Museums and the Future of Learning

1. Museums and the Future of Learning

2. The Idea of the Museum See through a frame

3. A thumbnail history of frames

4. The power of multiple frames: Complex knowledge This too is a frame…

5. See for yourself The Idea of the Museum See through a frame

6. Research interlude: museum study centers • Study centers are optimal environments for seeing for oneself and for developing complex knowledge.

7. A study center can be anywhere… The study center mindset: Expectation of… • extended time • deep looking, • open-ended inquiry • own impressions as a source of information

8. Creating a study center mindset4 pathways&What we know about teaching them

9. 1. Look long • What do we know? • Look wide • Look deep, look for details • Look again • Describe through multiple modalities, e.g., use words, sketch, use the body • Distinguish between observations and interpretations

10. 2. Ask questions, seek puzzles • What do we know? • Ask lots of questions • Ask different kinds of questions • Look for puzzles, tensions, surprises

11. 3. Connect, juxtapose, compare • What do we know? • reach for connections • Create juxtapositions • Explore comparisons, metaphors, analogies

12. What do we know? Look for layers, hidden factors, multiple dimensions Look for different kinds of complexity; e.g., causal, interpretive, perspectival, design. 4. Look for complexity

13. Museum 4 pathways • Look long • Ask questions, seek puzzles • Connect, juxtapose, compare • Look for complexity The study center mindset: Expectation of • extended time • deep looking • open-ended inquiry • own impressions as a source of information

14. See what we say – see for yourself See through a frame – multiple frames From…. To…. The Idea of the Museum Look long (for experts only) – Look long (for everyone) Visitor as outsider – visitor as insider Visitor as observer – visitor as engaged participant Community – communities

15. The museum mindset and the future of learning. What do you think?