Objectives

1. Natural History as Narrative: Using Museum Exhibitions and Artifacts to Teach HistoryElizabeth C. Babcock, Ph.D.Director of Teacher and Student ProgramsEducation Departmentebabcock@fieldmuseum.org 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

2. Objectives • Explain why museums can be exceptional learning environments for elementary and secondary history students and their teachers • Describe The Field Museum’s object-based approach to professional development for educators • Explore how The Field Museum’s focused field trip framework, professional development initiatives, and primary sources have improved teachers’ ability to teach history (and other subject areas) 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

3. Reflections of an anthropologist on museum-based education © The Field Museum, GN89574_13Ac 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

4. © The Field Museum, GN90488_020d 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

5. Reflections of an anthropologist on museum-based education © The Field Museum, GN89576_12Ac 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

6. Museums as exceptional learning environments © The Field Museum, GN90507_67d 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

7. Museums are one type of informal learning environments • ILEs allow and promote enculturation of visitors into social practices pertinent to that context (e.g. how to experience a museum) • ILEs tend to use primary source objects as teaching tools, rather than text • Participation connects learner with a particular identity (girl scout, museum-goer, nature-lover) • ILEs tend to promote self-directed learning --Paris and Hapgood, 2002 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

8. Museums are particularly effective informal learning environments Museums are “powerful learning institutions” because “they afford unprecedented opportunities to explore, observe and sense a fairly limited set of contextually relevant, highly structured, concrete experiences; all within a socially and physically novel, but safe environment.” --Falk, 2002 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

9. Museum-based learning is constructivist learning If… Learning is essentially meaning-making; Meaning making is a social activity; and The museum experience is primarily a social activity; Then… The museum experience is essentially about meaning-making, and museums are especially powerful tools for learning. --Vygotsky 1978; Hein 1998; Rowe 2002 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

10. Sociocultural Personal Physical Time Museum learning is context-dependent Museum-based learning emerges from the interaction of these three contexts through time: Personal: motivation & expectations, interest, prior knowledge & experience, choice and control Sociocultural: within- group sociocultural mediation, facilitated mediations by others Physical: advance preparation, setting, design, subsequent reinforcing events and experiences --Lynn Dierking (with Falk), 2002 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

11. Museums represent an exceptional learning environment for inquiry-based learning • Real world questions or problems • Collaborative problem solving • Multiple ways to demonstrate competence, often through culminating project or artifact creation • Requires scaffolding, or a learning framework provided by the teacher that encourages strategic thinking • Choice over learning topics • Multimodal and multimedia information • Pertinent technologies --Paris and Hapgood 2002 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

12. Constructivist and object-based learning theories have infused exhibition design Object based epistemology (late 19th-early 20th c.) • Arrangement is the interpretation • Assumes interpretation is universal and obvious • Arrangement reveals natural order • Focus is description and classification • Focus is on the object Object based discourse (20th c. to present) • Focus is interpretation and explanation • Focus is on the relationship between object and visitor • Mediating conflicting voices (curator, designer, educator, visitor) --Evans, Mull, Poling, 2002 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

13. Professional development at The Field Museum 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

14. Not all field trips are meaningful learning experiences • Research shows that the average length of time spent by a student at any one exhibit case is just over a minute • The vast majority of teachers enter museums with an inadequate or no learning plan for the experience • Teachers often feel ill-equipped to teach their students while in museums, preferring instead to rely on museum “experts” • The reality is that limited museum budgets preclude assigning a staff person or volunteer to most school groups • In 2004, 10% of Field Museum field trip groups received direct education-related services with a museum educator, up from 6.8% in 2002. Still, this is a minority of groups. 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

15. The solution is to train teachers to create focused field trips that link to classroom instruction • Museum-based professional development is essential to achieving this goal. • Workshops, in-services, educator guides, Harris Loan materials are the resources we use to train teachers. • The focused field trip framework is the foundation of The Field Museum’s professional development instruction. 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

16. The Field Museum provides a range of professional development options for teachers • Harris Educational Loan Center • Teacher Workshops • Customized In-Services • Free Educator Guides to our exhibitions • Strategic Partnerships • IIT Math and Science Masters Education Program • Museums and Public Schools • Field Ambassadors and Core Partners Program • Museum Science Partners • Cultural Connections 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

17. The Harris Loan Center provides free materials for use at schools • Items are primary sources • Free in-services on how to register and use the program • Over 1000 items for loan including experience boxes, exhibit cases, audiovisual materials, and children’s books • In 2004, 178,670 teachers and students were served and 3500 items were borrowed 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

18. Harris Loan examples: Dinos and Their Times 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

19. Harris Loan examples: Cover Your Head 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

20. Harris Loan examples: Southwest Archaeology 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

21. Teacher workshop and in-service examples • Using Primary Sources in the Classroom • Creation Stories from Around the World • Biodiversity in the Classroom • Destination: Reading • Math In-service: How to use the botany hall to teach the Fibonacci sequence • Art In-service: How to use the Northwest Coast Hall to teach primary colors, shapes, symmetry, etc. 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

22. Examples of educator guides and on-line resources • Island Biodiversity: An Educator Guide to Traveling the Pacific • Educator Guide to Machu Picchu • Educator Guide to What is an Animal? • Educator Guide to Underground Adventure • Expeditions@thefield • On-line exhibitions • Sue the T.rex website 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

23. Exploring the focused field trip framework ©The Field Museum, GN87329_6c © The Field Museum, GN90551_16D 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

24. The focused field trip framework facilitates inquiry-based learning using primary sources • Prescriptive model, (not simply a list of activity ideas,) for structuring a field trip unit that includes a pre-, during, and post-field trip component • Provides in-depth guidance for structuring different modes of interaction with “objects behind glass” as well as interactive museum exhibitions • Allows for multiple learning styles (Gardner 1983) and group sizes • Allows for increasing levels of complexity in learning-analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Bloom 1956) • Transferable to any museum setting or informal learning environment 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

25. The focused field trip includes a pre-, during, and post-visit experience Pre-visit Post-visit 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

26. Pre-, during, post-field trip activities create a complete learning experience © The Field Museum, GN90551_16D 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

27. Pre-, during, post-field trip activities create a complete learning experience ©The Field Museum, GN87329_6c 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

28. Search and find Identify, locate Scavenger hunt Individual, pair Recreate the object Sketch, draw, sculpt, photograph Scrapbook, photo, picture Individual The focused field trip framework outlines nine modes of interaction with primary sources Mode of interaction Descriptive verbs Recommended group size Sample activity Describe Essay, poem, word drawing, class debate Write, discuss Pair, group 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

29. The focused field trip framework cont’d. Mode of interaction Descriptive verbs Recommended group size Sample activity Compare and contrast Venn diagram, chart, graph Compare, contrast Individual, pair Categorize Match, label, differentiate, group Concept map, experience chart, create a collection Individual, pair, group Hypothesize Problem-based worksheet; hands-on experiment Test, collect evidence, predict, generalize Individual, pair 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

30. The focused field trip framework cont’d. Mode of interaction Descriptive verbs Recommended group size Sample activity Observe and record Fact-find, take notes, research Fill-in-the-blank worksheet, note cards Individual, pair Create a narrative Tell a story Role play, drama, creative writing, create your own exhibit Individual, pair, group Construct an argument Reason, collect evidence, sequence Flow charts, sequence charts, logic games Individual, pair, group 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

31. A Case Study: Northwest Coast and Arctic Peoples Hall • Hall contains hundreds of artifacts from Northwest Coast and Inupiat communities, collected at the turn of the century. • Unique cross-cultural teaching resource because the same curatorial framework is applied to two culture areas which are displayed side by side • Setting for a number of professional development workshops on nature/culture interactions and a regular workshop offered each year called Using Primary Sources 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

32. A Case Study: Northwest Coast and Arctic Peoples Hall © The Field Museum, A109291c 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

33. A Case Study: Northwest Coast and Arctic Peoples Hall © The Field Museum, A109805c © The Field Museum, A108767c 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

34. A Case Study: Northwest Coast and Arctic Peoples Hall • Themes typically addressed with teachers while using this exhibition: • How primary sources are not just documents, but objects • How to “read” objects for insights into nature, culture • NAGPRA • Roles and responsibilities of museums in cultural representation, conservation and collection • Interrelatedness of culture/nature • How to teach cross-cultural themes and create a sensitive framework for cultural comparison 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

35. Focusing a field trip in the Northwest Coast/Arctic Peoples Hall • Teachers are given an overview of basic cultural information about the two groups represented. • Teachers are taught how to use objects to spark inquiry • They are introduced to the focused field trip framework. • They are provided with examples of how to use the framework and are given an opportunity to practice in small groups and report back. 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

36. Sample field trip activities for the NW Coast Hall, mapped to the framework • Search and Find • The raven exists on many artifacts in the Northwest Coast Hall and is an important icon in Native American art. See how many ravens you can find in drawings and carvings on everyday objects and tools, as well as portrayed on costumes and masks. • Recreate the Object • Sketch your own Raven, Wolf, or Bear mask, using those you see in the exhibition as inspiration. 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

37. Sample field trip activities for the NW Coast Hall, mapped to the framework • Hypothesize • Based on your examination of the materials used to make the objects in the exhibition, and the plants and animals represented in them, write a description and/or draw a picture of what the ecosystem in that area must be like. Then look for evidence supporting or refuting your hypothesis in some of the films and photographs in the exhibition. • Create a narrative • Now that you have studied some creation myths and looked at material objects depicting different Northwest Coast legends, see if you can write your own creation myth for the Northwest Coast people that uses some of the same symbolism and key characters. 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

38. Object-based learning at the Museum can be extended with the Harris Loan program 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

39. Harris Educational Loan Program, cont’d. 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

40. Observations 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

41. Teachers are not necessarily familiar with the concept of primary sources and how to use them • While it may be common sense to librarians and anthropologists that objects are imbued with meaning and “tell stories,” this is a new idea to some teachers. • While it may be common sense to exhibit designers that exhibits tell stories with objects, this is also a new idea to some teachers. • Real artifacts and specimens represent an essential teaching resource that can be effectively combined, but not replaced, by digital media. 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005

42. An “anthropological approach” to teacher education has been helpful in… • Identifying teacher and student needs • Modeling human behavior to create the focused field trip framework • Incorporating anthropological concepts into new education materials and teacher training • Educating teachers about ethical responsibilities re. representation of “the other” • Explaining the cultural diversity with the theme of “Common Concerns, Different Reponses” 2005 ALA Conference June 25, 2005