The museum in adult education: A psychological study of visitor reactions

The authors of this article argue that classroom education does not fit the museum setting and that researchers need to re-think the basic principles for the use of museums in adult education. In order to do this, it is necessary to understand the psychology of the museum visitor. However, while much has been published on visitor behaviour and the factors influencing it, very little is known about what visitors think or feel in the exhibition room. A research team at the University of Montreal is currently studying the psychological reactions of adults when observing museum exhibits. This paper describes the methodology used by this team, some of the results obtained and the perspectives opened up by the study.

---

Zusammenfassung Die Autoren dieses Artikels argumentieren, daß Klassenunterricht nicht in die Räumlichkeiten eines Museums passe und daß Forscher die Grundprinzipien für die Nutzung von Museen für die Erwachsenenbildung überdenken müßten. Dazu muß man die Psychologie der Museumsbesucher verstehen. Während jedoch viel über den Besucher und die ihn beeinflussenden Faktoren geschrieben wurde, ist nur sehr wenig darüber bekannt, was Besucher in den Ausstellungssräumen denken und fühlen. Ein Forschungsteam an der Universität von Montreal untersucht gegenwärtig die psychologische Reaktion von Erwachsenen bei Museumsausstellungen. Dieser Artikel beschreibt die von diesem Team angewandte Methodologie, einige der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse und die von dieser Studie eröffeneten Perspektiven.

---

Résumé Ce que l'on sait de l'éducation scolaire s'applique mal à la situation des musées. Il faut donc innover et élaborer les principes d'une éducation de l'adulte au musée. Le fonctionnement psychologique du visiteur pourrait servir de base à cette création, mais ce que l'on a écrit sur le visiteur révèle que l'on connaît bien le comportement de celui-ci ou les facteurs qui l'influencent, alors que l'on ignore presque tout de ce qu'il pense ou ressent dans une salle d'exposition. Une équipe de l'Université de Montréal a entrepris une série de recherches qui porte justement sur ce point: le fonctionnement psychologique de l'adulte face aux objets qu'il regarde. Elle comprend une présentation de l'approche et des instruments utilisés par cette équipe, de quelques-unes des données qu'elle a obtenues et des perspectives ouvertes par celles-ci.

     

How Physical Education Teachers’ Interpersonal Behaviour is Related to Students’ Health-Related Quality of Life

ABSTRACT

Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), this cross-sectional study tested relations of students’ perceptions of autonomy-supportive and controlling behaviour from teachers in physical education with students’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and the potential role of students’ perceived need satisfaction and need frustration as a mediator of these relationships. School students (N?=?1031) completed self-report measures of perceived autonomy support, perceived teachers’ controlling behaviour, students’ need satisfaction and need frustration, and HRQoL. Results indicated that students’ perceptions of autonomy support from teachers was positively associated with HRQoL through need satisfaction. Students’ perceptions of controlling behaviour from teachers was negatively related with HRQoL through need frustration. There was no significant association between autonomy support and need frustration, or between controlling behaviour and need satisfaction. Findings provide evidence that perceived autonomy support and controlling behaviour from the teacher in PE contributes to students’ HRQoL through unique pathways.     

Differences in African‐American and European‐American students' engagement with nanotechnology experiences: Perceptual position or assessment artifact?

This study examined middle and high school students' perceptions of a weeklong science experience with nanotechnology and atomic force microscopy. Through an examination of student self assessments and their writing, the study allowed us to examine some of the issues that may contribute to discrepancies that are seen between European‐American and African‐American students in science. The results of the study showed that after instruction, African‐American students were significantly more likely to agree with the statement that “science involves mostly memorizing things and getting the right answer,” than European‐American students. In addition, European‐American students were significantly more likely to write their newspaper stories from a first person perspective than their African‐American peers. The results are discussed in light of the assessment task, students' interpretations of formal writing, cultural differences in the use of language in writing, and possible cultural differences in students' perceptions of the science experience. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 787–799, 2007     

Manufacturing education: the commercial development of educational products for schools

By designing products that ultimately structure meaning in lessons, the industry that produces teaching materials for schools shapes teaching practice and everyday learning situations in schools across geographical borders. The design and development of such learning resources is a professional practice that has hitherto received very little academic attention. This lacuna is addressed in our paper, which presents an analysis of this aspect of educational practice based upon insights gained from ethnographic research. Light is shed upon specific ways of addressing and guiding pupils, teaching staff, and customers, which result from processes of negotiation between representatives of different professions including scientists, teachers, publishers and distributors. These processes ultimately provide classrooms with products that have been shaped by ideas about schooling. It becomes clear that the development of such materials is shaped by multiple perspectives on school education. As an exemplary case study, we describe in detail the process by which such materials make well-known, everyday phenomena abstract or ‘alien’ so that they can then be recontextualised and presented anew – as phenomena to be understood with the aid of school-taught knowledge.     

Formal and non-formal digital practices: institutionalizing transactional learning spaces in a media classroom

This article examines how a classroom procedure known as PGE (Plan/Go-through/Evaluate) group work aims at integrating formal and non-formal media experiences and practices into classroom-based media learning. The study displays, on the one hand, how PGE group work emerged and was institutionally embedded in a media course. On the other hand, the study displays how students in this media course negotiated with their teachers by drawing on out-of-school media experiences and production practices in the process of planning classroom work. Empirically, the study draws on ethnographic observation of a vocational media studies course in the age range between 16 and 19 years at the upper secondary level in Norway. Video observations from several hours of PGE group work are analysed in order to document how students are involved in co-planning classroom work together with the course teachers. The analysis is based on cultural historical activity theory (CHAT). This theoretical position is applied in order to foreground tensions between formal institutional obligations and non-formal practices that surface in the classroom, and how an institutional measure such as PGE group work creates a transactional space for handling these differences.     

Female and minority experiences in an astronomy-based science hobby

Cultural Studies of Science Education - Despite policy changes and targeted outreach, issues of underrepresentation persist for women and minorities in science fields. Previous research has...