Museums hold great potential to be rich sources for family and personal learning. Learner-centered programming helps visitors engage and create meaningful museum experiences on their own terms. Yet most museum learning programs and tools are based on traditional learning theories used in K–12 and higher education.
Museum learning needs to be different. Cultural institutions need to give visitors ownership of their learning experience. Visitors need to be in charge—not as passive observers but as active agents. In this scenario learning becomes open-ended and unmeasurable by the museum, yet outcomes include higher levels of engagement and satisfaction. Following are strategies specific to museum program design that fuse two methods: 1) curriculum design fundamentals based on sound pedagogy used for K–12, higher education and adult learning, and, 2) design fundamentals of museum learning with principles borrowed from Engaged Families, a museum project created by the USS Constitution Museum. |
2) Make it relevant.
Prompt visitors to make connections between the museum experience and their own life experiences. This is a core fundamental of adult learning theory and is applicable to families or younger learners who can "see" how the museum’s content (exhibits, artifacts, concepts, etc.) applies to things that matter to them. Relevance is the most important element of a museum experience; if visitors can’t relate to an exhibit or program and see how it relates to their own lives, what’s the point? Suggestions for making it relevant:
|
3) Allow for multi-outcome experiences. This strategy is based on visitors being active and engaged with the museum, which allows for outcomes that depend on how the visitor responds to and engages with the content—"content" can be a facilitator, artifact labels, physical or digital tools. This multi-outcome strategy is based on the concept that the visitor is in control—he or she is directing his or her museum experience. Creating learning programs or exhibits with this strategy at the beginning of the design process supports a visitor-centric experience. Suggestions for multi-outcome experiences:
|