Many educators look upon schools as the exclusive site at which meaningful learning can take place. Those educators would benefit from seeing the possibilities offered by non-school environments. This paper argues that the museum is a full-fledged educational institution, and focuses on how the museum may be seen as a site for the inquiries of educational researchers. For example, the museum provides a wide-ranging laboratory because the learning conditions are different from most school situations. A museum is a setting where learning is voluntary, self-paced, and exploratory. In such a setting researchers are enabled to understand more about what people pay attention to and why, and for how long. It also is argued that museums offer fresh perspectives for researchers to explore questions concerning curriculum, pedagogy, subject matter, and milieu. What researchers discover about the educational process that takes place in museums can help them to understand and shape school-based learning. (DB)