Ben Gammon Consulting Learning in museums Theory, research & practice

Ben Gammon Consulting

Learning in museums

Theory, research & practice


What do we mean by learning in museums?

Think about a learning experience you’ve had in a museum


Many different theories

• How people learn

• Different learning styles & preferences

• What people learn


Museum learning

It ain’t school


Museums as learning resources

• What are the differences between learning in museums and learning in schools?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?


Learning in museums

Strengths• Motivation

– No assessment

• Variety of experience• Concrete vs. abstract• Social experience

Weaknesses• Huge variety of prior

knowledge, skills, motivations

• Largely unmediated by educators

• Time – very brief compared to school


Falk & Dierking’s contextual model of museum learning

Physical context

Personal contextSocial context

The Museum Experience


Learning in museums is all about “the real thing”

Real objectsReal phenomena

Real people


The real thing

• Leinhardt & Crowley – the power of objects– Value: uniqueness / cost– Density of information– Scale– Authenticity


The power of museums

• Michael Spock’s “Pivotal Learning Experiences”

• Vivid, relevant, lasting, life-changing memories– Match of experience to personal interest– Learner has control over content & pace– Some independence from adults– Variety of activity & content


Theories of how people learn

The personal context


Influential thinkers

Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner & Dewey


Piaget

Four factors underlying intellectual development• Maturation (physical and neurological

development)• Physical (direct apprehension of the physical

world) & logico-mathematical (intellectual reflection & reconstruction) experiences

• Social transmission (schooling, learning from others)

• Equilibration (integration of these influences to achieve an adaptive balance with the environment)


Piaget

• Learner is actively involved in the process of learning

• Assimilation of new concepts into existing mental models

• Accommodation of mental models to fit new concepts


Vygotsky• All higher mental functions start in social

plane• Learning use of cultural tools through social

interaction– Language– Numbers– Thinking skills– Planning skills

• Internalisation of conversation• The Zone of Proximal Development


Zone of proximal development

level of potential development(what the child can do with help)

zone of proximal development(what the child can do with help & will soon be able to do unaided)

level of actual development(what the child can do unaided)


John Dewey

• All learning is based in experience

• But not all experience is educational

• An educational experience is– Immediately agreeable– Provides a challenge– Links to past experiences– Generates questions and desire for more

learning


John Dewey

• What is learnt is not only the subject of study

• Need for structure to …– Turn impulse & desire into purpose– Through reflection & suspension of judgement


Piaget, Vygotsky & Dewey

Come together in Constructivism


Constructivism• All new knowledge constructed on basis of

current knowledge• Better understanding when leaner is actively

involved• Learning involves modifying mental models• Discussion & social interaction is key to

learning• Importance of meta-cognition – learning how

you learn


“Learning occurs when people reconstruct meaning and understanding; a different way of thinking, perhaps, or a different way of responding to an idea or event. Learning that occurs today depends on

yesterday’s learning and is the foundation for tomorrow’s learning.”

National association of research in science teaching Ad Hoc Committee 2003


Learning is a process of active engagement with

experience. It is what people do when they want to make

sense of the world. It may involve increases in skills,

knowledge, understanding, feelings and capacity to reflect.

It may involve challenging values, attitudes and beliefs.

Effective learning leads to change, development and the

desire to learn more.

(Modified version of the Campaign for Learning’s definition of learning)


“Learning is a whole, not a part; a whole that can only be understood by trying to situate any given learning experience within a larger framework of a person’s total life”

John Falk (2004)


Learning is other people

Museum learning as a social process


Zone of proximal development

level of potential development(what the child can do with help)

zone of proximal development(what the child can do with help & will soon be able to do unaided)

level of actual development(what the child can do unaided)


Scaffolding learning in the ZPD

Modeling – behaviour or ideas for imitationFeedback – compares to a standard Instructing – requesting specific action; selecting the

correct response, providing clarity & information Questioning – request for a verbal response Cognitive structuring; explanations – organise new

learningTask structuring – chunking, segregating, sequencing,

defining goals & sub-goals or otherwise structuring a task

Organising & directing attention


Social interaction & museum learning

Studies of family talk – Sue Allen

• Types of talk - perceptual, conceptual, connecting, strategic, affective

• Learning talk – 97% of talk at exhibits; occurred at 83% of exhibits

• High frequency of conceptual talk– Hypothesis, ref. to previous knowledge,

generalisations



Text echo – Paulette McManus– Shared use of label text / even reading labels is a

social experienceParental “explanatoids” – Kevin Crowley

– Just in time explanations– Focus & direct children’s attention

Negotiated meaning-making – Doris Ash– Distributed expertise – adults & children– Parents model reasoning & thinking– Importance of complexity & balance of power– A collective family ZPD



• Kevin Crowley - Islands of Expertise• Children develop ‘islands of expertise’• Family activities built around these ‘islands’ to

sustain them• ‘Islands’ become platforms for practicing

learning habits• Museums are good at developing ‘Islands of

expertise’– Episodic memories


Learning through other people

Guided participation - Rogoff• School seen as only one, relatively new

approach to learning– “Children learn as they participate in & are guided by

the values & practices of their cultural communities”

• Learning through observing & mimicking adult activities

• Often without explicit educational intention• Learners both participate in & help to shape

community practices


Learning through other people

Legitimate peripheral participation - Lave & Wenger– E.g. apprenticeships

• Drawn from periphery into centre of a “community of practice”

• Through observation & increasing participation• Changing identity; gaining membership - new

timer to old timer– “Learning is a way of being in the social world, not a

way of coming to know about it”


The role of play?

• Which of these statements do you agree with?– Play not learning?– Play is learning?– Learning is play?


Corinne Hutt’s model of play

P ro b le m so lv ing

E xp lo ra tion

S k ills

M a te ria l

P ro du c tion

E p is te m icW h at d oe s th is d o?

C o lla bo ra tion

C o m pe tit ive

S k ill-b a sed

C h an ce

G a m e p layg a m es w ith ru les

O b je ctP e rson

Im m ate ria l

F a n ta sy

S ym b o lic

In no va tive

P e rse rvera n ce

R e p etit ive

L u d icW ha t ca n I do

w ith th is?


Different people learn in different ways

Influence of Gardner & Kolb


Kolb-McCarthy - learning styles

SENSE-FEEL

THINK

DO WATCH

dynamic imaginative

problem-solver analytical


A dynamic learner likes …

• hands-on’ learning

• learning by trial & error

• self-discovery

• talking with other people


An imaginative learner likes ...

• seeking personal meaning

• looking at things from different points of view

• watching, listening & sharing ideas

• learning about people & culture


A problem solver likes …

• solving problems, resents being given answers

• knowing how things work

• ‘hands-on’ learning

• testing theories


An analytical learner likes …

• thinking thru’ ideas

• seeking facts

• knowing what experts think

• listening & thinking


Gardner’s - multiple gateways

• Different people prefer different approaches to learning – Narrative: story-bases

– Quantitative: numbers, logic

– Aesthetic

– Foundational; philosophical

– Experiential


Theories of what people learn

The personal context (again)


What do we mean by learning in museums?

More than just remembering facts


A model of learning

• Cognitive

• Affective

• Skill-based

• Social

• Personal


Museum learning also includes

• Reinforcing prior knowledge through …– repetition– direct, concrete experience– setting prior knowledge into context– Applying knowledge in the real world

(Newtonian to billiards)



Affective learning

• challenging beliefs & values

• making people more aware of other people’s point of view



Practicing or gaining skills• thinking skills - exploration, observation,

measurement, classification …• story-telling• artistic appreciation• IT skills• craft skills



Social learning

• team work

• communication

• co-operation



Personal learning

• inspiring interest

• increasing self confidence

• increased awareness of what you can do


Now what do you think we mean by learning in museums?

Think about experience you’ve had in a museum


Is every experience in a museum educational?


Dewey’s theory of learning

• All genuine education comes from experience

But …

• Not all experience are genuinely or equally educative

• Depends on quality of experience



• An educative experience …– Is agreeable– Influences later experiences– Presents new problems that grow from

experience & are in ability range of students

– Arouse active quest for information, produce new ideas

– Promotes reflection before action



• But not all experience is educational

• Mis-educative experiences– Poor quality experience– Disconnected from other experiences– Fails to promote reflection & suspension of

judgement


Learning is a process of active engagement with

experience. It is what people do when they want to make

sense of the world. It may involve increases in skills,

knowledge, understanding, feelings and capacity to reflect.

It may involve challenging values, attitudes and beliefs.

Effective learning leads to change, development and the

desire to learn more.

(Modified version of the Campaign for Learning’s definition of learning)


Barriers to learning

• Not everything that happens is learning

• Barriers to learning– Physical– Intellectual– Motivational


All that glistens …

When social interaction goes bad


They don’t mean to but they do

• Parental expectations – Schauble et al.– Learning or play? – Knowing what children don’t know

• Social interaction leading to disruption –Allen & Gutwill

• Gender bias in parents - Crowley

• Design that thwarts social interaction - Crowley


“What ultimately counts is the extent to which instruction requires students

to think, not just report someone else’s thinking”

From ‘Opening Dialogue’ M. Nystrand et al. (1997)

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Ben Gammon Consulting Learning in museums Theory, research & practice