CREATING STUDENT EXPLORATIONS OF MUSEUM EXHIBITS FOR UNDERGRADUATE EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION

Since construction of the original Mouseion at the Library of Alexandra in 295 BC, museums and universities have shared a common goal of education. Museums have developed outstanding educational partnerships with elementary and secondary school systems, but far fewer ties exist between museums and undergraduate institutions. A number of factors play a role in this, but chief among them is that museum displays geared toward general education seldom explicitly convey the content necessary to integrate them into undergraduate instruction. Consequently, the burden of integrating museum displays into college curriculum falls primarily on individual instructors. Relatively few have the time and energy to take on this translation, so museums remain an underutilized undergraduate education resource.

One viable way to correct this situation is to create educational materials that allow students to explore the deeper content of museum exhibits on their own, by providing background and guidance to enable students to access this deeper content in self-guided explorations. To test this concept, a partnership between the University of Minnesota and Science Museum of Minnesota is creating two undergraduate earth science laboratory modules based on museum exhibits. The first of these, an exploration of dinosaur skeletal designs, appears to confirm the efficacy of this pedagogical approach. Pre-instruction and post-instruction tests show significant gains among students who completed the module, compared to traditional instruction.

An unexpected bonus was that the modules’ self-guided nature also appears to counteract a long-standing problem of traditional supplemental instruction (extra-help for lower-performing students). When traditional supplemental instruction (typically working with peers in small groups) is offered in courses, the students most in need often have the lowest participation rates. Many are embarrassed to admit they need help. However, the self-guided nature of these modules avoids this issue, as students can go to the museum on their own or with friends. During initial testing of the module, large numbers of students who struggled with the course volunteered to complete the module, with disproportionately high participation by women and minority students.