methodological shortcomings of the reviewed studies.

When interpreting the study results, we were cognizant of a range of limitations. First, one third of the empirical studies did not cite the number of participants. With the exception of a few studies (see “ Appendix ”), others specified a small sample size ( N  < 100) that influenced the power of the study. Second, most of the studies in art and children museums did not report the reliabilities associated with their instruments or coding structures. Science museums and centres, as well as history museums did, but they reported moderate to high reliabilities for the instruments used (α = 0.60 and 0.95). Lastly, studies that primarily relied on the use of subjective measures in the assessment of learning (e.g. interviews and self-reports), could have measurement bias, which can be solved by the use of more objective measures (e.g. knowledge tests).

Overall, the challenge for researchers investigating children’s learning in museums is to account for a multitude of confounding, competing and mutually-influencing factors (e.g. motivation and beliefs, design of the exhibition, social interaction; Falk and Dierking 2000 ). In order to answer this challenge, Reisman ( 2008 ) has argued for the use of design-based research (DBR), including both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies in a complementary way. Although this approach has been primarily used in formal education for creating complex interventions in classroom settings (e.g. Brown 1992 ), it is beginning to be used in science museums for examining the process of learning. Because DBR often combines qualitative and quantitative measures to study learning, it allows observing the system holistically while maintaining awareness of the changes in the learning process, interactions and resulting outcomes (Reisman 2008 ).

Framework of children’s learning in museums

The reviewed studies focused on children’s interactions with adult guides (e.g. curator, parent, teacher, scientist) and technology, accompanied with hands-on activities that facilitated children’s learning. Our review revealed the dominance of facilitating strategies and activities present in seven interactivity types defined in Table  2 : (1) child–adults/peers, (2) child–technology, (3) child–environment, (4) child–environment–adults/peers, (5) child–technology–adults/peers, (6) child–technology–environment and (7) total interaction. What follows is a description of interactivity according to four learning contexts: science museums, children’s museums, (natural) history museums and art museums/galleries.

Science museums

Science museums and centres are valuable resources for first-hand technological exploration that often are not available for students in formal learning settings (Glick and Samarapungavan 2008 ). Moreover, they are considered helpful resources for supporting the inclusion of gifted children, teacher professional development and field trips (Henderson and Atencio 2007 ). During the last decade, the role of museum guide in science museums and centres has become more geared towards interaction with children (Cheng et al. 2011 ). Not surprisingly, the majority of reviewed studies (15) were within the context of science museums. Most of these studies focused on students’ learning during field trips and family visits to the museum, with seven studies on preschool learning. Mainly studies of effectiveness took place within science museums and centres (see “ Appendix ”) and they focused on the effectiveness of interactive exhibitions, museum/school interventions and coaching. Analyses performed in the reviewed studies focused on the extent of exhibit exploration, knowledge and understanding of science concepts and phenomena, and attitudes.

We also reviewed studies that demonstrated the child–environment–adults/peers interactivity type by using different levels of guidance to explore children’s learning (see Bamberger and Tal 2007 ; Rahm 2004 ; Van Schijndel et al. 2010 ). While Van Schijndel et al. ( 2010 ) explored scaffolding, explaining and minimal coaching style on preschool children’s hands-on behaviour, Bamberger and Tal ( 2007 ) inspected three levels of choice activities (free-choice, limited-choice, and no-choice interactivity). Results revealed three key findings: (1) the scaffolding coaching style implied that the guide aroused the child’s investigations to the next level by asking open questions and directing the child’s attention to specific exhibit parts, (2) the explaining coaching style included an exhibit demonstration and its explanation (e.g. causal connections, physical principles) and (3) the minimal coaching style (child–environment interactivity) served as the control condition (the child freely interacted with the exhibit; Van Schijndel et al. 2010 ).

Overall, this selection of findings revealed that different levels of scaffolding and guidance yielded differences in children’s learning. That is, children showed more active manipulation with the exhibit when coached with the scaffolding style, and more exploratory behaviour when coached with the explaining style (Van Schijndel et al. 2010 ). While limited-choice activities yielded the most advantages (e.g. promoted teamwork during problem solving), the no-choice activities allowed students to connect experiences from the visit to their school and non-school knowledge (although strongly dependent on the guide’s teaching skills). As anticipated, the free-choice activities (e.g. pressing buttons, operating objects) resulted in insufficient understanding and frustration (Bamberger and Tal 2007 ). Finally, in the study by Rahm ( 2004 ), the children developed an understanding about the exhibit through parents’ and children’s ‘listening in’ during ongoing conversations, observation and the manipulation of an exhibit (child–environment–adults/peers interactivity). Therefore, we consider that visits to museums that include activities founded on scaffolding, limited choice and encouraging parents–child action and conversations (that externalise children’s meaning-making) are most supportive of children’s learning as they develop their natural curiosity into more substantial learning.

In many science museums and centres, the rapid evolution of information and communication technologies have replaced the role of humans in facilitating children’s learning (Cheng et al. 2011 ; Murriello and Knobel 2008 ; Hsu et al. 2006 ). As a result, multiple and overlapping interactivity types are occurring with child–technology (see Fig.  1 ). For example, Hsu et al. ( 2006 ) demonstrated that a child–technology–environment interaction occurred when mobile phones were employed to help to improve elementary-school children’s learning in a science museum. In this study, the pre-visit learning stage included creation of a learning plan by specifying the student’s subjects of interest, visit date and duration of stay. The onsite-visit learning stage took place during the student’s museum visit, where he/she engaged in the learning activity using a handheld device. Learning was made personal when all the tracked learning behaviour was analysed and results informed recommendations for the student. During the post-visit learning stage, the student was encouraged to continue learning via the Internet after leaving the museum.

With advances in computer technologies and networked learning in science museums, educators and researchers have begun to create the next generation of blended learning environments that are highly interactive, learner-centred, authentic, meaningful and fun. One example of child–technology–adults/peers interactivity that involved an interactive computerised simulation exhibit (a 3D virtual brain tour combined with a video game format; Cheng et al. 2011 ) was found to be highly effective as a teaching and learning tool for improving the neuroscience literacy of elementary-school children. First, the exhibit involved a 3D virtual brain tour for which visitors viewed and manipulated the comparison between a normal and a methamphetamine-impaired virtual brain. Next, visitors played a driving video game that simulated driving skills under methamphetamine-abused conditions. The brain models were presented on displays (viewable by multiple people simultaneously) and children used a video game controller to navigate and manipulate the virtual brain, thereby authoring their own learning experience. While the simulation exhibit environment was effective in promoting children’s understanding and attitudes, children performed better if they had parents’ help (child–technology–adults/peers interaction).

Like Cheng et al. ( 2011 ), Murriello and Knobel’s ( 2008 ) study employed technology in order to increase the nanoscience and nanotechnology understanding of children. During an hour-long experience guided by an actor and facilitators, visitors participated in four interactive-collaborative games and watched two narrated videos. Children recounted the rich learning experience about identifying small-scale length or the concept of tiny particles. By studying an educational multimedia experience (music, images and computer simulation) presented in an attractive, playful and modern environment, Murriello and Knobel ( 2008 ) demonstrated the combination of facilitating strategies and activities of all interaction types.

Children’s museums

According to the Association of Children’s Museums ( 2008 ) children’s museums are places where children, usually under the age of 10 years, learn through play while exploring in environments designed for them. For example, one museum’s slogan of “Hands on, minds on, hearts on!” (Wöhrer and Harrasser 2011 , p. 473) refers to a learning concept involving physical, emotional and intellectual experiences—an often-seen characteristic of learning practices in children’s museums. While our conclusions are limited to our review of six articles, the research conducted in children’s museums appears to centre on defining what early learning looks like and on exploring the role of adults in children’s early learning experiences.

Studies revealed that preschool children’s learning within children’s museums exceeds simple acquisition of facts and disciplinary content knowledge and, instead, extends into developmental areas such as procedural or cause/effect learning (e.g. Puchner et al. 2001 ). Although most of the six reviewed studies focused on describing the facilitation strategies and activities, two studies explored learning gains. The positive effects on children’s learning emerged mainly as an outcome of active adult guidance, which provided evidence of a shifted focus from child-centred to family-centred experiences in museum learning (e.g. Benjamin et al. 2010 ; Freedman 2010 ). Museum professionals realised that, in using child-centered approaches, they had overlooked the critical role of adults as members of the learning group, and that their integration into the learning process can offer the impetus to expand the learning experience beyond the museum (Wolf and Wood 2012 ).

The importance of scaffolding was highlighted in most of the studies as an essential strategy for maximising children’s learning during family or school visits to museums (e.g. Benjamin et al. 2010 ; Puchner et al. 2001 ; Wolf and Wood 2012 ). For example, Wolf and Wood ( 2012 ) present the ‘Kindness tree’ exhibit in the Indianapolis children’s museum as an excellent example of scaffolding use. The exhibit told the story of prejudice and intolerance through the life stories of Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges and Ryan White while encouraging children to have the power to confront intolerance by using their words, actions and voices. Scaffolding occurred when parents read messages about kindness acts from magnetic ‘leaves’ and related those experiences to the child as he/she completed the activity. Scaffolding was more frequent and intensive at exhibits that included activities with clear directions for adults, that were attractive for them (but children had trouble performing correctly on their own) or that invited participation through scripts/labels of the exhibits (Puchner et al. 2001 ). In line with this, Wolf and Wood ( 2012 ) recommended that that content of an exhibition can be scrutinised for potential scaffolding opportunities by determining various levels of content accessibility or providing a learning framework for specific age groups.

Also derived from sociocultural theory is the acknowledgement of collaborative verbal parent–child engagement as a potentially powerful mediator of cognitive change. Therefore, it is no surprise that parent–child conversational interactions were highlighted in research on children’s museums research. Benjamin et al. ( 2010 ) elaborated on the effectiveness of open-ended ‘wh’ questions (e.g. What? Why? ) during a child–adults/peers interaction in a museum. Ideally, these questions can reflect and change what is understood by focusing children’s attention on what is available to learn, obstacles and problem-solving strategies. In Benjamin’s study, the conversational instruction coupled with hands-on activities (child–environment–adults/peers), resulted in children’s abilities to report program-related content immediately after the exhibit and again after two weeks.

Guided (either by parent or museum educator) hands-on activities were the leading effective activities for facilitating children’s learning in most children’s museums and a representation of child–environment–adults/peers interactivity. For example, an intervention study (Freedman 2010 ) revealed a significant positive change in children’s knowledge about healthy ingredients after a ‘Healthy pizza kitchen’ program (a presentation followed with a hands-on mock pizzeria exhibit). In this study, Freedman conducted a playful experiments strategy (child–environment and child–environment–adults/peers interactivity) which presented an example of how hands-on activities help to facilitate children’s learning through child–adults/peer and child–environment interaction.

Overall, strategies and activities applied in children’s museums represent the interactivity types child–adults/peers and child–environment, as well as predominantly their overlapping area (child–environment–adults/peers). Despite the positive influence of parental involvement on children’s learning found in children’s museums, Wolf and Wood ( 2012 ) indicated that parents’ beliefs and roles about guiding their children’s learning are often divergent from ideas highlighted by museum professionals and researchers. For example, a lack of understanding of the importance of play for children’s learning, and parents discomfort or hesitation to play in public, lead them to simply watch instead of interact while their children play.

(Natural) history museums

Our review included 11 studies set in historical museums (generally natural museums). Most studies we reviewed described museum learning as meaning-making during a field trip or family visit to a museum, with effectiveness being the focus of examination in five studies (Melber 2003 ; Sung et al. 2010 ; Tenenbaum et al. 2010 ; Wickens 2012 ; Wilde and Urhahne 2008 ). History and archeological museums feature a plethora of information, normally in the form of science specimens and cultural or historical artifacts (Cox-Petersen et al. 2003 ). Historical museums with three-dimensional models or live exhibits can afford children the opportunity to construct richer and more-realistic mental representations relative to traditional digital and pictorial illustrations in textbooks. Furthermore, with access to various historical documents, images and collection items (often unavailable in formal settings as schools), children are not just exposed to primary resources as learning tools, but also to interpretations of the past that guide them through history (Wolberg and Goff 2012 ).

History museums are ideal places for stories to be told and, because storytelling serves as a fundamental way of learning and defining human values and beliefs, interactivity can help to “make connections between museum artifacts and images and visitors’ lives and memories” (Bedford 2001 , p. 30). Dramatic narratives or storytelling were highlighted in all reviewed (natural) history museum papers as having a pivotal role in facilitating children’s learning (e.g. Bowers 2012 ; Hall and Bannon 2006 ; Kelly 2007 ; Tenenbaum et al. 2010 ). By including a role for a knowledgeable adult (or a technological aid) to tell stories, these studies provided examples of two interactivity types (child–adults/peers and child–technology) and the overlapping framework areas (child–environment–adults/peers interactivity and total interactivity).

Wickens ( 2012 ) also described the use of a storytelling activity for preschool children as part of a three-mode structure (story/tour/activity). The three-mode structure strategy was identified in our framework as belonging to the overlapping area of child–environment–adults/peers (see Fig.  1 ) because it combined narratives, hands-on activities, free play, free exploration and guided multisensory experience. Children participated in the interactive story, then moved to the gallery to explore the themes, and returned for the creative activity. Results confirmed that the three-mode structure helped children to feel a sense of comfort because their familiarity with story time and art-making activities helped them to have control during their learning and facilitated learning. Moreover, Hall and Bannon ( 2006 ) found that narratives provided by a computer within an exhibit can also engage children by affording an overall coherence and intelligibility to their museum activities. In their study, exhibit interactivity was examined in two rooms: the study room where children heard stories if they pressed ‘the virtual touch machine’ and the ‘room of opinions’ where children were encouraged to explore clues and develop their own opinions about artifacts through hands-on activities. This particular study design provides an example of the total interactivity type represented through our framework (i.e. the combination of activities from all three main interactivity types, namely, child–adults/peers, child–technology and child–environment).

Inquiry-based activities and conversations at the exhibit or as part of problem-solving with a mobile guide system (MGS) can be positioned in the overlapping areas of our framework (child–environment–adults/peers, child–technology–environment and total interactivity) and were commonly described and highlighted as successful for helping children to gain knowledge and meaning about the past (e.g. studies by Melber 2003 ; Sung et al. 2010 ). For example, the MGS problem-solving strategy designed by Sung et al. ( 2010 ) involved total interactivity. In contrast to the commonly-used audio-visual guiding system that provides only information about each exhibit (via pictures, texts, voice narratives), the MGS offered a problem-solving scenario that guided the learners to look at the exhibits, browse the information on their mobile phone, discuss it with their peers, and solve a series of questions to complete the quests. Because results revealed increased interest and enjoyment during the activity, recommendations include that museum educators and teachers utilise MGS, and that researchers and system developers design more guided-learning activities and systems that constitute problem-solving tasks with inquiries. Limitations include learners being absorbed by amazement about the technological possibilities, the ‘magic’ of the concealed technology (Hall and Bannon 2006 ), rather than on the task-at-hand. Future research could involve how technology can be made less obvious and how concealing technology might influence children’s learning experience (Hall and Bannon 2006 ; Sung et al. 2010 ).

Inquiry was also part of the learning strategy ‘thinking routines’ (child–adults/peers interactivity type)—identified by Wolberg and Goff ( 2012 ) as advantageous in supporting young children’s learning in museums. With this strategy, children were encouraged to see, think and wonder when encountering a new object or image. An important goal of this strategy was to expose students to the language of thinking through guided conversation and questions (posed by both museum educator and children) in order to deepen understanding and gain knowledge. The information gathered by a student did not come just from visual cues within the collections, but also from thoughtful inference, reason and deduction—a strategy that could further enhance children’s learning even within the limited period of a museum visit. By using careful observations and thoughtful interpretations involving an image or artifact, students’ thinking and learning became more visible to themselves, teachers and peers.

Wilde and Urhahne ( 2008 ) found open-ended tasks involving child–adults/peers interactivity to be less successful than closed tasks (or a combination of both) in contributing to knowledge gains and, in particular, less intrinsically motivating for fifth-grade students. The children showed more interest/enjoyment with closed tasks and greater short-term and long-term retention of knowledge (after four weeks) through closed and mixed tasks. On the other hand, children who engaged with open-ended tasks did not show evidence of increased learning and showed less task-related intrinsic motivation. As a result, Wilde and Urhahne recommend a museum visit with more structured tasks and a certain amount of instruction (i.e. closed tasks) for children. Tenenbaum et al. ( 2010 ) emphasised the importance of activities within interactivity types child–environment and child–environment–adults/peers by suggesting that hands-on support for children (e.g. booklets, backpacks with props) through exhibits can enrich their conversations as they require more engagement with the museum exhibit. Overall, Melber ( 2003 ) recommends a combination of hands-on and inquiry-based activities as effective (particularly for gifted elementary school-aged children) at influencing attitudes and understanding of the scientific work. For example, Melber found that children were fascinated by the opportunity to handle objects and to have the time to critically look at and discuss the object’s characteristics with peers and/or curators. In addition, children became aware of the different scientific careers associated with a museum in an engaging and personally-relevant manner.

Palmquist and Crowley ( 2007 ) stressed that parents of gifted or ‘expert’ children should be particularly cautious when facilitating their learning. Through family conversation analysis with children (ages 5 and 7 years), Palmquist and Crowley found that, when compared with children of less experience and content knowledge, children developing an “island of expertise” (p. 784) had parents who provided a reduction in active contributions to learning conversations. In fact, children with less experience focused on the features of objects and learned together through conversations with parents. Here we recognise a knowledge gap about how to support and extend learning trajectories in museums and, in particular, how to use the expert knowledge of children as a platform for future learning.

Art museums/galleries

Art museums/galleries are often seen as imposing places that keep a myriad of valuable artworks and objects and that are intolerant for any kind of child-centred exploration (Weier 2004 ). With “ever-present security guards, overwhelming architecture, stillness, quietness, and artworks displayed at adult height” (Weier 2004 , p. 106), latent messages project that children are not welcome. Art museums are unfortunately the most reluctant type of museum to embrace early childhood visitors (Mallos 2012 ) despite how children are naturally attracted to contemporary art—to its abstractions, diversity, scale and experimentation, and by being open-minded and spontaneous in their interpretations. According to Jeffers ( 1999 ), when welcomed and empowered by developmentally-appropriate learning strategies and activities, children can “actively connect” (Jeffers 1999 , p. 50) with the museum and its contents, providing imaginative insights and new perspectives about the artworks.

Of nine reviewed studies, there was only one study of effectiveness (Burchenal and Grohe 2007 ) that assessed the effects of the program on the development of critical thinking skills. Most of the reviewed studies and descriptions of children’s learning in art museums took place in Australia and the UK and were based on the partnership between museum educators, researchers and artists. The museum programs/workshops mainly aimed to facilitate the development of young people’s critical-thinking skills (e.g. Burchenal and Grohe 2007 ; Luke et al. 2007 ). The dominant activity in facilitating children’s learning in art museums/galleries was hands-on activity (see Burchenal and Grohe 2007 ; Krakowski 2012 ; Mallos 2012 ; Milutinović and Gajić 2010 ). As stated by Mallos ( 2012 ), hands-on activities in art museums/galleries encourage children to make connections to ideas or materials with which the artists worked and, by relying on a child’s experience, deepen his/her understanding about the artwork.

In order to understand the work of art and to freely express themselves, children engaged in diverse hands-on activities in the reviewed studies. The program designers often utilised hands-on activities as part of a strategy that can be positioned in the overlapping child–environment–adults/peers area of our framework. For example, Mallos ( 2012 ) described strategies useful for cultivating children’s encounters with art which are very similar to the three-mode strategy ‘Listen, Look & Do’ applied in history museums. Mallos used a ‘three-window approach’ which consisted of: the experiential window, or hands-on approach—inviting children to touch, manipulate or respond using bodily movements; the narrative window—allowing children to experience an object through the medium of story; and the aesthetic window—focusing on having children describe the visual and aesthetic qualities of the object encountered.

In two reviewed studies, the artist (along with the museum educators and parents) played an essential role in facilitating children’s learning. For example, Mallos ( 2012 ) describes how gallery members collaborated with more than 100 local and international contemporary artists to develop and take part in various exhibitions, installations and workshops for families. Weier ( 2004 ) however, suggests that, by allowing children to take the lead (i.e. act as a tour guide for parents or peers), art museums can provide opportunities for self-expression, choice and control during visits. Weier ( 2004 ), also noted that, by allowing young children the opportunity to be tour guides, they can access art on their own level and terms, in contrast to learning an expected set of meanings or accepting another’s interpretation of an artwork as the only possibility. Once children experience a sense of accessibility, enjoyment and motivation when viewing and discussing artworks on their own terms, they are more likely to be ready to have their conversations extended to include visual arts concepts.

By emphasising the role of the adults and peers in guiding children’s learning and their interactions, Weier ( 2004 ) represented the child–adults/peers interactivity area of our framework. The advantage of allowing children to take the lead in museum learning was also supported by the research of Falk and Dierking ( 2000 ) who found that children are more motivated when having choice and control over their museum encounters. Weier ( 2004 ) also underlined the importance of having a supportive and responsive adult (i.e. curator, artist, parent) during child-led tours build on children’s conversations and introduce the language and concepts of the visual arts or the materials used. The information about the artwork should only be used as a trigger for discovery, which assists children to form hypotheses, create stories, build meanings and make connections based on personal experiences and feelings about the work.

Suggestions about introducing visual arts language and concepts at appropriate junctures in the child’s dialogue, using a range of “scaffolding behaviors” (Weier 2000 , p. 1999), include:

focusing children’s attention on a particular aspect of the artwork

asking open-ended questions

providing explanations

recalling facts or experiences to encourage associations

making suggestions; initiating a line of thinking that children can follow

hypothesising (or imagining or wondering) to spark curiosity and encourage further exploration, and

prompting with cues to support divergent thinking; and posing problems (Weier 2000 , 2004 ).

Burchenal and Grohe ( 2007 ) provide one example of prompting through the study of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS)—a beneficial approach for use in both the classroom and museum settings when seeking to promote the development of critical-thinking skills. By concentrating on conversational interactions between a museum educator and children (child–adults/peers interactivity), VTS starts with questions as prompts for children, encouraging them to provide evidence for their ideas. By carefully observing and discussing works of art, students had the opportunity to apply previous experiences and knowledge to make meaning of artwork on their own terms.

A possible model for the successful integration of multisensory enriched activities in museums is presented by Milutinović and Gajić ( 2010 ) through the six-month educational program ‘Feel the art’ in the Gallery of Matica srpska in Serbia. (The first author of this paper contributed to this program.) With the goal of encouraging children to employ all senses when confronted with artwork, this museum program provides an example of the child–environment–adults/peers type of interactivity identified in our framework. For example, children recognised what, from the paintings, could produce sounds (e.g. sea waves, an erupting volcano, birds, frogs, rustling leaves) and imitated the sounds with musical instruments. Results revealed children’s descriptions of paintings or objects that reflected interest development and the capability to participate in multisensory art activities.

In order to understand artwork, Mallos ( 2012 ) recommends that children are incorporated into the artwork. For example, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s (as cited in Mallos 2012 ) encouraged children to freely ‘obliterate’ a bare environment by sticking dots everywhere. In this way, children could take part in the art-making experience and see themselves through the screen of dots that was the subject of artist’s work. Mallos ( 2012 ) also described an activity in which children were asked to design and construct a bridge with fine pieces of cane and masking tape using artists’ line drawings of various bridges. By this immediate interaction with the museum environment, these activities present an example of the child–environment interactivity.

The imaginative aspect of play is one of the most powerful learning tools that children can use in order to make sense of their world (Vygotsky 1967 ). Guided and facilitated play (child–environment–adults/peers interactivity) was a motivating strategy for multisensory and stimulating learning in art museums. For example, Krakowski ( 2012 ) found guided play through dressing-up and role-playing activities that allowed children to discover ‘who they could be, who they might be, who they want to be’, with the aim of reflecting and understanding different perspectives. According to Krakowski, guided play embodies many of the characteristics of spontaneous or free play, but it is teacher-directed and is used intentionally for educational purposes. In particular, it “engages children in pleasurable and seemingly spontaneous activities that encourage exploration and learning” (Hirsh-Pasek et al. 2008 , p. 27).

The last decade of research into children’s museum learning has provided rich descriptions of children’s learning in various types of museums worldwide. In our review, we focused on the activities and strategies that mediate informal learning. In contrast to the review by Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri ( 2000 ), in which research in children’s museum learning was dominated by studies from science museums and centres in the US, much of the research we reviewed was conducted in Australia, China and the UK. Our review also revealed increasing evidence from museum research in European countries such as The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy and Serbia. Science museums and centres remained a major focus in the literature, with research in natural history museums, children’s museums and art galleries increasing over the decade. Like Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri ( 2000 ), we believe that additional research could have been conducted, but not yet published.

The shift in the literature towards the importance of interaction in children’s museum learning, notable by its presence in all museum types (see “ Appendix ”), contributed to the development of a framework of facilitating strategies and activities in children’s learning in museums. Three main types of interactivity, by which children’s learning was facilitated, were identified: child – adults/peers ; child – technology ; and child – environment . However, all facilitating strategies and activities made use of one or more of the interactivity types, which led to categorising some articles as representative of overlapping interactivity types (see Fig.  1 for the illustration of our framework). The most-common activities in all museum types were hands-on activities, which could include individual and self-controlled engagement (child–environment interactivity), as well as guidance from a knowledgeable adult/peer (child–adults/peers interactivity) or a computer (child–technology interactivity).

Which learning theories informed the research on museum learning?

In response to our first research question ( Which learning theories informed the research? ), we found more research that was framed by sociocultural theory (and less by socio-constructivist theory) and related theories on museum learning (e.g. the contextual model of learning). These theories underline the social nature of museum learning and the importance of children’s interaction with adults/peers and technology. While the previous research framework and program designs focused on the learner’s individual role in knowledge construction and meaning-making, an awareness of interactivity as an indispensable characteristic of children’s museum learning (child–adults/peers interactivity, child–technology interactivity) now reflects the theoretical influence of socio-constructivism and sociocultural theory. Moreover, while previous museum learning research has centred mainly on children visiting exhibits (Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri 2000 ), recent articles on all museums types tend to describe children’s learning through participation in programs or workshops, or through the use of educational materials and objects.

Which methodological approaches were applied in the reviewed studies?

The wish to do justice to the social complexity of museum learning was also reflected in the methodological approaches applied (and addressed our second research question). An awareness of the benefits of not only quantitative, but also qualitative, methodological approaches in museum learning research is apparent (see “ Appendix ”). Descriptions of learning strategies, activities and experiences of participants were provided and actual learning outcomes were assessed. Our review revealed an increased number of longitudinal studies, thereby helping to fill a research gap identified in a previous review (Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri 2000 ), and reflecting an increased awareness of ‘time’ in children’s museum learning: museum learning takes time, because knowledge is being accumulated over time (Rahm 2004 ).

Who and what facilitates museum learning: which activities and strategies are being used?

In science museums and centres, the most prominent learning strategies and activities were positioned at the heart of our framework (Fig.  1 ): a combination of three main interactivity types (child–environment–adults/peers, child–technology–adults/peers and child–technology–environment interactivity type). The dominant activities were interactive exhibits with technology, guided and free-choice or limited-choice hands-on activities. Here, the impact of technology and teaching guidance was most prominent, especially through the designs and applications of the mobile guiding systems and interactive games. Children interacted with the technology, which invited them to engage (individually or with the guidance of knowledgeable adults) in other activities (such as hands-on activities) in the museum environment. Although the use of technology in facilitating children’s learning extends to other museum types (e.g. history and art museums/galleries), the strategies and activities used in children’s and art museums/galleries were identified as child–adults/peer interactivity (e.g. scaffolding, children as guides, storytelling activities), child–environment interactivity (e.g. hands-on activities, free exploration) and as a combination of both (e.g. playful experiments, the three-window approach, multisensory experiences).

While research on children’s museum learning clearly demonstrated a shift from child-centred to family-centred, the scaffolding strategy dominated in our review. In contrast, activities and strategies used in history museums, as in science museums, spanned most interaction types and their combinations (e.g. open tasks on the worksheets, booklets and backpack with hands-on activities, free exploration), with an emphasis on narratives (e.g. storytelling activity guided either by the adult or by a computer).

What knowledge has the research about children’s learning in museums yielded?

We found that research on children’s museum learning during the last decade provides knowledge about learning experiences, as well as an appreciation of the effects related to several facilitating strategies and activities in children’s learning. In general, we found growing evidence suggesting that museum exhibitions, when supported with facilitating strategies and activities, can positively influence children’s science attitudes and concept knowledge, understanding, teamwork, communication and group communication skills, and critical thinking skills in history, science, arts and humanities. Although we noted some differences in children’s learning between the museum types based on the strategies and activities that facilitate their learning, we also found many similarities. Our review revealed activities and strategies that evoked curiosity, excitement, memorable moments, discussions and explorations during exhibits, together with peers or/and family members form a common base for children’s learning in all museum types. Based on these findings, we recommend hands-on activities, narratives and play, and an emphasis on the importance of scaffolding by a knowledgeable adult/peer or support through technology.

Future research

Much remains unknown about actual learning and museum learning outcomes. Future research could involve designing and testing the effectiveness of the facilitating strategies and activities noted in our framework. In particular, we recommend future research on museum–school learning as well as the effects of family learning in art museums/galleries and children’s museums that extends beyond the case study approach. Museum educators will also benefit from the development and validation of reliable measurement instruments. Several recommendations for future research on children’s learning in museums can be formulated, beginning with more design-based research (DBR).

Design-based research

Although DBR has been previously used in science museums, we believe that it could offer a significant contribution for all museum types. Interventionist in nature, and by combining qualitative and quantitative research methods, this approach could test the effects of various learning strategies and activities (described in our interactivity framework) on children’s learning gains. Also, DBR could help to facilitate the design and testing of new strategies and activities and confront the range of theoretical perspectives. Specifically, through the process of design, museum educators and researchers could collaborate together and apply key facilitating strategies and activities (typical for one museum type) across museum types to explore their effects on children’s learning and the process of learning within different museum environments. For example, with a DBR approach, researchers could ask: How can the level of interaction types be increased and boost the effects of learning strategies and activities in different learning settings? The research procedure for answering this question could involve designing an intervention based on the offered framework and theoretical approaches and with naturalistic observations.

Video-based methodologies

Video recordings such as those used in the video-based interpretative case study approach or with the quantitative exploratory behaviour scale, can offer deeper insight into both the quantity and quality of children’s interactions during learning. Besides being applied in science museums, video recordings could be used in other museum types as well. Also, these tools can be a valuable source for museum educators in understanding their own actions as facilitators (Martell 2008 ; Van Schijndel et al. 2010 ). Video recordings could be supplemented with the child’s personal perspective in the video recording process. That is, the child’s learning experience about a museum exhibit or a program could be recorded by his/her head-mounted camera (e.g. mobile eye-tracking apparatus) and provide detailed engagement data about a child’s attention and interaction with museum educators and objects.

Co-creating during the research process

In addition, we suggest more attention to children’s perspective in the research process (i.e. to include them, not only as research subjects, but as co-creators of the process and outcomes). We suggest involving children in focus groups to gain a more realistic picture about agendas, interests, values and beliefs, in contrast to those interpreted by adults (as is the case in most studies that we reviewed). Also, by including their voices throughout the research process, children could contribute their ideas and describe their interests, thereby informing the design of current and future programs, activities and exhibitions. This could help with the challenge of documenting the effectiveness of a specific learning strategy and activity in a specific museum type.

Future studies on children’s museum learning should include a wider framework of learning factors both in and out of museums, because much of the research reviewed still focused on the individual family group/child conversations and their immediate experience within the museum. Overall, the implication for museum learning practice is to strengthen a partnership of institutions as part of a wide sociocultural context (e.g. schools, preschools, families, cultural institutions) and the museum environment, and combine their advantages in order to promote children’s optimal learning. A beneficial partnership could involve co-developing curriculum-based materials supplementary to preschool/school use, which focus on exhibit contents in museums. As a result, a bond between practitioners (e.g. school teachers, scientists and artists) could be strengthened through the process of working together to design and conduct museum educational programs. Our framework supports the idea that museum educators and teachers could partner and supply practical tools for designing effective learning experiences as part of the children’s regular museum visit or a school field trip.

Overall, the field requires more qualitative and quantitative evidence to further understand the extent to which the strategies and activities from our framework are effective for children’s learning, as well as which of these strategies, if any, are most effective in certain situations. Although we presented some studies with innovative mobile and computer technologies deployed in museums, there is still a dearth of research concerned with how this new generation of learning systems in museums can be developed to enhance children’s museum learning. Given the different learning strategies and activities presented in our framework, the next step is to explore what competencies of museum educators are needed when applying these strategies and activities. Based on this knowledge, the professional programs for museum educators could be developed and strengthened, with a focus on pedagogy directed at successful museum learning processes.

Limitations

While the current review provides the first overview of studies on children’s learning in museums beyond the US, it is not without limitations. First, although we reviewed 44 studies on children’s learning across various museum types, the latest study included in our review was conducted in 2012. Results from reviews are most useful when representing the current state of research, but we were unable to find consensus on the timing of updates (Yoshii et al. 2009 ). Second, in our review, we used the Web of Science database because of its capability to search across disciplines and we reviewed relevant journals on museum topics. However, the search strategy could have been expanded by using additional databases and additional search terms. Despite these limitations, we think that our review approach and subsequent framework have contributed a valuable overview and description of the field for future researchers.

We highlighted the need for museums to transform themselves from “being about something to being for somebody” (Weil 1999 , p. 229) and, in this case, children. As detailed through our review, this need implies that museum researchers and educators should co-create learning environments that welcome children with effective and powerful learning strategies and activities that enhance their learning by combining different interactivity types. Our developed framework of facilitating strategies and activities for children’s museum learning offers a valuable knowledge base for museum educators and researchers, as well as teachers and families when visiting museums. Specifically, by distinguishing interaction types that are used in different museum learning environments, this framework offers a practical map on how to design and research the educational programs/exhibitions. This review of research on children’s museum learning provides guidance for next steps that move towards a greater focus on interactivity, in its varied forms, with attention to the merit of scaffolding. Ultimately, research that continues in this direction is likely to contribute greatly as we seek to support learners in informal settings.

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The authors would like to thank Dr. Gabrijela Reljić for her valuable comments.

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Andre, L., Durksen, T. & Volman, M.L. Museums as avenues of learning for children: a decade of research. Learning Environ Res 20 , 47–76 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-016-9222-9

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Education & Learning through Science Museums

Science in the 21st century is an exciting, challenging and integral part of our culture. Science museums and centres have a vital role to play providing rich, life-long learning experiences, inspiring the next generation and enhancing scientific literacy.

There are a number of ways that we do this.

Real Things

The access that we provide to real objects, real phenomena and people coupled with our skills in science communication and learning facilitation, can lead to experiences which trigger and sustain an interest in science.

With a collection of over 300,000 objects, the Science Museum holds one of the world’s largest collections of science, engineering and maths objects which tell very human stories. From the humble light bulb through to the Apollo 10 capsule and the Pilot Ace computer, these iconic objects represent a history of ideas from across the globe and tell the stories of how science has shaped the world we live in.

The Science Museum – and science centres – provides the opportunity for visitors to actively explore science phenomena. The Science Museum’s Launchpad gallery is packed with over 50 interactive exhibits that promote open-ended exploration by children, their teachers and parents with the world of physics. The gallery is supported by highly trained staff who act as positive learning role models, helping to prompt visitors’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of science. The gallery, together with the high-energy science shows and demonstrations run within it, provide experiences of science that our visitors can’t get in the classroom or at home.

The Science Museum also provides visitors with opportunities to directly engage with scientists and engineers – breaking down perceptions of what scientists are like, and increasing understanding of the work they do. In our ‘Who Am I?’ gallery, which deals with genetics and brain science, visitors have the opportunity to take part in real science experiments and talk to the researchers about their work. Taking part in these experiments help visitors to gain an insight into the scientific process, while researchers gain from being able to collect data from a much broader section of the public than they would normally. This was shown in a recent project conducted by Great Ormond Street Hospital – where visitors volunteered to have their photograph taken with a 3D camera, providing the researchers with valuable data to increase their knowledge in order to improve facial reconstruction surgery. In total over 12,800 visitors contributed to the database – and had an informative learning experience whilst doing so.

The past, present and future

The stories we showcase at the Science Museum aren’t just about the past. They are also about the present and the future. Not only can engaging with a history of science help our visitors understand the science we have today, for our visitors science is about the present and the future. The Science Museum is a place where visitors can access the very latest scientific thinking and technological innovation. Over the past year the museum has showcased exhibits ranging from the cutting-edge rescue capsule that saved the Chilean miners in 2010 through to the world’s first complete Bionic Man. Later this year, the Museum will tackle particle physics with an exhibition about the Large Hadron Collider.

As Osborne (2007) highlights, contemporary scientific and technological advances can pose difficult political and ethical dilemmas and resolving these issues needs both a knowledgeable and a critical disposition to engage in public debate. The Science Museum can help people make sense of the latest scientific developments through thought-provoking exhibitions, events and talks aimed at families, education groups and adults.

For example, exhibitions such as our award-winning ‘Atmosphere…exploring climate science’ gallery engage large numbers of the public with important and challenging areas of science. In its first 12 months, over 737,000 visitors came to this gallery despite research beforehand showing that people found climate science difficult, dull and overwhelming. In this contemporary science gallery, the Museum helps people make sense of the science that shapes their lives by providing access to the scientific evidence, real objects used by scientists and engineers, and interactive exhibits where visitors can actively engage with the underlying science fundamentals. This gallery has helped our visitors to understand areas such as the carbon cycle, the role of greenhouse gases and geoengineering– empowering them to make up their own minds and giving them the confidence to join in the dialogue.

Intergenerational Learning

Academic research shows that attitudes of young people towards science are not just shaped by school but are also influenced by their families. Museums provide wonderful spaces for families to engage together. As well as being the most visited museum by booked education groups, the Science Museum welcomes over 1 ½ million family visitors each year. We are able to create inspiring, memorable and shared learning experiences promoting discussion between intergenerational groups.

A project launched this year by the Science Museum – Building Bridges, aims to bring together the different learning contexts of young people in order to raise students’ science literacy and engagement with STEM subjects. Building Bridges is a three year project involving work with teachers, students and their families. Science Museum staff visit schools and bring teachers and students into the museum to work directly with scientists and the museum’s collections. At the end of the year, participating students, together with their families and friends are invited to the museum to celebrate their work.

Inspiring young people

Despite a rich scientific heritage, in 2013 there remains a shortfall of scientists, engineers and mathematicians in the UK and a recent study by the Royal Academy of Engineering indicates that currently demand for engineers outstrips supply and is likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future, and there is still a lower uptake of science and engineering careers amongst women and amongst those from more socio-economically deprived backgrounds.

Why is this? Recent research by Kings College London in their ASPIRES project indicates that a young person’s attitude towards science as a career is influenced by social background and family attitudes, and they cannot imagine themselves in science based careers. Another issue is that many young people have a very limited understanding of the career fields available beyond the traditional occupations of say science teacher or doctor. Therefore, there is a growing need to broaden horizons and help introduce young people to the incredible range of careers that science and maths can lead to – from pure research through to games design.

Organisations such as the Science Museum can help open young people’s minds to the wealth of opportunities within the world of science. We can do this through our contemporary science programme, through our live research, through our on-the-floor staff and through exhibitions and events that tackle subjects that fall outside of the curriculum. We can also play a role in keeping young people engaged with science at key points when engagement is likely to wane or attitudes towards science crystalise.

However, learning about science shouldn’t be limited to those studying it or seeking related careers. Science and technology underpin our whole quality of life and the nation’s future prosperity so there is a greater need than ever before to spread ‘science literacy’ across the population at large.

Lifelong engagement

The joy of visiting a museum or science centre is that they are open to everyone – you don’t have to be a child or be in formal education to have an enjoyable learning experience. The Science Museum welcomes 1 million adult visitors per year and the success of our monthly Lates evenings reflects the growing popularity of science among the 18-35 age group.

Science museums and centres provide lifelong engagement by providing access to to real things – objects, phenomena and people; through creating shared, engaging and memorable learning experiences for families and adults. They also provide experiences that benefit teachers and complement school science lessons.

As well as being enjoyable places to visit, Science museums and centres provide opportunities to deepen understanding and join in some of the biggest debates happening in science today.

Reference: Osborne, J. 2007. ‘Science Education for the Twenty First Century’. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 2007, 3(3), 173-184

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Science centres and museums vitally important for sustainable development – UNESCO

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Noting the centrality of science in major global sustainable development agenda, the head of the United Nations educational and scientific agency underscored the importance of science centres and museums to build skill and capacities as well as to send strong messages about the importance of science for sustainable development.

Referring to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development , the Addis Ababa Action Agenda , the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Agreement on climate change, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova said:

“These agreements embody a new vision for prosperity, peace and the planet, to allow every society to create and share knowledge, to nurture every source of innovation and creativity, [and] to craft a more inclusive, sustainable and just path to the future.”

“Taking this forward calls for an ever greater expansion of science and for tighter linkages between science and society,” she added in her message on the occasion of World Science Day for Peace and Development , celebrated annually on 10 November.

This year, the Day is dedicated to the theme Celebrating Science Centres and Science Museums .

Highlighting that these institutions nurture human curiosity, and catalyze research and solutions to help societies meet varied challenges, Ms. Bokova said they also bring together men and women around common values, providing platforms for dialogue, understanding and resilience.

She added that science centres and museums also provide excellent ways to encourage children, especially girls, to pursue careers in science as well as serve as “privileged places of education,” providing as innovative initiatives to promote the learning of science outside the classrooms.

“In this spirit, I invite all of partners and governments to do everything to support, nurture and harness the full power of science museums and centres to shape a more inclusive and sustainable future for all,” she noted.

Proclaimed by the UNESCO General Conference in 2001, the World Science Day for Peace and Development aims to renew national, as well as the international commitment to science for peace and development and to stress the responsible use of science for the benefit of society. The Day also aims at raising public awareness of the importance of science and to bridge the gap between science and societies.

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To inspire a lifelong love of science in everyone.

As science and technology increasingly shape our lives, the Museum of Science strives to equip and inspire everyone to use science for the global good. Among the world’s largest science centers and New England’s most attended cultural institution, we engage nearly five million people a year – at Science Park and in museums around the world, in classrooms, and online.

The Museum’s singular location connecting Boston and Cambridge puts us at the junction of some of the world’s most influential academic institutions and industries, local and state government, schools, and the public. Trusted by each sector, we are ideally positioned to convene, inspire, and create meaningful experiences for all.

What’s in Our DNA?

Our role in the world is public science learning. See what what drives us, what we aspire to, and who we are as we seek to make the world a better place through science.

Our Mission

A world where science belongs to each of us for the good of all of us.

Everyone : We are everyone's Museum. We pursue equity and celebrate every person for who they are. We foster an inclusive environment in which we value and respect diversity.

Service : We serve our colleagues and community. We hold ourselves accountable to be a trustworthy public resource, and to support a sustainable, just, and evidence-based future.

Learning : We love learning. We are curious about the world and want to share our joy and wonder with others. We value open minds and recognize that everyone has more to explore, discover, and create.

Connection : We find strength in connections. We collaborate across communities, organizations, and disciplines to make science relevant and accessible to all.

Boldness : We dream big. We boldly push ourselves forward, pursuing new ideas and challenges. We experiment and learn from our failures as we seek to inspire purpose, spark imagination, and encourage hope.

20230827_membernight_AM_020.jpg

The governing body of the Museum of Science prepares, publicizes, and is guided by the Museum's mission to play a leading role in transforming the nation's relationship with science and technology. 

Find out more about the Museum's president .

View our trustees and museum advisors , or examine our annual reports and code of ethics .

William and Charlotte Bloomberg Science Education Center

Growing up in Medford, Massachusetts, Michael Bloomberg used to take a trolley, a subway, and a bus to the Museum of Science every Saturday morning. Of this decades-long relationship, Bloomberg says, "I know how important this Museum is and what an impact it can have on young people — because I was one of those young people."

Now Bloomberg — a renowned philanthropist, engineer, and 108th mayor of New York City — has ensured that visitors can have the same eye-opening, life-changing experiences he did as a boy. The $50 million gift provides an endowment for the support of the Museum’s Education Division to be named the William and Charlotte Bloomberg Science Education Center in honor of his parents. It also provides funds to research, design, develop, pilot-test, and disseminate computational thinking/computer science curriculum and activities, as well as funds to develop and produce high-quality food-science initiatives.

The largest single gift in the Museum’s history — the endowment solidifies the Museum’s position as one of the premier educational institutions in the world and transforms its ability to inspire all who enter to think, learn, and question. It also makes possible the longevity of the dynamic exhibits and inspirational programs you know and love. According to Annette Sawyer, vice president of education and enrichment, "by stepping forward with this commitment, Mr. Bloomberg has provided clear evidence that what we do at the Museum matters. We help people imagine and dream. We transform lives."

This endowment will support everything you think of when you imagine the Museum—from dynamic exhibits and live animal shows to teacher development and speaker events. This includes computer science and food science initiatives that will educate children about computer science and computational thinking, as well as nutrition, sustainability, food chemistry, and healthy cooking, respectively. "Michael Bloomberg has propelled the Museum forward in its ability to excite visitors with interactive experiences and continue the educational focus we’ve had for decades," says Christine Reich, vice president of exhibit development and conservation. "Fostering STEM habits of mind — questioning, imagining, creating, testing — has always been at the heart of the Museum. With this gift, we can continue our inspiring educational work into the future."

So the next time you visit, take note of the new dedication signage that heralds this gift. Also take note of the many familiar and thrilling experiences you’ve come to associate with the Museum of Science: the look of wonder in your child’s eye as he gazes up at Triceratops Cliff , the dramatic intensity of a lightning show in the Theater of Electricity, your budding scientist’s curiosity as she examines a fossil in the Discovery Center or measures her foot in the Hall of Human Life . Take note and consider: A young boy named Michael Bloomberg had a first teacher — one who had a profound impact on his life. As he will tell you, "that teacher was the Museum of Science."

Michael Bloomberg grew up in Medford and spent much of his childhood at the Museum. Eventually settling in New York City, where he launched his world-renowned company Bloomberg, L.P. and later became a three-term mayor, he credits those visits to the Museum as inspiring him to "become an engineer, a technology entrepreneur, a philanthropist, and a mayor."

"Those mornings were the highlight of my weeks—and they helped define the course of my life," Bloomberg says. "The Museum of Science is where I learned to ask questions, to recognize just how much there is to learn about the world, and to follow science wherever it leads."

Museum president and director Ioannis Miaoulis could not be more honored by Bloomberg’s endorsement of the Museum’s mission. "We are thrilled by Mike's extraordinary generosity," he says. "With his gift, he is investing in young people — in making a new generation of critical thinkers. This generous gift dramatically expands our capacity to make science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) accessible to all."

Learn more from The Boston Globe

Museum Archives

In 2017, Bloomberg Philanthropies generously provided funding for the first archives department in the Museum’s nearly 200-year history. The Archives traces the Museum’s development as the venerable Boston Society of Natural History to the multifaceted educational institution that the Museum of Science is today. By preserving these records, the Archives demonstrates the Museum’s historical, scientific, and cultural impact while providing inspiration for the future.

Explore our archival collections by browsing and searching within the finding aid catalog .

By Beth Hawkins on 10 March 2017

Why are our museums great places for science engagement.

With awe inspiring authentic objects, cutting-edge science stories, and hands on experiences, our museums in the Science Museum Group , celebrate and connect the past, present and future of science and technology.  By presenting science content in surprising and imaginative ways, our experiences expose new perspectives of science and technology to inspire all our audiences.

So what opportunities do our museums have to help inspire and engage our visitors with science?  Here are just 5 of our top reasons…

1. We show the applications of science

From experiencing scientific principles first-hand in our interactive galleries, to investigating the inspiring objects in our exhibitions and galleries which have been built upon scientific concepts, visitors can see how the science learned in school is applied and has shaped the world around us.

2. We show how science is relevant and valuable for everyday life

See how science is a way of exploring the world and is integral to our lives today and in the future. By connecting the past, present and future of our modern world, our museums show how an understanding of science, technology, maths – alongside art and design have all come together to transform, and improve, our everyday lives.

3. We make links between people and science

Our museums reveal stories of passion, imagination and creativity of the people who have shaped the world we live in.  Visitors can explore the social impact of science and technology through the experiences and emotions of the innovators and the users and see the breadth and diversity of the people who use science in their work and everyday lives. See that science is not just for scientists – it something everyone can be part of, whatever their interests or background.

4. We provide opportunities to use and develop skills through active participation

From asking questions, making observations to creative problem solving, a museum visit is a great opportunity to use and develop key scientific skills. Our Science Museum Group learning experiences are designed to spark curiosity and reveal the wonder of science to help people learn in different and exciting ways. Discovering new things will fuel a desire to find out more.

5. We spark conversations about science

We encourage people to talk science. We design our experiences to get visitors talking, to share their ideas and opinions about science with us and each other, in and beyond our museums. We invite our visitors to tell us their own ‘science’ stories from their lives and local communities.

By helping more people to see that museums are places where they feel welcome and can enjoy themselves, we hope will promote a lifelong connection with science and culture.

There are, of course, many more reasons why museums and science centres are amazing spaces. For some, a visit to a museum may simply be good day out, but we hope that by helping more people to recognise learning opportunities and value of a museum experiences,  the memory and impact of a visit could last a lot longer.

What do you think the learning opportunities of a museum visit are? And how do we help more of our visitors to recognise these?

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Volume 5 Supplement 1

Museums and Evolution

  • Introduction to Museums and Evolution
  • Open access
  • Published: 14 April 2012

Evolution in the Museum

  • Monique Scott 1  

Evolution: Education and Outreach volume  5 ,  pages 2–3 ( 2012 ) Cite this article

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From the emergence of the natural history museum in the late nineteenth century, it has been a critical and powerful vehicle for disseminating evolution to the public. Natural history museums largely emerged to espouse the tenets of Darwinism, and they continue that legacy as evolution continues to cohere almost all of the research, exhibition, and education that happen in museums today.

This issue is not only a celebration of Darwinism in the museum, but also a celebration of how museums globally find challenging and creative ways to present evolution to its many, disparate publics. To celebrate and critique the role of the museum in evolutionary education, the papers in this special issue represent an important cross-section of thinking about evolution in museums. There also is great variation in the voices, content, and style that contribute to this special issue, a reflection of the varied nature of thinking about museums—from descriptions of novel exhibition designs to pedagogical analyses on visitors' interpretations in the museum. From the array of articles presented in this issue, you can see the diversity of critical epistemological and pedagogical strategies employed by museums to engage the public in new ways of understanding evolutionary theory, biodiversity, and the relationship between humans and the natural world.

As mentioned, several articles illustrate new innovative approaches museums use to introduce, or reintroduce, evolution to the public. The exhibition perspectives are as far-reaching from history of science to modern art, from Dominici's article about an exhibition celebrating geology, deep time, and a historic collection at the Museum of Natural History at the University of Florence to Bloomfield's paper on the innovative art installation at the Natural History Museum in London celebrating the bicentenary of Charles Darwin and the sesquicentennial of The Origin of Species . William Harcourt Smith's essay illustrates for us how the Hall of Human Origins exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History Museum strategically interweaves two lines of data, genetic and fossil, to shed new light on an old topic. And Bruce MacFadden addresses the ways old exhibition habits die hard in his exploration of orthogenesis and the evolution of horses in museums.

Several papers also bridge the elusive gap between museum exhibition and museum education, or how evolutionary education is actually received by a museum's audiences and particularly youth. Jane Pickering's essay poignantly bridges this gap between exhibition and education. She provides an in-depth look into the Yale Peabody Museum's efforts to use human health as a platform for teaching about evolution and biodiversity through exhibition in the museum and education in the classroom. Other papers offer critical windows into their evolutionary education strategies. Honor Gay's essay discusses novel education efforts that involve training museum volunteers to have challenging but important “learning conversations” with visitors to galleries. And Falcetti uses new participatory and interactive techniques to challenge audiences' preconceptions of evolution in the Zoological Museum of Rome.

It is not surprising that a significant subset of conversation about evolutionary education in the museum concerns “tree-thinking”—or the ever-significant growth of research investigating how laypersons understand and interpret evolutionary trees, and the underpinning methodology and philosophy behind systematics. Tree-thinking has become an important metaphor and tool to enhance museum visitors' understanding of science and the natural world; and it encourages the public to understand evolution and their relationship to it in new critical ways. Two papers in this issue contribute significantly to the conversation about trees and tree-thinking. In this issue, MacDonald et al. present their robust analysis of 185 tree of life graphics from 52 museum sites in an analysis of how those evolutionary trees depicted in informal science settings actually communicate the science of phylogenetics to the public. Giusti evaluated how visitors grasped concepts big and small in a traveling exhibition specifically about cladistics and evolutionary trees, "Travels in the Great Tree of Life."

Critical conversations have been happening for the last several decades around how museum visitors actually understand the process of evolution. As the Giusti and MacDonald articles attest, this issue also contributes to a thriving industry of museum evaluation information and benefits from papers by leaders in that field. The Spiegel et al. paper represents the height of this form of research. The authors rigorously investigated how visitors' causal explanations about biological change, drawn from three reasoning patterns (evolutionary, intuitive, and creationist), were modified as a result of visiting an evolution exhibition. Clearly, while the museum continues to be a site for the production of evolutionary information and dissemination of that information through exhibition, it is also a site for increasingly important critical research into evolutionary education.

As an ardent lover of museums myself, and as someone who has devoted her career to evolutionary education in museums, I believe there are few places that can simultaneously inspire as much wonder and impart as much critical scientific knowledge as the natural history museum. And while the gorgeous array of flora and fauna that museums display are a testament to the wonder of evolution, it is through evolution, and often its embodiment in The Tree of Life that really captures and communicates the immense spectrum and dynamism of evolution. If we can teach visitors to understand evolution, we teach them to really understand the interconnectedness of life, as well as the interconnectedness of the scientific disciplines that produce evolutionary knowledge. Evolution places the world—and the museum's cases of lizards, sparrows, cichlids, dinosaurs, and hominids—in perspective. And evolutionary perspective, with its implications for everything from conservation to human health, is perhaps the museum's greatest contribution to the world.

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Evolution: Education and Outreach

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importance of science museum in education

  • Hankering for History

Hanker: To have a strong, often restless desire, in this case for–you guessed it–history!

The Role of Museum Education in the Learning Experience

man appreciating museum and history

Learners develop their thinking abilities and advance in capability because of the aspects they encounter. Besides, the learning experience is not confined to the classrooms. Therefore, museums are essential in providing a learning environment with significant educational potential.

The collections in the museums offer learners with tangible links to places and historical events that facilitate the growth and development of cultural and historical heritage. Learners stand a better chance of understanding the historical value. The information assists them to respect cultures and know multiculturalism.

The experience that learners get from museums molds them to be all-round students with diverse understanding in various aspects of life. Therefore, exploring museums offers learners the aptitudes to partake enthusiastically in the course of gaining information. So, museum education is an integral aspect outside the classroom that provides students with historical events and information.

Excellent use of museum education promotes multi-faceted learning, enhances critical thinking skills, and promotes the attainment of lifelong learning abilities.

Museums Are Still Relevant to Education

Since learning is not bound to classrooms, institutions make use of field trips in offering hands-on experience. Museums are some of the destinations to allow learners to grow their skills as well as get exposure to multiple ideas and positions to cultivate them individually. It enriches education in diverse fields, offers abilities in new domains, and offers a perfect background for instructors to teach a wide range of topics.

Role of Museums Education in Cultivating Minds

People, Man, Artist, Painting, Paint, Museum, Art

Various museums are spread across the globe, with Washington D.C being a hub of iconic academies. The notable thing is that it offers a specific setting and environment for cultivating student’s minds. The artifacts and immense exhibitions offer a particular positive setting to nurture learning among learners. Besides, the vast collection of different objects denoting to stories and different cultures enrich their minds.

How Museum Environment Develop Learning Experience

Museums offer historical importance and one of a kind experience. Reading about something or hearing about it is different from when you see it yourself. Such experiences become part of a student’s life and can easily conceptualize when they see than when they read in books. It offers a life-changing experience. Standing face-to-face with outstanding works instills a sense of understanding for learners. Therefore, instead of asking, “Who can write my essay ?”, you can comfortably do it because the exposure you gain opens you to multiple experiences.

Besides, students can get information in multiple ways with field trips entertaining and serving as a supplement for the material offered in class. When they see physicals surrounded by elements learned in class, they connect it perfectly and understand the subject more precisely. Better understanding makes them further their learning successfully, for they earn good scores to enable them to advance in education.

Why Learners Should Be Open to Museum Education

Art Gallery, Pictures, Light, Photographs, Museum

Motivation is among the aspects that make learners productive at all learning levels. Therefore, one of the best ways is to provide learning outside the classroom. Visiting museums get them motivated about the subject and can grasp more. Museum education also promotes empathy, critical thinking, and offer essential skills and outlooks. It is because learners get subject-specific content that fosters their understanding of a particular subject and area of concern.

The core of education is to provide knowledge and equip learners to be productive citizens and handle contemporary issues successfully. Therefore, the experience of museum education expands the general world knowledge of students and make them good thinkers and rational. In so doing, it increases the learner’s cultural capital.

It is also essential to note that formal learning is greatly impacted by informal learning. So, museum education is an example of the informal setting that devote primarily to formal education. It means that a single tour to a museum can render learners to in-depth data on a subject. The environment enables you to explore and inform your experience of the data that fascinates you.

However, it is essential to understand that museum education has defined goals and methods. Therefore, to make it produce better results, instructors must work with the museums to create a field-wide goal that is beneficial to learners. The purpose will determine the implementation directed to school programs to make it viable for learners.

In conclusion, museum education has significant value when it is conducted properly. Learners are exposed to new avenues that matter most in their education. In the end, they develop their skills in different aspects because of the hands-on experience. Shaping student visits and museum education offers profound benefits to learners.

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Excellent! Education should be available to everyone. Until recently, I obtained a well-paying career as an academic writer. I’m delighted that my life turned out this way and I can help students by sharing my knowledge. Consider education value!

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The Role of Science Museums and Centers in Education

importance of science museum in education

Science museums and centers are often seen as fun destinations for school field trips or weekend outings, but they also play an important role in education. These institutions offer hands-on learning experiences that can spark curiosity and inspire a lifelong love of science. However, this is just scratching the surface of what the positives are. If you want to learn more, make sure to read this article until the end.

4 Ways Science Museums and Centers Play A Role in Education

Here are 4 ways science museums and centers contribute to education:

  • Igniting Curiosity
  • Real-World Connections
  • Exposure To New Concepts
  • Hands-On Learning

Science museums and centers are designed to engage visitors and encourage them to explore the world around them. By providing interactive exhibits and activities, these institutions can help ignite curiosity in visitors of all ages. This is especially great for kids who are still learning about the world around them. 

Science museums can stir their interest in STEM fields, which could eventually guide them to turn their passion into solutions to society’s problems. Another tool helping students reach their full potential is the availability of high-quality but cheap research papers . Many websites offer academic writing services that you can leverage. So the next time you have a research paper with a tight deadline, you can leave the boring task of actually writing it to professionals who are all experts in their field.

Science museums and centers often showcase real-world applications of scientific concepts. This can help visitors see the relevance and importance of science in their daily lives. Also, exhibits and programs that highlight different science-related careers can help young people envision themselves in these roles and inspire them to pursue related education and training. 

For example, by attending a science center, a parent or student could see why pursuing a STEM career would be a great idea. This is made possible by ensuring the scientific content being displayed is appealing. If you are looking to do something similar, you can start with a blog, and by studying tips creating compelling content, you will have the necessary resources to succeed. Also, for students already invested in learning science, these museums can remind them what they can accomplish.

Science museums and centers can introduce visitors to new scientific concepts and technologies that they may not have encountered before. Almost every day, a scientific breakthrough in the form of new tech is being achieved. As a result, it can be hard to keep track of it all. However, by capturing it all through museums, all you would need to do is visit one, and you would be able to learn. 

This exposure can help expand visitors’ knowledge and understanding of the natural world. Also, this can inspire visitors to continue learning about science throughout their lives. Thus, by providing access to engaging and educational experiences, these institutions can help foster a lifelong love of learning and curiosity about the natural world.

Many science museums and centers offer hands-on learning experiences, allowing visitors to experiment with scientific concepts in a safe and controlled environment. This type of learning can be especially effective for visual and kinesthetic learners. However, even if you prefer other types of learning, you can still benefit from the abundance of resources available. In fact, science museums and centers often work with educators to develop programs and resources that support classroom learning. These partnerships can help ensure students have access to high-quality science education in and out of the classroom.

importance of science museum in education

In Conclusion

Science museums and centers play an important role in education. They provide us with hands-on learning experiences that introduce visitors to new concepts and technologies, thus inspiring curiosity in young minds and encouraging lifelong learning. Whether you’re a student, teacher, or just someone interested in science, these institutions offer valuable resources and opportunities for exploration and discovery, so consider visiting one in the near future.

Author’s Bio

Jodi Williams is a freelance writer with a passion for everything science-related. Her interests started from a young age after spending an afternoon in the local science museum. Looking back at the many benefits the experience brought her, Jodi is focused on guiding others on the same path as well.

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Strange News

Why do we leap day we remind you (so you can forget for another 4 years).

Rachel Treisman

importance of science museum in education

A clock showing February 29, also known as leap day. They only happen about once every four years. Olivier Le Moal/Getty Images hide caption

A clock showing February 29, also known as leap day. They only happen about once every four years.

Nearly every four years, the Gregorian calendar — which is used in the majority of countries around the world — gets an extra day: February 29.

For some people, leap day means frog jokes and extravagant birthday parties. For many, it may conjure memories of the 2010 rom-com Leap Year , which harkens back to the Irish tradition by which women can propose to men on that one day. And others likely see it merely as a funny quirk in the calendar, or just another Thursday.

Leap day means several different things to Alexander Boxer, a data scientist and the author of A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for Our Destiny in Data .

Our lives are ruled by the illusion of time

Our lives are ruled by the illusion of time

Literally speaking, he says, it's an "awkward calendar hack" aimed at making up for the fact that a year isn't a flat number of days, but more like 365 and a quarter. But there's more to it than that.

"I think the significance of the leap year is that it's a great reminder that the universe is really good at defying our attempts to devise nice and pretty and aesthetically pleasing systems to fit it in," he told NPR's Morning Edition .

Leap for joy! The creative ways NPR listeners are marking Feb. 29

Leap for joy! The creative ways NPR listeners are marking Feb. 29

Boxer says it's also a great reminder that the calendar most people rely on every day is actually the product of multiple civilizations, building off each other as they share in what he calls "this great undertaking of trying to understand time."

So where did leap year come from, and what are we supposed to do with our extra day? NPR's Morning Edition spoke with experts in astronomy, history and economics to find out.

Why do we have leap years?

Most people know that a single day is about 24 hours long, and that there are 365 days in a year.

But it actually takes Earth 365.242190 days to orbit the sun, says Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

"And that .242190 days to go around the sun is the entire reason why we have a leap year," she explained.

Centuries ago, people kept track of the sun's position — such as for a solstice or the longest day of the year — to know when to do things like plant and harvest. Over time, she says, the need grew for a centralized calendar system.

The Hebrew, Chinese and Buddhist calendars, among others, have long contained entire leap months. The West is no stranger to leap years either.

The science and shared history behind the Gregorian and Chinese calendars

The science and shared history behind the Gregorian and Chinese calendars

The Julian Calendar, which Julius Caesar introduced in 45 BC, included an extra day every year. He borrowed the idea from the Egyptians, though his math wasn't exactly correct . Caesar overestimated the solar year by about 11 minutes, leading to an overcorrection by about eight days each millennium. That explains why Easter, for example, fell further and further away from the spring equinox over time.

Pope Gregory XIII sought to address that problem in the 16th century with the Gregorian Calendar , which adds leap days in years divisible by four, unless the year is also divisible by 100. To make matters even more confusing, a leap day is still added in years divisible by 400.

Why add the extra day in February? Boxer, the data scientist, says the Romans considered it an unlucky month. On top of that, they were deeply suspicious of odd numbers. Because February only had 28 days to begin with, they "just shoved it into February," though leap day used to be on the 24th.

Ultimately, says Boxer, the calendar is a compromise.

"On the one hand, you don't want a calendar that makes it so complicated to know how many days it's going to be from one year to the next," he added. "But on the other hand, you want to make sure that winter holidays, too, in the winter and summer holidays, stay in the summer, especially if your holidays are related to things like agriculture, harvest holidays and whatnot."

What does leap day mean for birthdays?

One tangible impact of a leap year is that birthdays will fall on a different day of the week than their usual pattern.

"If your birthday was on a Tuesday last year, you're going to skip over Wednesday and you'll have a birthday on a Thursday," said Faherty. "Not to mention those poor people that are born on February 29, a day that only exists every four years."

There are about 5 million people worldwide with a Feb. 29 birthday, according to the History Channel . The list of so-called "leaplings" includes celebrities such as motivational speaker Tony Robbins and hip-hop artist Ja Rule. And peoples' odds of joining their ranks are small — about 1-in-1,461, to be exact.

Several leaplings told NPR that there's no set rule on which day to celebrate their birthday in a non-leap year. Some prefer Feb. 28, others March 1 and many do both.

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"My answer to this question has evolved over the years," said Michael Kozlowski Jr., a leap day baby based in Belgium. "It used to be February for the reasons that I identified more with that month compared to March. But these days I honestly like to celebrate both days or even the entire week. It seems only fair and it works and it feels great."

They acknowledged both pros and cons of having a leap day birthday. Several said that while they were teased about it in grade school, it helped them develop a thicker skin and gave them a fun fact for life — plus more days to celebrate.

Plus, many online forms — including for the DMV — don't recognize Feb. 29 as a possible birth date. Raenell Dawn, the co-founder of the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies, told NPR in 2020 that those logistics can cause trouble, especially when it comes to things like driver's license expirations. But she also said there's no reason for leaplings to change their birth date.

"Humans program the computer, so the humans need to program it correctly," she said. "'Cause February 29 is everyone's extra day. And it's a day that started in 45 B.C. And it's the most important date on the calendar because it keeps all the dates on the calendar in line with the seasons."

What should you do — and not do — on Feb. 29?

There are lots of superstitions and traditions about leap day on the internet, and a few celebrations to look forward to IRL.

A decades-old French satirical newspaper , La Bougie du Sapeur , goes to print only on Feb. 29 — this year included . There are also festivities in the "Leap Year Capital of the World," as Anthony, Texas, is known.

Leapling Mary Ann Brown petitioned Congress to give Anthony, Texas — and Anthony, New Mexico, on the other side of the state line — that designation in 1988 because of the "numerous number of leap year births that happened within the two towns," Mayor Anthony Turner told NPR over email.

In years past, he said, the community marked leap day with a parade that stretched between the two towns of Anthony. This year, the Texas side is hosting a two-day leap year festival , complete with live music, local vendors and an exclusive barbecue dinner for leap day babies.

"This is an opportunity for the community to take pride in the fact that they live in the leap year capital of the world, and a great chance for everyone from everywhere to join us and enjoy the true beauty of our lovely town," Turner added.

For Leap Day Only, A Rare Newspaper Goes To Print

For Leap Day Only, A Rare Newspaper Goes To Print

Worldwide, most leap day lore revolves around romance and marriage, as the History Channel explains.

According to one legend, complaints from St. Bridget prompted St. Patrick to designate Feb. 29 as the one day when women can propose to men. The custom spread to Scotland and England, where the British said that any man who rejects a woman's proposal owes her several pairs of fine gloves. In Greece and some other places, it's considered bad luck to get married on leap day.

Katherine Parkin, a history professor at Monmouth University, said she doesn't believe any of the myths are true — but doesn't think they had to be in order to take hold, which they did in America as early as the 1780s.

importance of science museum in education

An example of one of many early 20th century postcards by cartoonist Clare Victor Dwiggins — "Dwig" — showing women pursuing men in a leap year. Katherine Parkin hide caption

An example of one of many early 20th century postcards by cartoonist Clare Victor Dwiggins — "Dwig" — showing women pursuing men in a leap year.

The real origin, she believes, is that people have historically liked to challenge gender and gender roles.

"And in the case of marriage, to have a reversal of that power, I think is really unusual," she added. "And it ties perfectly with this unusual date. Where did it come from and where did it go? And so I think it really plays well into people's imagination and playfulness."

But Parkin says her research points to darker undertones behind the tradition — namely, that it was actually intended to ridicule women.

The dark history of eating green on St. Patrick's Day

The dark history of eating green on St. Patrick's Day

She points to the proliferation of postcards in the 20th century — which people would send each other across all kinds of relationships — that portrayed women who proposed to men as desperate, unattractive and aggressive, such as holding butterfly nets and pointing guns at guys.

"It's proving to ... reinforce that it's a leap year and that this tradition exists and yet at the same time telling women, you really don't want to do this because it looks bad for you," Parkin said. "As a historian, I look back to this tradition and see it as part of an American desire to offer women false empowerment."

Of the more than 100 people who responded to an NPR callout about their leap day celebrations and traditions, several said they had gotten engaged or married on Feb. 29. Only one explicitly mentioned gender roles.

"I think this is the day that (traditionally) a woman was able to propose?" wrote Suzanne Forbes. "If so, I plan on proposing to myself in a beautiful southern setting (likely [Georgia], while solo kayaking)!"

What if we didn't have leap years?

Not everyone loves leap day.

Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, is one critic. He argues that the current calendar, in which dates occur on different days of the week each year, creates scheduling problems as well as confusion around holiday dates.

That's why he and Johns Hopkins astrophysics professor Dick Henry have created the Hanke–Henry Permanent Calendar , a proposal for a new calendar that would implement an occasional leap week rather than leap day.

"The great thing about the permanent calendar is that it never changes," Hanke explained. "The date would be on the same day. Every year, year after year after year ... January 1st is always on a Monday. July 4th is always on a Thursday. December 25th, Christmas, is always on a Monday."

How did COVID warp our sense of time? It's a matter of perception

How did COVID warp our sense of time? It's a matter of perception

Their calendar divides the year into four three-month quarters, each with the same number of days. The first two months of each quarter — including January and February — would always have 30 days, and the third month would have 31. Every six years, there would be an extra seven days at the end of December, which Hanke says would "eliminate calendar drift."

Hanke argues that his proposed calendar would save confusion and potentially money, pointing to studies in the United Kingdom that show the economic gains associated with having public holidays on weekends. And he believes it would be easy for a president to implement the new system by executive order, something that he and Henry have even drafted, just in case.

Still, he describes their lobbying efforts as more of a "soft sell" at the moment.

It seems like the current calendar system — with its leap days and years — may be here to stay, despite the many possible alternates. Faherty, the astronomer, says if someone truly wanted to keep track of their path around the sun, one could "build yourself a henge and know when the solstice is and carry on from that."

"But we don't do that," she said. "We gave it an interval and we follow that, so now we're stuck. And now you have to enter these leap days, to try and do our best to fix the human need to have a document that says where exactly you are in the position that the Earth is falling around."

And that's probably enough to think about for the year, maybe even the next three.

Adam Bearne and Julie Depenbrock contributed reporting.

Opinion: Should California schools stick to phonics-based reading ‘science’? It’s not so simple

Gov. Gavin Newsom reading to children at an elementary school.

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A child’s individual differences, skills and experience matter a lot in the learning process, and learning to read is no exception. That’s why new legislation based on the erroneous assumption that there is only one way to teach reading is so dangerous for California’s students. Although well-intentioned, the measure would prevent teachers from addressing children’s diverse learning needs and lead to even more illiteracy.

Introduced by Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) with the support of several advocacy groups, Assembly Bill 2222 would strictly limit approaches to language and literacy instruction from kindergarten through eighth grade. It would also limit the type of training and resources available to educators.

Despite its flaws, AB 2222 is written in persuasive terms, promoting a curriculum based on the “science of reading” and prohibiting all other ways of teaching the subject. Who would argue with following the science?

A teacher shares reading strategies at The Children's School in La Jolla.

Editorial: The science of reading works. California should require it

A Stanford study finds that 75 schools using more phonics-based instruction are seeing real results. There should be no more delay in bringing this to all students.

Dec. 19, 2023

In fact, the term “science of reading” lacks a clear definition . It’s more a misleading marketing ploy and ideological catchphrase than a subset of research or teaching methodology. Consequently, reading experts are concerned about the way such policies are being implemented in schools .

Researchers agree that learning to read is a complex process. But curricula that claim to be aligned with the science of reading tend to oversimplify the process , overemphasize and isolate foundational skills such as phonics (the correlation between letters and sounds), overlook oral language as a foundation for reading and ignore the importance of writing . In other words, they misrepresent the “science” part of the “science of reading.”

Learning to read in this way would be like learning to pedal on a stationary bicycle and then being expected to ride a bike through L.A. traffic without understanding balance, steering, speed and the rules of the road. Some kids — especially more affluent ones — will already have some of those additional skills, but many others will not.

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - MAR. 30, 2022. Teacher Yesenia Gutierrez instructs students in a "Primary Promise" intervention program class at Gulf Avenue Elementary School in Wilmington on Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2022. The Los Angeles Unified School District has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the program, which is meant to help students catch up following the academic setbacks of the coronavirus pandemic. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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May 26, 2023

Overemphasizing foundational skills can take classroom time away from writing, language development, science and social studies. Foundational skills are extremely important for young students, but they are insufficient for developing critical thinking, reading and writing. When schools put too much focus on basic skills, family wealth and background play an even greater role in education, increasing inequity.

As a former bilingual teacher in a largely Spanish-speaking community, I am particularly concerned about the implications of AB 2222 for English learners. Researchers and educators on all sides of the so-called reading wars agree that English learners need additional support specifically designed for language development, the process of learning how to understand language and use it to communicate.

Approaches characterized as following the “science of reading” tend to overlook the needs of English learners . They might learn to decode words, but if they are prevented from building enough background knowledge through science and other subjects, they will be limited in their comprehension — the purpose of reading.

Researchers have called for greater attention to linguistic and societal factors for bilingual learners in literacy instruction. This is particularly important in California, where 19% of students are classified as English learners and 40% speak a language other than English at home . That suggests this legislation ignores the needs of a substantial share of California’s students.

Literacy teaching certainly needs improvement in California, which has one of the nation’s highest illiteracy rates. But mandating one curriculum is the opposite of what we should be doing to address that. Instead, we should prepare our teachers better and provide research-based, differentiated continuing-learning and coaching opportunities, which has been proved to be an effective strategy . We should provide more rather than less support for our educators to meet the diverse needs of individual students regardless of their home language.

Limiting teachers’ ability to use an array of strategies will only make it harder for them to learn to teach kids who might struggle to learn to read and write. Why would we do that?

While learning language is innate for humans, literacy is not. Governed by cultural and sometimes seemingly arbitrary rules, literacy is difficult to learn and to teach well. Pretending otherwise won’t help anyone learn to read.

Allison Briceño is an associate professor at San Jose State’s Connie L. Lurie College of Education, an editor at the Reading Teacher and a Public Voices fellow with the OpEd Project.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom reads the book "Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts to kindergarteners at the Washington Elementary School in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, March 1, 2019. Newsom, accompanied by his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, left, visited the school to celebrate Read Across America Day. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

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Education Director

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Eugene Science Center seeks an enthusiastic and engaging professional with a strong background in informal science education to lead its Education Department. This position is a member of the science center’s leadership team and will be working collaboratively across departments to engage community members in science education while working toward expanding onsite and offsite program offerings.

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'Remarkable' ancient scientific tool used by Muslims, Jews and Christians over the centuries

A historic find in an italian museum – a medieval astronomical tool – bears markings in muslim, hebrew and christian languages, suggesting cross-cultural exchange across religion and regions..

importance of science museum in education

An 11th-century artifact sitting in an Italian museum has been identified as a scientific instrument inscribed with an incredible surprise: signs of use by Muslim, Hebrew and Christian users.

Federica Gigante, an expert in Islamic art and scientific instruments at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., saw a picture of the artifact on the website of the museum in Verona, and asked the curators at the Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo about it.

“The museum had not yet started an in-depth study of the object,” Gigante said in a description of the find on the university's website . “It’s now the single most important object in their collection.”

The discovery was hailed as "extraordinary," by The Guardian and as "shining light on religious harmony," by The Times of London.

As Gigante began to study the astrolabe – a scientific tool which dates from 11th century Spain and is used to chart stars and other heavenly bodies – she found Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions, making it a rare find of cross-cultural exchange. Adding to the astrolabe's rarity, Western numerals were also found as corrections etched into the brass device.

“This isn’t just an incredibly rare object," said Gigante, whose study was published earlier this month in the journal Nuncius . "It’s a powerful record of scientific exchange between Arabs, Jews and Christians over hundreds of years.”

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'Very exciting' find in Italy shows cross-cultural scientific exchange

Studying the astrolabe at the museum, Gigante said in the university's write-up that she noticed that "not only was it covered in beautifully engraved Arabic inscriptions but that I could see faint inscriptions in Hebrew.

"I could only make them out in the raking light entering from a window," she said. "I thought I might be dreaming but I kept seeing more and more. It was very exciting.”

As she analyzed the astrolabe, which she identified as originally from the Muslim-ruled Andalusian area of Spain, she realized it had undergone "many modifications, additions, and adaptations as it changed hands."

"At least three separate users felt the need to add translations and corrections to this object, two using Hebrew and one using a Western language," she said.

The Western numerals added to the instrument may be incorrect changes, likely "relating to the latitudes of Cordoba and Toledo" in Spain, she wrote in the research paper, calling the astrolabe "remarkable."

What is an astrolabe? And why is it important?

Not sure what an astrolabe is? Think of it as "the original smartphone," which is how Smithsonian magazine described the ancient tool back in 2017.

The astrolabe is "a device that can do everything: Give you the time, your location, your horoscope, and even help you make decisions – all with the swipe of a hand."

Tom Almeroth-Williams, the University of Cambridge’s research communications manager for the arts & humanities, agrees with that comparison in his report on Gigante's find on the university's website .

Akin to "a portable computer," the astrolabe "provided a portable two-dimensional model of the universe fitting in their user’s hand, enabling them to calculate time, distances, plot the position of the stars and even forecast the future, by casting a horoscope," he wrote.

This particular astrolabe has Muslim prayer lines and prayer names, "arranged to ensure that its original intended users kept to time to perform their daily prayers," Almeroth-Williams wrote.

The astrolabe was inscribed with (translated into English), “for Isḥāq … the work of Yūnus." The names could be the Jewish names Isaac and Jonah written in Arabic, which Gigante said suggests the tool was used in a Sephardi Jewish community in Spain, where Arabic was spoken.

Astrolabes may have different plates for use in different latitudes and this one has one inscribed for North African latitudes, which suggests the object was also used in Morocco or Egypt, Almeroth-Williams wrote.

In the past, the astrolabe made its way into the collection of the Veronese nobleman Ludovico Moscardo (1611–81) before passing by marriage to the Miniscalchi family, Gigante wrote. The family founded the Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo in 1990 to preserve the collections.

“This object is Islamic, Jewish and European, they can’t be separated,” Gigante said.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads:  @mikesnider  & mikegsnider .

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We asked Ohio astronomy experts what they're doing for the eclipse. Here's what they said

Suzie Dills is the director at the Hoover Price Planetarium in Canton. She will spent April 8 at an eclipse party in Avon Lake educating people about the science behind the eclipse.

Suzie Dills has waited for years to see a total solar eclipse.

This year, her wish is coming true.

Dills is an astronomer and director of the Hoover Price Planetarium in Canton. She viewed a partial eclipse in 2017, but not a total one.

For the first time in over 200 years, on April 8, a total solar eclipse will be visible in Ohio.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so excited," Dills said. "I've been talking about this since 2017."

The total eclipse may be thrilling for the general public — and the hotels, restaurants and businesses that will reap some financial benefits — but for astronomers and those who keep their eyes on the sky, it's even more stimulating.

The Repository asked astronomers throughout Ohio what their plans are for viewing the upcoming eclipse. Their plans range from watching from a campsite to traveling out of state to attending an eclipse gathering so they can help others enjoy the view.

Suzie Dills, Hoover Price Planetarium director

Dills commutes to Canton during the week from her house in Avon Lake, but on the day of the eclipse, she will be staying home.

"I'm so fortunate because Avon Lake is on center line," she said. "We'll have one of the longest points of totality duration in Ohio."

The city is planning a large ticketed event at the high school Memorial Stadium. Dills said she will be on hand to engage with the community and educate about the eclipse.

"What a lot of us get really excited about is just having that opportunity to be with the public and educating, getting them excited about science, inspiring kids to want to be involved in science," she said.

Wayne Schlingman, director of Arne Slettebak Planetarium at Ohio State University

Wayne Schlingman , director of the Arne Slettebak Planetarium at Ohio State University, is going to be especially busy leading up to the total solar eclipse. That's one of the reasons he'll be traveling to Texas to see the eclipse.

"I'll be working basically seven days a week for the next month," he said. "That is my chance to get a bit of a breather in there but also just be someplace warmer."

Schlingman plans to meet his parents, who live in Colorado. They will be camping near the center line of totality with plans to view the eclipse from the campsite to avoid heavy traffic.

"We're just going to park and that's it," Schlingman said. "I told my parents, 'If we're not going to walk there, we're probably not going to move.'"

Schlingman traveled to Wyoming to view the 2017 solar eclipse. He said even as an educator who had taught people what to expect, he was still blown away.

"I was not prepared," he said. "There's no real way to describe what it was like. There's lots of pictures, but the rest of it is just overwhelming. It's amazing."

Nick Anderson, senior astronomer at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Nick Anderson, senior astronomer at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, saw the 2017 total solar eclipse from Kentucky. This time around, he's looking forward to sharing the experience.

"I know what's going to happen that day, and boy, you don't want to miss it. But also for a lot of the people, including my friends, family, colleagues, this is going to be their first opportunity to see this," he said. "[I'm excited to] see the joy on everybody's faces when they get a chance to see."

Anderson will be viewing the April eclipse from University Circle's Total on the Oval watch party in Cleveland. He's part of the astronomy team that will be giving a series of presentations and leading the countdown to totality.

His advice is to make the most of the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"Enjoy every second of it," he said. "Don't get bogged down worrying about all the cameras and equipment, really just soak it in."

Katy Downing, planetarium and program coordinator at Lake Erie Nature & Science Center

Katy Downing, planetarium and program coordinator at Lake Erie Nature & Science Center in Bay Village, traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to see the 2017 total solar eclipse, but this time she will be in her backyard.

"I saw one eclipse and that's not enough, I want to see more," she said. "Eclipses happen about every 18 months on the Earth, but most of them happen over water. So it's just a very truly unique opportunity to happen right here."

For this eclipse, Downing will be at the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center in Bay Village to help lead activities and usher people outside for eclipse viewing. Leading up to the day of the eclipse, the center is having educational planetarium shows on select Saturdays.

Downing said the experience seeing a total eclipse is truly unique.

"It was one of the coolest things ever," she said of her experience viewing the 2017 eclipse. "It is a truly magical moment."

Parker Lynch, planetarium manager at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery

Parker Lynch, planetarium manager at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton, said he will be taking part in a fundraiser event at SunWatch, a Native American historical site in Dayton.

"I plan on doing presentations before the eclipse, talking about what an eclipse is, why do they happen, how often do they happen," he said. "We'll have solar telescopes and also pinhole eclipse viewers and solar binoculars, so a number of different ways to view the eclipse."

Tickets to the event are $500 and proceeds will go toward supporting the historical site.

This will be his first time seeing a total solar eclipse. His only concern is the weather.

"I'm 50% excited, 50% nervous," Lynch said. "I'm super excited to see it. Even if it is cloudy, there's still going to be lots of really cool things going on that we'll be able to observe."

Karen Bjorkman, professor of astronomy at the University of Toledo

Karen Bjorkman, professor of astronomy at the University of Toledo, plans to stay in Ohio for the eclipse, chasing clear skies with her husband.

"We're going to get to someplace within the line of totality, probably as close to the center line as we can get," she said. "We'll probably go over around Norwalk or Cleveland. Of course, we'll have to watch the weather forecast and see what happens there, that's one of the tricks of being able to see eclipses."

Bjorkman has seen two total solar eclipses, including the 2017 eclipse which she viewed from Wyoming.

"The sky was perfectly clear, it was just a beautiful sight," she said.

Her advice to Ohio eclipse viewers is to be flexible on the day of the eclipse.

"You want a fairly clear horizon if possible," Bjorkman said. "If you can be like in a clear field or someplace that you have a pretty good view of the sky, that's the most important thing."

Robin Gill, astronomy education specialist at The Wilderness Center

Robin Gill, astronomy education specialist at The Wilderness Center in Sugar Creek Township, is hoping for favorable weather as she plans to view the eclipse from Ohio.

"We're really looking forward to this," she said. "Typically in Ohio, early April can be really cloudy, so we're just hoping for clear skies."

Gill and her husband plan to view the eclipse from her brother's yard in Norwalk, an area on the center line.

She has seen partial solar eclipses before surrounded by large crowds, but this will be her first time experiencing totality.

"It's nice to be with a lot of people sometimes because you just feel that excitement in the air," she said. "We've done that, so having this be a little bit quieter for us, we're looking forward to that."

Gill is teaching programs on eclipse safety at The Wilderness Center in Wilmot to prepare people for the April 8 event.

Don Stevens, Perkins Observatory director

Don Stevens, director of the Perkins Observatory at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, hasn't made his final plans for the eclipse yet.

Instead, he'll be camping somewhere in the southwestern U.S. and watching the weather.

"The night before, I'll camp or stay someplace off the eclipse path where I can watch the weather and make the decision last minute what part of the path to head to," Stevens said. "I'll probably be in northern New Mexico, the panhandle of Texas or Oklahoma, that region."

Stevens has chased a few total solar eclipses. The only one he saw completely unobstructed by clouds was in 2017 from Wyoming. He said the experience was life changing and encouraged people to enjoy the view in April.

"If there's any way possible to see this, do it," he said.

Reach Grace at 330-580-8364 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @GraceSpringer16.

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From Hitler to Stalin: The secret story how German scientists helped built the Soviet A-bomb

In the late 1940s, Soviet scientists worked hard on their own atomic project, and the help of captured (or invited) German colleagues was of great help.

In the late 1940s, Soviet scientists worked hard on their own atomic project, and the help of captured (or invited) German colleagues was of great help.

Soviet soldiers might have been quite surprised when in 1945 they approached Baron Manfred von Ardenne’s home near Berlin. As   described   by an eyewitness, the “half-mansion, half-castle” was decorated with a sign in Russian saying, “ Dobro pojalovat ! ” (‘Welcome’). “Ardenne well understood how the wind was now blowing,” the officers joked.

Indeed, Ardenne, a scientist who developed the first broadband amplifier, contributed to establishing a stable radio system in Hitler’s Germany, and he also worked on the Nazi’s nuclear project. Caught in the Soviet zone of occupation, he knew that he now had to work for Moscow. And so did many of his colleagues.

Brains as trophies

The first Soviet atomic bomb test.

The first Soviet atomic bomb test.

In spring 1945 it was clear that World War II was coming to a close, and both the West and the USSR were already preparing for the coming Cold War, with each side planning to develop incredible new weapons. Both sides wanted to use scientists from Nazi Germany to further their own new technologies.

The U.S. forced Wernher von Braun and Werner Heisenberg, two key scientists in the German nuclear project, to collaborate. But Moscow also captured some prominent specialists. As Vladimir Gubarev, a journalist who wrote a book on the Soviet nuclear program,   emphasized, “One shouldn’t underestimate the German contribution to the development of the Soviet nuclear industry; it was significant.”

The Baron and the Communists

Baron Manfred von Ardenne in his younger years.

Baron Manfred von Ardenne in his younger years.

One of those German scientists, Manfred von Ardenne, had an outstanding life. Born into a noble family but then a high school dropout, the Baron went on to become an extremely successful inventor with around a total of 600 patents, including the first high-resolution scanning electron microscope. Ardenne, however, was doomed to work with three totalitarian leaders: Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Erich Honecker.

After the Soviets arrived in Berlin, Stalin’s official in charge of the Soviet atomic program, Lavrenty Beria, made Ardenne an offer that he couldn’t refuse: drop the electronics and work on the Soviet A-bomb.

From Berlin to Sukhumi

Ardenne   asked   to be allowed to concentrate on the development of the isotope separation process for obtaining nuclear explosives, such as uranium-235 (and not on the bomb itself). Beria agreed. Later the scientist called his role in the Soviet nuclear program, “the most important deed that fortune and post-war events led me to.”

Ardenne, working in his laboratory.

Ardenne, working in his laboratory.

Not that Ardenne wasn’t familiar with uranium. As Vadim Gorelik   put   it in an article for   Neue Zeiten , “During World War II, prisoners built for Ardenne a cyclotron and a uranium centrifuge that would have created material for the Fuhrer’s nuclear bomb.” But Germany lost the war, and now Ardenne, with his laboratory evacuated,   worked in Sukhumi (now Abkhazia) on splitting isotopes and was in charge of more than 100 people.

Ardenne’s work was successful, and he was decorated with the Stalin Prize in 1947, and then again in 1953 with a Stalin Prize first class. In 1955, he returned to East Germany. Talented and unsinkable, Ardenne lived for 42 more years, doing important research in physics and medicine.

Hero of Socialist Labor

Physicist Nikolas Riehl - perhaps not as sharp-dressed as Baron von Ardenne yet even more important for the Soviet nuclear program.

Physicist Nikolas Riehl - perhaps not as sharp-dressed as Baron von Ardenne yet even more important for the Soviet nuclear program.

Ardenne wasn’t the only prominent German scientist ‘invited’ to work on the Soviet nuclear program. There was also physicist Gustav Hertz who won the Nobel Prize; physical chemist Max Volmer, who later headed East Germany’s Academy of Science; Max Steenbeck, who pioneered the development of supercritical centrifuges; and many others (about 300 in total).

Nikolaus Riehl possibly had the most interesting fate of them all. This physicist was born in tsarist St. Petersburg in 1901, moved to Germany in the 1920s, and 20 years later was forced to return. His Soviet colleagues called him “Nikolai Vasilyevich,” because of his Russian roots.

Vladimir Gubarev   recalls: “Both the American and the Soviet secret services pursued Riehl after the war… we were lucky enough – and he worked in the USSR.” In the Elektrostal factory (Moscow Region) Riehl, along with other scientists, managed to create metal uranium necessary for making a bomb. For that he was awarded the title of “Hero of Socialist Labor” – the only German scientist to achieve such an honor.

“Nikolas Riehl loved to wear his medal and demonstrated it anytime he could,” Gubarev wrote. “All the money he received he gave to the German POWs working in Elektrostal, and they remembered that even decades later, as their memoirs attest.”

In 1949 the USSR had its own nuclear bomb, and in the 1950s, after the work of the German scientists was completed, most left for East Germany. Some, such as Riehl, even managed to defect to West Germany, leaving behind the socialist chapter in their lives.  

With the Cold War unfolding, rivaling nuclear projects were not the only case of the USSR and the U.S. challenging each other: read our text on how the global superpowers faced each other in the Korean peninsula. 

If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.

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  • How a German soldier became a Hero of the Soviet Union
  • Andrei Sakharov: 'Nuclear war might come from an ordinary one'
  • Why didn’t Soviet airships bomb German cities during WWII?

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40 facts about elektrostal.

Lanette Mayes

Written by Lanette Mayes

Modified & Updated: 02 Mar 2024

Jessica Corbett

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

40-facts-about-elektrostal

Elektrostal is a vibrant city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia. With a rich history, stunning architecture, and a thriving community, Elektrostal is a city that has much to offer. Whether you are a history buff, nature enthusiast, or simply curious about different cultures, Elektrostal is sure to captivate you.

This article will provide you with 40 fascinating facts about Elektrostal, giving you a better understanding of why this city is worth exploring. From its origins as an industrial hub to its modern-day charm, we will delve into the various aspects that make Elektrostal a unique and must-visit destination.

So, join us as we uncover the hidden treasures of Elektrostal and discover what makes this city a true gem in the heart of Russia.

Key Takeaways:

  • Elektrostal, known as the “Motor City of Russia,” is a vibrant and growing city with a rich industrial history, offering diverse cultural experiences and a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.
  • With its convenient location near Moscow, Elektrostal provides a picturesque landscape, vibrant nightlife, and a range of recreational activities, making it an ideal destination for residents and visitors alike.

Known as the “Motor City of Russia.”

Elektrostal, a city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia, earned the nickname “Motor City” due to its significant involvement in the automotive industry.

Home to the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Elektrostal is renowned for its metallurgical plant, which has been producing high-quality steel and alloys since its establishment in 1916.

Boasts a rich industrial heritage.

Elektrostal has a long history of industrial development, contributing to the growth and progress of the region.

Founded in 1916.

The city of Elektrostal was founded in 1916 as a result of the construction of the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Located approximately 50 kilometers east of Moscow.

Elektrostal is situated in close proximity to the Russian capital, making it easily accessible for both residents and visitors.

Known for its vibrant cultural scene.

Elektrostal is home to several cultural institutions, including museums, theaters, and art galleries that showcase the city’s rich artistic heritage.

A popular destination for nature lovers.

Surrounded by picturesque landscapes and forests, Elektrostal offers ample opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, and birdwatching.

Hosts the annual Elektrostal City Day celebrations.

Every year, Elektrostal organizes festive events and activities to celebrate its founding, bringing together residents and visitors in a spirit of unity and joy.

Has a population of approximately 160,000 people.

Elektrostal is home to a diverse and vibrant community of around 160,000 residents, contributing to its dynamic atmosphere.

Boasts excellent education facilities.

The city is known for its well-established educational institutions, providing quality education to students of all ages.

A center for scientific research and innovation.

Elektrostal serves as an important hub for scientific research, particularly in the fields of metallurgy, materials science, and engineering.

Surrounded by picturesque lakes.

The city is blessed with numerous beautiful lakes, offering scenic views and recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike.

Well-connected transportation system.

Elektrostal benefits from an efficient transportation network, including highways, railways, and public transportation options, ensuring convenient travel within and beyond the city.

Famous for its traditional Russian cuisine.

Food enthusiasts can indulge in authentic Russian dishes at numerous restaurants and cafes scattered throughout Elektrostal.

Home to notable architectural landmarks.

Elektrostal boasts impressive architecture, including the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Elektrostal Palace of Culture.

Offers a wide range of recreational facilities.

Residents and visitors can enjoy various recreational activities, such as sports complexes, swimming pools, and fitness centers, enhancing the overall quality of life.

Provides a high standard of healthcare.

Elektrostal is equipped with modern medical facilities, ensuring residents have access to quality healthcare services.

Home to the Elektrostal History Museum.

The Elektrostal History Museum showcases the city’s fascinating past through exhibitions and displays.

A hub for sports enthusiasts.

Elektrostal is passionate about sports, with numerous stadiums, arenas, and sports clubs offering opportunities for athletes and spectators.

Celebrates diverse cultural festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal hosts a variety of cultural festivals, celebrating different ethnicities, traditions, and art forms.

Electric power played a significant role in its early development.

Elektrostal owes its name and initial growth to the establishment of electric power stations and the utilization of electricity in the industrial sector.

Boasts a thriving economy.

The city’s strong industrial base, coupled with its strategic location near Moscow, has contributed to Elektrostal’s prosperous economic status.

Houses the Elektrostal Drama Theater.

The Elektrostal Drama Theater is a cultural centerpiece, attracting theater enthusiasts from far and wide.

Popular destination for winter sports.

Elektrostal’s proximity to ski resorts and winter sport facilities makes it a favorite destination for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter activities.

Promotes environmental sustainability.

Elektrostal prioritizes environmental protection and sustainability, implementing initiatives to reduce pollution and preserve natural resources.

Home to renowned educational institutions.

Elektrostal is known for its prestigious schools and universities, offering a wide range of academic programs to students.

Committed to cultural preservation.

The city values its cultural heritage and takes active steps to preserve and promote traditional customs, crafts, and arts.

Hosts an annual International Film Festival.

The Elektrostal International Film Festival attracts filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts from around the world, showcasing a diverse range of films.

Encourages entrepreneurship and innovation.

Elektrostal supports aspiring entrepreneurs and fosters a culture of innovation, providing opportunities for startups and business development.

Offers a range of housing options.

Elektrostal provides diverse housing options, including apartments, houses, and residential complexes, catering to different lifestyles and budgets.

Home to notable sports teams.

Elektrostal is proud of its sports legacy, with several successful sports teams competing at regional and national levels.

Boasts a vibrant nightlife scene.

Residents and visitors can enjoy a lively nightlife in Elektrostal, with numerous bars, clubs, and entertainment venues.

Promotes cultural exchange and international relations.

Elektrostal actively engages in international partnerships, cultural exchanges, and diplomatic collaborations to foster global connections.

Surrounded by beautiful nature reserves.

Nearby nature reserves, such as the Barybino Forest and Luchinskoye Lake, offer opportunities for nature enthusiasts to explore and appreciate the region’s biodiversity.

Commemorates historical events.

The city pays tribute to significant historical events through memorials, monuments, and exhibitions, ensuring the preservation of collective memory.

Promotes sports and youth development.

Elektrostal invests in sports infrastructure and programs to encourage youth participation, health, and physical fitness.

Hosts annual cultural and artistic festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal celebrates its cultural diversity through festivals dedicated to music, dance, art, and theater.

Provides a picturesque landscape for photography enthusiasts.

The city’s scenic beauty, architectural landmarks, and natural surroundings make it a paradise for photographers.

Connects to Moscow via a direct train line.

The convenient train connection between Elektrostal and Moscow makes commuting between the two cities effortless.

A city with a bright future.

Elektrostal continues to grow and develop, aiming to become a model city in terms of infrastructure, sustainability, and quality of life for its residents.

In conclusion, Elektrostal is a fascinating city with a rich history and a vibrant present. From its origins as a center of steel production to its modern-day status as a hub for education and industry, Elektrostal has plenty to offer both residents and visitors. With its beautiful parks, cultural attractions, and proximity to Moscow, there is no shortage of things to see and do in this dynamic city. Whether you’re interested in exploring its historical landmarks, enjoying outdoor activities, or immersing yourself in the local culture, Elektrostal has something for everyone. So, next time you find yourself in the Moscow region, don’t miss the opportunity to discover the hidden gems of Elektrostal.

Q: What is the population of Elektrostal?

A: As of the latest data, the population of Elektrostal is approximately XXXX.

Q: How far is Elektrostal from Moscow?

A: Elektrostal is located approximately XX kilometers away from Moscow.

Q: Are there any famous landmarks in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to several notable landmarks, including XXXX and XXXX.

Q: What industries are prominent in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal is known for its steel production industry and is also a center for engineering and manufacturing.

Q: Are there any universities or educational institutions in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to XXXX University and several other educational institutions.

Q: What are some popular outdoor activities in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal offers several outdoor activities, such as hiking, cycling, and picnicking in its beautiful parks.

Q: Is Elektrostal well-connected in terms of transportation?

A: Yes, Elektrostal has good transportation links, including trains and buses, making it easily accessible from nearby cities.

Q: Are there any annual events or festivals in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal hosts various events and festivals throughout the year, including XXXX and XXXX.

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  24. Education Director

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  28. 40 Facts About Elektrostal

    Elektrostal serves as an important hub for scientific research, particularly in the fields of metallurgy, materials science, and engineering. Surrounded by picturesque lakes. The city is blessed with numerous beautiful lakes, offering scenic views and recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike.

  29. Machine-Building Plant (Elemash)

    This page is part of the Facilities Collection.. Established in 1917, this facility manufactured munitions before it was redirected toward production for the USSR's military and civil nuclear programs.In 1954, Elemash began to produce fuel assemblies, including for the first nuclear power plant in the world, located in Obninsk. In 1959, the facility produced the fuel for the Soviet Union's ...