This multi-case study creates a better understanding of the relationship between four museum educators' personal theories of teaching and their practice in university museums. The question that frames this study is, "How, in a university museum setting, do museum educators' personal theories of teaching relate to their educational practices?" The aim was to produce an account of museum educators' personal theories and practices in university museums and interrogate what factors may influence the relationship between the two. While there is some literature about the personal theories and practices of museum educators, no studies have been found that examine museum educators working in university museums in the United Kingdom. This study addresses this gap by exploring four museum educators' personal theories and practices in three museum educational programmes in two university museums in a university city. This study is positioned within a qualitative tradition. Data for this study was collected using semi-structured interviews and observations. In total four pre-interviews, 24 observations and 24 post-interviews were conducted with four museum educators in two university museums in a UK city. Thematic analysis was the approach taken for the analysis of each case study. Findings in relation to the museum educators' personal theories suggest that there were important similarities in the museum educators' personal theories. All the museum educators' personal theories consisted of elements relative to knowledge, learning and learners, and the facilitation of a positive learning environment. The museum educators' personal theories of teaching relative to the nature of knowledge, learning and learners, varied per the discipline of the museum they taught in. It was found that personal theories were influenced by the museum educators' shared background as former school teachers and, for some, their accumulated experience teaching in university museum settings. Thus, they tend to foster educational settings with characteristics typical of formal learning environments. The key finding in relation to the research question of this study, is that in a university museum setting, the personal theories of teaching of the museum educators were often aligned with their practices; in some cases, they were not. Whether the museum educators could align their practices with their personal theories of teaching appeared to depend on the sociocultural context they worked in. Despite, as previously noted, similarities in the four personal theories of teaching (i.e. relative to knowledge, learning and learners and the facilitation of a positive learning environment), there were differences in how these were translated into practice by each museum educator. This research contributes to the field of museum education by: i) enhancing our understanding of museum educators' personal theories of teaching and practice in university museums; ii) providing fresh insights into the relationship between the personal theories of teaching and practice of museum educators working in university museums and; iii) adding to our understanding of the breadth of learning environments in museum education. The findings of this study are significant because they enrich the empirical knowledge and understanding of museum educator teaching in university museums. This study provides insights that may benefit the training and professional development of museum educators in university museums.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo caracterizar o papel pedagógico dos objetos/modelos nos museus de ciências. Assim, consideramos, neste estudo, os objetos no museu que foram construídos com a intenção de favorecer as relações de ensino e de aprendizagem. Buscamos apontar o papel pedagógico dos objetos em exposições de museus, bem como caracterizar o potencial do objeto em expressar determinados produtos e processos na aprendizagem, ao ser apresentado em uma exposição de museu. Além disso, procuramos identificar aspectos relacionados aos conceitos e processos que os sujeitos são capazes de perceber, ao observar o objeto em uma exposição. A abordagem metodológica se fundamentou no referencial da pesquisa qualitativa e foi selecionado o Museu de Ciências Naturais da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais. A escolha do modelo do esqueleto da preguiça gigante se justificou por tratar do objeto que, pelo seu tamanho e posição expográfica chama especialmente a atenção do público. Além disso, ele tem um papel importante no desenvolvimento de estudos de biologia e de paleontologia, bem como reúne uma gama muito grande de características importantes, o que o tornou adequado para a pesquisa. Selecionamos para a entrevista, o profissional do museu, responsável pela produção dos modelos e um dos elaboradores da exposição. Os cinco jovens convidados a participar desse estudo tinham, na época, 17 anos de idade e cursavam o 2º ano do ensino médio, em escolas privadas, localizadas na cidade de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Julgamos que a opção por jovens de um mesmo nível de escolaridade, com afinidades sociais semelhantes e que estabeleciam uma relação de amizade facilitaria a interação social, tornando a visita mais fluida e natural. Tomamos como referência os conceitos de aprendizagem em museus explicitados por alguns autores como George Hein, Falk e Dierking, Hooper-Greenhill e Scott Paris. Ainda para a fundamentação teórica da pesquisa, optamos por referenciais teóricos relativos às áreas da educação e de objetos/modelos nos museus, especialmente nos museus de ciências. Para a coleta dos dados da pesquisa, combinamos o uso de múltiplas fontes, com a finalidade de obter as informações necessárias tanto em relação às intenções do objeto pedagógico, ou seja, o modelo do esqueleto da preguiça gigante, exposto no museu escolhido, quanto às interações dos jovens em relação a esse mesmo objeto. Para a coleta de dados com os jovens, a pesquisa contou com três etapas: antes, durante e após a visita ao museu. As etapas foram gravadas em vídeo e áudio, incluindo as entrevistas. Com base nos resultados obtidos, articulamos os dados oriundos do conjunto do nosso olhar e do olhar do museu e analisamos esses dados a partir dos dois eixos relacionados às dimensões da aprendizagem: o conceitual e o processual. Analisamos, também, as interações de cada jovem com o objeto pedagógico e todo o conjunto expositivo, a partir desses eixos da aprendizagem. Percebemos que as intenções do modelo pedagógico foram, em sua maioria, compreendidas pelos jovens visitantes. Evidenciamos essas intenções a partir dos elementos que compõem os eixos analisados. As interações com os objetos nos museus promovem a possibilidade de realizar observação e descrição, de expressar conhecimento prévio, de promover discussão, criação e testagem de hipóteses. Instigam, ainda, a imaginação e a elaboração de questões. No entanto, no que se refere à formação correta de conceitos científicos, pensar a forma de apresentar os objetos, os textos e as imagens nos museus é fundamental. / This study aimed to characterize the educational role of the objects / models in science museums. Thus, we consider in this study, the objects in the museum that were built with the intention of promoting relations of teaching and learning. We seek to point out the educational role of objects in museum exhibitions, as well as to characterize the potential of the object in expressing certain products and processes in learning to be presented in a museum exhibit. In addition, we sought to identify aspects related to the concepts and processes that subjects are able to perceive when observing the object in an exhibition. The methodological approach was based on the framework of qualitative research and was selected the Museum of Natural Sciences at the Catholic University of Minas Gerais. The choice of model of the skeleton of a giant sloth was because it is the object that by its size and position expographic draws the most attention. Moreover, it has an important role in the development of Biology and Paleontology studies, as well as meeting a wide range of important features, which made it suitable for this research. Museum professionals responsible for the production of models and makers of the exhibition were selected for interview. The five young people invited to participate in this study were 17 years old and currently enrolled in 2nd year of high school of a private school located in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil. We believe that choosing young people with the same level of schooling and affinities, of similar social levels and setting up friendship, ease social interaction, making the visit more fluid and natural. We took as reference the concepts of learning in museums, by some authors such as George Hein, Falk and Dierking, Hooper-Greenhill and Scott Paris. Even for theoretical research, we chose fields related to education and objects / models in museums, especially in science museums. To collect the survey data, we combine the use of multiple sources, in order to obtain the necessary information regarding both the pedagogical intentions of the object, i.e. the model of the skeleton of the giant sloth, exhibited in the museum chosen as the interaction of young people in relation to this same object. For data collection with young people the survey had three stages: before, during and after the museum visit. The steps were recorded on video and audio, including interviews. Based on these results, we articulated the data from the whole our eyes and look of the museum and analyzed this data from the two axes related to the dimensions of learning, the conceptual axis and the axis of procedure. We also analyze the interactions of each youth, with the object and the whole pedagogic exhibition, from learning these axes. We realize that the intentions of the pedagogical model were understood by mostly young visitors which evidence, from the elements that make up the axis of conceptual and procedural learning analyzed. The interactions with objects in museums promote the possibility of observation, description and express prior knowledge, to promote discussion, development and testing of hypotheses. They also promote imagination, prompting questions. However, with regard to the proper formation of scientific concepts, to think how to present the object, the texts and images in museums are fundamental.

[pt] O presente trabalho tem como objetivo caracterizar o estágio desenvolvido por alunos bolsistas em museus de ciência. Historicamente, esses espaços se consolidaram como locais de produção de conhecimento e educação. Em um primeiro momento, pretendeu-se investigar exclusivamente como a iniciação científica (IC) ocorre nesses espaços e se a formação dos bolsistas se relaciona com as demais atividades museais, como a mediação. Assim, foram levantados quais museus da cidade do Rio de Janeiro possuem bolsistas de IC e, em seguida, realizou-se entrevista com os profissionais das instituições responsáveis por esses alunos. Entretanto, a ida a campo revelou a presença de outros tipos de bolsa, como a de extensão universitária, levando, portanto, a ampliar os objetivos da investigação, ou seja, incluiu-se a análise da formação dos bolsistas em geral. Buscou-se também, a partir da aplicação de um questionário online, mapear os demais espaços museais no país que possuem alunos bolsistas. A investigação permitiu a caracterização do estágio quanto à seleção dos bolsistas, atividades desenvolvidas, apresentação dos resultados, avaliação e relação com a mediação. Para a análise das dimensões formativas na IC, estabeleceu-se um diálogo com autores como Latour, Bourdieu, Neves e Martins, e na extensão, com Freire e Paula. A análise das experiências formativas mostrou que a extensão e os museus de ciência podem ser espaços para o diálogo entre o conhecimento científico e a sociedade, onde a produção do conhecimento e a educação, em geral, caminham juntos. Além disso, a pesquisa aponta que a IC e a extensão são processos formativos que podem acontecer simultaneamente e o quanto museus de ciência parecem ser um espaço potente para que essas diferentes formações acadêmicas aconteçam em diálogo. / [en] This work aims to characterize the internship developed by scholarship students in Science museums. Those places have been historically recognized as places of production of knowledge and education. At first, our intention was to investigate exclusively how the work of initial scientific research-training programs (IST) is developed in those spaces and if the academic background of the scholarship students has any relation to other museum activities, like mediation. Thus, we first gathered information about what museums in Rio de Janeiro had intern students who held IST scholarships and then we interviewed the professionals who were directly responsible for those students. However, the field work revealed other types of scholarships, what led us to broaden our goals, which means including the analysis of all scholarship holders. We have also tried to map others museum in the country that had scholarship students and we did that using an online questionnaire. The investigation allowed us to characterize the internship regarding the selection of the scholarship holders, the activities in which they were involved, presenting results, evaluation and how they related to the mediation. In order to perform the analysis of the academic background dimensions in the scientific initiation of grad students, we stablished a dialog with authors like Latour, Bourdieu, Neves and Martins and for the analysis of the work of extension students, we used Freire and Paula. The analysis of the academic background forming experiences showed that the university extension and the science museums can be places where the scientific knowledge and the society can dialogue, where the production of the knowledge and the education generally walk together, side by side. Besides, the research shows that the scientific initiation and the extension are academic background forming processes that can happen simultaneously, and also how much science museums can be great places where those different academic background formations can relate to each other.

Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo caracterizar o papel pedagógico dos objetos/modelos nos museus de ciências. Assim, consideramos, neste estudo, os objetos no museu que foram construídos com a intenção de favorecer as relações de ensino e de aprendizagem. Buscamos apontar o papel pedagógico dos objetos em exposições de museus, bem como caracterizar o potencial do objeto em expressar determinados produtos e processos na aprendizagem, ao ser apresentado em uma exposição de museu. Além disso, procuramos identificar aspectos relacionados aos conceitos e processos que os sujeitos são capazes de perceber, ao observar o objeto em uma exposição. A abordagem metodológica se fundamentou no referencial da pesquisa qualitativa e foi selecionado o Museu de Ciências Naturais da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais. A escolha do modelo do esqueleto da preguiça gigante se justificou por tratar do objeto que, pelo seu tamanho e posição expográfica chama especialmente a atenção do público. Além disso, ele tem um papel importante no desenvolvimento de estudos de biologia e de paleontologia, bem como reúne uma gama muito grande de características importantes, o que o tornou adequado para a pesquisa. Selecionamos para a entrevista, o profissional do museu, responsável pela produção dos modelos e um dos elaboradores da exposição. Os cinco jovens convidados a participar desse estudo tinham, na época, 17 anos de idade e cursavam o 2º ano do ensino médio, em escolas privadas, localizadas na cidade de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Julgamos que a opção por jovens de um mesmo nível de escolaridade, com afinidades sociais semelhantes e que estabeleciam uma relação de amizade facilitaria a interação social, tornando a visita mais fluida e natural. Tomamos como referência os conceitos de aprendizagem em museus explicitados por alguns autores como George Hein, Falk e Dierking, Hooper-Greenhill e Scott Paris. Ainda para a fundamentação teórica da pesquisa, optamos por referenciais teóricos relativos às áreas da educação e de objetos/modelos nos museus, especialmente nos museus de ciências. Para a coleta dos dados da pesquisa, combinamos o uso de múltiplas fontes, com a finalidade de obter as informações necessárias tanto em relação às intenções do objeto pedagógico, ou seja, o modelo do esqueleto da preguiça gigante, exposto no museu escolhido, quanto às interações dos jovens em relação a esse mesmo objeto. Para a coleta de dados com os jovens, a pesquisa contou com três etapas: antes, durante e após a visita ao museu. As etapas foram gravadas em vídeo e áudio, incluindo as entrevistas. Com base nos resultados obtidos, articulamos os dados oriundos do conjunto do nosso olhar e do olhar do museu e analisamos esses dados a partir dos dois eixos relacionados às dimensões da aprendizagem: o conceitual e o processual. Analisamos, também, as interações de cada jovem com o objeto pedagógico e todo o conjunto expositivo, a partir desses eixos da aprendizagem. Percebemos que as intenções do modelo pedagógico foram, em sua maioria, compreendidas pelos jovens visitantes. Evidenciamos essas intenções a partir dos elementos que compõem os eixos analisados. As interações com os objetos nos museus promovem a possibilidade de realizar observação e descrição, de expressar conhecimento prévio, de promover discussão, criação e testagem de hipóteses. Instigam, ainda, a imaginação e a elaboração de questões. No entanto, no que se refere à formação correta de conceitos científicos, pensar a forma de apresentar os objetos, os textos e as imagens nos museus é fundamental. / This study aimed to characterize the educational role of the objects / models in science museums. Thus, we consider in this study, the objects in the museum that were built with the intention of promoting relations of teaching and learning. We seek to point out the educational role of objects in museum exhibitions, as well as to characterize the potential of the object in expressing certain products and processes in learning to be presented in a museum exhibit. In addition, we sought to identify aspects related to the concepts and processes that subjects are able to perceive when observing the object in an exhibition. The methodological approach was based on the framework of qualitative research and was selected the Museum of Natural Sciences at the Catholic University of Minas Gerais. The choice of model of the skeleton of a giant sloth was because it is the object that by its size and position expographic draws the most attention. Moreover, it has an important role in the development of Biology and Paleontology studies, as well as meeting a wide range of important features, which made it suitable for this research. Museum professionals responsible for the production of models and makers of the exhibition were selected for interview. The five young people invited to participate in this study were 17 years old and currently enrolled in 2nd year of high school of a private school located in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil. We believe that choosing young people with the same level of schooling and affinities, of similar social levels and setting up friendship, ease social interaction, making the visit more fluid and natural. We took as reference the concepts of learning in museums, by some authors such as George Hein, Falk and Dierking, Hooper-Greenhill and Scott Paris. Even for theoretical research, we chose fields related to education and objects / models in museums, especially in science museums. To collect the survey data, we combine the use of multiple sources, in order to obtain the necessary information regarding both the pedagogical intentions of the object, i.e. the model of the skeleton of the giant sloth, exhibited in the museum chosen as the interaction of young people in relation to this same object. For data collection with young people the survey had three stages: before, during and after the museum visit. The steps were recorded on video and audio, including interviews. Based on these results, we articulated the data from the whole our eyes and look of the museum and analyzed this data from the two axes related to the dimensions of learning, the conceptual axis and the axis of procedure. We also analyze the interactions of each youth, with the object and the whole pedagogic exhibition, from learning these axes. We realize that the intentions of the pedagogical model were understood by mostly young visitors which evidence, from the elements that make up the axis of conceptual and procedural learning analyzed. The interactions with objects in museums promote the possibility of observation, description and express prior knowledge, to promote discussion, development and testing of hypotheses. They also promote imagination, prompting questions. However, with regard to the proper formation of scientific concepts, to think how to present the object, the texts and images in museums are fundamental.