This paper focuses on field trip-based experiences across the disciplines of art, culture, and science. The author addresses gaps in the learning sciences' research about children learning both art and cultural content as well as how they learn cross-disciplinary practices. She offers one strategy, video-based interpretive case studies (VICS). By…

This article offers findings from a learning sciences-informed evaluation of a nanoscience and nanotechnology exhibition called Nano-Aventura (NanoAdventure), based on four interactive-collaborative games and two narrated videos. This traveling exhibition was developed in Brazil by the Museu Exploratorio de Ciencias for children and teenagers…

What I put forward here is that the interpretative practices of the museum, whether they take the form of exhibitions, education programs, written texts or digital productions, are fashioned by relationships between the familiar and unfamiliar, which in turn both shape and are shaped by human understanding in general. The development of a new…

For this author, the in-depth conversation about Comprehensive Interpretive Plans (CIP) began at an AAM Task Force meeting in May of 2004. Building on that initial discussion, the author explores the reasons, costs and benefits of engaging in the CIP development process, and makes the case for the museum field to develop proficiency in this…

This paper looks at how two art museums are striving to create relevant, dialogic gallery spaces where broader audiences can make meaning. Using the writings of theorist bell hooks as the framework, it proposes museum educators' experiences working from the margins of their museums' hierarchical organizations is fundamental to their work in…

In 2006 the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York reopened as the Strong National Museum of Play. Devising a new interpretive plan proved crucial to transforming the institution's mission and decisive in leading toward a $37 million expansion that drove strong gains in attendance. Still, the new interpretive direction, articulated in the museum's…

Ideally, the process and product of interpretive planning is a living document that serves to guide a museum's interpretation proactively. This case study details the development and resulting benefits of the first institution-wide interpretive plan at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. Stimulated by internal growth and change,…

This case study presents the methods the staff at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston used to develop and implement an interpretive master plan from 1996-2000. The process can be a model for other museums. Looking back a decade after the plan was developed provides insights into the role of interpretive plans as statements of goals, expressions of…

As explored elsewhere in this publication, the purpose of a Comprehensive or Institution-wide Interpretive Plan (CIP) is to define or articulate the intellectual framework that connects the mission of an organization and its collections with the needs and interests of its audiences. In so doing, it should follow that this plan, shaped by the…

In 2005-2006, the National Park Service Office of Interpretive Planning at Harpers Ferry Center, in collaboration with the author, conducted an evaluation project to (a) assess the appropriateness and quality of specific elements of National Park Service (NPS) interpretive plans, (b) determine where improvements in planning might be made, and (c)…

Now that you have finished reading this journal issue and understand what interpretive planning is and when to apply it, how can you get started and just "do" it? This article provides an annotated list of practical handbooks and internet resources that provide guidelines for museum practitioners to engage in interpretive planning at institutions…

Museum educators often think about what they want children to take away with them from museum visits. But at least as important is what children bring to these visits. Research in developmental psychology shows that children and adolescents progress through a sequence of ways of understanding knowledge and knowing--understanding that lies at the…

What kinds of programming should an art museum's education department offer to the K-12 school community? How can educators best contribute to students' current and future intellectual development? What type of programming best fits the needs of students and teachers, while also addressing the unique aspects of the museum setting? At the Isabella…

Most museum educators strive for their programs to have positive effects on students, but what impact do they really have? What factors, including museum-school programs, contribute to positive academic performance and critical thinking in particular? This article examines the Guggenheim Museum's artist-in-residence program, Learning Through Art…

Many art museum programs aim to facilitate the development of young people's critical-thinking skills, but most are unclear in their definitions of critical thinking and their notions of how it is best facilitated. This article shares a diagnostic tool for identifying instances of critical thinking in art museum programs. Specifically, the authors…