Browsing by Subject "Museum education"
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Item "Art for everyone" at the Georgia Museum of Art : the importance of sociocultural context for school field trips to art museums(2013-05) Steinmann, Callan Elizabeth; Mayer, Melinda M.This thesis is a qualitative case study of a 5th grade field trip program at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, Georgia. The value – educational, social, and otherwise – of direct experiences with artworks in the museum setting has been demonstrated in numerous studies (Adams & Sibille, 2005; Burchenal & Grohe, 2007; Burchenal & Lasser, 2007; Henry, 1992; Hubard, 2007), and the single-visit field trip program has been a staple of educational programming at many art museums across the United States. However, much of the recent literature in art education focuses on the benefits of multiple-visit field trip programming (Burchenal & Grohe, 2007; Burchenal & Lasser, 2007), in effect “abandoning” the single-visit program. Given that the single-visit field trip remains a standard in the field, this study sought to explore the ways museum educators can maximize the value of the one-shot field trip model in art museums. Through observations of a 5th grade class on their field trip to the Georgia Museum of Art, interviews with program stakeholders (including museum educators, museum director, the school art teacher, and program donor), and collecting the students’ perspective through written questionnaires, this study revealed insight into the one-visit field trip. An analysis of the various issues and perspectives involved with this type of programming substantiated the hypothesis that there is valuable information to be learned from looking closer at the single-visit program. The findings suggest that by situating itself authentically in its own community, the art museum can make single-visit field trip programs more relevant to students’ lives by employing culturally responsive teaching practices.Item Children's and adults' conceptions of authentic objects and the role of authenticity in learning(2016-08) Miller, Brooke Jessica; Woolley, Jacqueline D.; Bigler, Rebecca; Echols, Catherine; Reeves, Lauretta; Owen, Pamela; Seales, ChadQuestions concerning the level of authenticity of an object are of primary importance in many fields. For historians, archeologists, and museum workers, such questions go hand in hand with the way objects are usually found: broken, discolored, and of unknown origin. Even so, psychological research on authenticity tends to ignore the idea that authenticity is not a ‘perfect’ feature within an object, instead presenting a false dichotomy between completely authentic and completely inauthentic objects. In a series of studies the following questions were addressed: (1) How do children compare and contrast objects with different kinds of authenticity, (2) What qualities must an object have in order for children and adults to consider it to be authentic, and (3) What role might authenticity play in learning as it relates to exposure to authentic versus inauthentic objects? These questions were addressed in three studies that make up this dissertation.Item Constructing citizenship by telling tales : Anna Curtis Chandler's storytelling practices during the United States' involvement in World War I (1917-1918)(2016-05) Clark, Allison Marie; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, Melinda MThis study investigates how an art educator employed as a storyteller at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) in New York City during the United States’ active military involvement in World War I engaged with ethics and issues of national identity on the American home front. By 1917, nearly a decade after Story Hours were introduced to the Museum by Assistant Secretary Henry Watson Kent, skilled orator Anna Curtis Chandler had begun to reimagine and expand the Met’s storytelling program. Divided into three primary components, the Story Hours welcomed Museum members on Saturdays, the general public on Sundays, and children on select weekdays. Moreover, Chandler broadened her storytelling activities to include written narratives, launching her career as an author with the seminal storybook, Magic Pictures of the Long Ago: Stories of the People of Many Lands, in 1918. An examination is made into the Met’s founding, early development, and educational endeavors leading up to and during the United States’ active military involvement in World War I. Additionally, an overview of Chandler’s background and impetus for creating stories rooted in empathetic engagement is presented. This study implements historical interpretation of archival data from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives and Wellesley College Archives, as well as a chapter from Chandler’s aforementioned storybook, Magic Pictures of the Long Ago, to unpack her educational agenda during this turbulent time period. Using substantiated and purposely grounded historical imagination, I argued that Chandler developed an alternative Americanization program that cemented audiences within the frame of democratic nationalism, supplied an imaginary escape from the War’s harsh realities, and invited audience members to (re)construct their identities as citizens.Item Contemporary storytelling practice : a look inside the Portland Art Museum's Object stories(2013-08) Stuart, Sophie Shields; Mayer, Melinda M.The purpose of this study is to investigate how the use of contemporary storytelling practice in a museum setting can successfully engage visitor voices with objects. Specifically, this research used an exploratory case study to better understand Object Stories at the Portland Art Museum. The unique attributes inherent in Object Stories make it an exemplary program to research and through which to gain understandings regarding effective contemporary storytelling techniques within a museum. The use of digital archives, the creation of a safe space, and enabling visitors to share personal stories about museum objects are some of the qualities that set Object Stories apart from other contemporary storytelling programs in the United States. Four themes emerged through interviews, observations, and the study of documents forming a rich and detailed understanding of Object Stories. These themes are found within and help elucidate the successful characteristics of Object Stories. Based on the findings of this study, museum educators can look to this interactive gallery space at the Portland Art Museum to help them develop or enhance storytelling programs, and ultimately to improve the development of empathetic connections between visitors and museum objects.Item Crafting a definition : a case study of the presentation of craft at the Renwick Gallery(2011-12) Noyes, Chandra; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, Melinda M.This report is a case study of the presentation of craft at the Renwick Gallery, the craft museum of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). The Renwick, founded in 1976, is a curatorial department of SAAM, focusing in modern and contemporary American craft. Through an examination of the museum’s galleries and exhibitions, interviews with staff, and an analysis of educational programming, this thesis explores how the Renwick defines craft implicitly and explicitly. Giving a context for this study is a history of the Renwick Gallery, as well as history of craft and its definitions. With these histories as background, the ways that the Renwick, and thus its visitors, understand craft is explored. The qualities specific to craft in the literature and manifest at the Renwick are examined in order to determine how they influence the presentation of craft at the Renwick.Item Exploring characteristics of effective multicultural education in Mexican and Mexican-American art museums(2011-05) Severin, Andrea Vargas; Mayer, Melinda M.; Bolin, PaulThe increase in the Latino population, and specifically the Mexican-American population, in the United States demonstrates the need for meaningful multicultural museum education to, for, and about this demographic. This exploratory case study investigates the educational programming in the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, Illinois and Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, Texas through observations of programs and curricular documents and interviews and seeks to identify characteristics of effective multicultural art education related to this cultural group. While highlighting Mexican and Mexican-American art and artists serves as the primary content of program curricula, museum educators at these institutions aim for education that is socially conscious and meaningful. The author of this study argues that effective multicultural museum programming has the potential to positively impact program participants on an educational, personal, and societal level.Item A glimpse behind the curtain : understanding Charles Willson Peale’s use of allegorical forms in museum education(2011-12) Barras, Lindsay Elizabeth; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, MelindaThis thesis examines Charles Willson Peale’s utilization of visual metaphors within his founding institution, The Philadelphia Museum. After establishing himself as a portrait painter, it became second nature for Peale to employ an aesthetic approach when developing museum exhibits and programs. Throughout his practices he continuously used imagery and objects to represent broader fields of research, along with his views as a naturalist and American patriot. By using these allegorical forms to arouse the public’s curiosity, he was able to attract more visitors to his museum and subsequently draw them into the learning process.Item Historic preservation education initiatives at historic sites(2014-05) Hereford, Margaret F.; Holleran, MichaelWhile historic sites have been used and operated as educational tools in the form of museums and public spaces since the emergence of the field of preservation, educational outreach frequently fails to include preservation concepts within these efforts. This thesis attempts to answer the question of “Why is preservation education lacking or absent at historic sites, and how can it be an integral part of a historic site’s programming, presentation, and interpretation?” To investigate this question, scholarly research was combined with first hand experiences of sites and interviews with stewarding organization staff members. Through this investigation, emerged a contextualization of historic sites within the fields of preservation and museum studies, a relation of the current state of preservation education to the opportunities available by means of physical sites, and a connection of preservation concepts to museum education theory. Multiple means of educational implementation and execution were explored, as were target audiences and organizational management structure. The result is a collection of examples in practice, explanations of missed opportunities, and recommendation for effective implementation. Collectively, these results reinforce the importance of using physical sites available to the public for educational purposes not limited to historic significance, but including preservation in all facets, as a means of introducing the field along with its impact and importance to the general public as a means of generating an interest that will be redirected into their communities.Item How family groups experience the Blanton Museum of Art: a case study(2014-05) Piepgrass, Jessica Ann; Mayer, Melinda M.This thesis details a study that I conducted in order to better understand family groups who visit the Blanton Museum of Art. This data is presented using a case study methodology. I interviewed and observed eight families in an attempt to better understand what brought them to the Blanton, and what they wanted to accomplish during their time at the museum. The data collected revealed six themes. Four of these themes were goals the families brought with them to the Blanton Museum of Art. One of the themes pertained to individual motivations for coming to the museum. The final theme related to the participating families use of museum resources other than the art on display. The data was meaningful in that it demonstrated that these families did have specific goals for their time at the Blanton, and the families demonstrated behaviors which served as a means to accomplishing these goals. A goal of this research was to provide me, as an educator, with a more full and rich understanding of family groups that visit museums.Item Leaving the lecture model behind : docent education at the Columbus Museum of Art(2016-05) Vogt, Rachel Marie; Mayer, Melinda M.; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-For many institutions, docents are both an integral and exasperating element of museum education (Burnham & Kai-Kee, 2011; Karp & Crow, 2014). Integral because, as volunteers, docents provide cultural institutions with the manpower to expand the reach of their educational missions, and exasperating, because, as volunteers, it is often difficult to hold them to the same institutional standards of public engagement as paid staff. Through a qualitative case study that describes the policies and practices of the docent training program at the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA), this study explores how the CMA effectively changed docent teaching from a lecture to an inquiry model, and how it now equips its docents with the ability to facilitate an art experience that actively involves its visitors. Through an exploration of what constitutes effective practice, the author seeks to uncover the cultural and institutional forces that prohibit museum docents from progressing from the lecture-based model to a more visitor-centered, inquiry-based teaching practice. Data suggests that the CMA’s success is due, in large part, to consistent modeling of teaching practice in docent education, as well as to the institution’s commitment to creating and supporting opportunities for life-long, transformative learning.Item The meanings behind the screens : a qualitative study of the Screen It! program(2013-08) Gleixner, Alison Marie; Bain, ChristinaThis case study examined the Screen It! Program and focused on how this program benefitted the students. This study focused on students’ perceptions and in order to have a holistic understanding of the phenomenon, it was important to understand the viewpoint of museum educators, teachers, and students. In these types of museum-school partnerships, students’ voices are rarely heard and considered when creating curricula. Therefore, consideration of students’ voices may help museum educators craft these partnership programs in the future. Three themes emerged emphasizing the importance of expectations and program goals, curricular relevancy to student life and community, and meaningful learning outcomes. Along with utilizing relevant learning theories during classroom instruction, by actively responding to the voices and needs of the students in these areas, museum educators can provide more meaningful learning experiences for students.Item A phenomenon of thought : liminal theory in the museum(2010-05) DeLosso, Lisa Christine; Mayer, Melinda M.; Bolin, Paul E.This thesis was planned as a cross-case study of three docent-led museum tours, examined through the lens of liminality. The liminal, as identified by anthropologist Victor Turner, is an ambiguous and transitional state that is “betwixt and between” normative structures. When applied to the art museum, I argue that the liminal is a zone of negotiation that can assist in transformation and personal meaning making through a phenomenon of thought. This study centers on the following questions: How can liminal theory, as applied to museum education, illuminate the relationships between gallery teachers, visitors, and objects? And, in what ways does liminality allow for visitors’ personal meaning making to occur? These questions were answered through the planned observation of three docent-led museum tours at the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas at Austin. Video and audio recordings, as well as observational field notes, occurred in one museum gallery and focused on one artwork, Cildo Meireles’ Missão/Missões (How to Build Cathedrals). Data was collected from narrative transcripts of the aforementioned video and audio recordings, exit interviews with docents, observational field notes taken during each tour, and observations and notes made while analyzing the video and audio footage. Two of these three tours fit within the parameters set by the researcher and, therefore, one tour was eliminated from the research findings. Content analysis is utilized in this study. This type of data analysis placed information into three categories modeled after Arnold van Gennep’s rites de passage: separation, the liminal, and aggregation. Four subcategories were subsequently discovered during this analysis: observation, connection, realization, and transformation. Conclusions determined after the analysis of this data revealed fluidity between these stages. Additionally, liminal theory illuminated the relationships between visitors, objects, and museum educators in a way that stressed that the negotiation of the artwork, meaning making, and the process of transformation are part of a collaborative journey, and that the spaces “betwixt and between” are valuable for the advancement of museum education.Item Skipping a step : understanding the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren in the art museum(2016-05) Petersen, Marie Elizabeth; Mayer, Melinda M.; Bain, ChristinaThis grounded theory research study focuses on the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren in the art museum. As the older adult population continues to grow in number, the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren has been increasingly studied in many academic fields (Mueller, Wilhelm, & Elder, 2002; Timonen & Arber, 2012), however, it has yet to be extensively addressed within the scope of the art museum (Sterry & Beaumont, 2005). Guiding questions that asked what grandparents and grandchildren said about how being in the art museum affects their relationship, as well as what these responses mean for museum educators when implementing museum educational resources directed this study. This research study had three phases. The first phase occurred at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas. Four grandparent/grandchild participant groups interacted with the museum space without any intervention. I gathered observational and interview data from the visit in the form of transcriptions and field notes. The second phase centered on the creation of a self-guided activity pack based on the stated and unstated goals of the grandparent and grandchildren participants that I uncovered during the first visit. The third phase focused on the participant groups using the self-guide activity pack, again at the McNay Art Museum, and culminated the study. The three findings from the data are: (1) grandparents want a way to connect with their grandchildren, (2) grandparents and grandchildren want to have fun together, and (3) art is a means to an end of relationship building in the art museum. Following the grounded theory methodology, I produce a substantive theory based in the four participant groups that reflects the findings. From this theory, I also propose a set of possible best practices for art museum educators to use in their institutions to serve grandparents and grandchildren.Item To see, to read: dyslexic students' journey through a visual thinking strategies museum/school partnership(2015-12) Baker, Hannah Rose; Mayer, Melinda M.; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is a teaching method that provides for an open-ended discussion of visual art objects. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) utilizes the VTS curriculum for their Partnership Program with the Boston Public Schools (BPS). Although extensive research has been conducted on the benefits of VTS for school students, no study has looked into specific advantages for those who are dyslexic. This study examined the MFA’s VTS Partnership Program in regards to four pertinent areas to dyslexic students’ academic success. These include student engagement, critical thinking, language skills, and social skills. Within this study, the voices of the participants', from students, to teachers, to museum educators, are prioritized. Sources of data collection were interviews, field notes, and documents from the MFA education department. The data provided indications on how VTS affects dyslexic students socially, emotionally, and academically. In addition, my experience with dyslexia was the starting point for this research. I present an autoethnographic sketch narrating my experience as a dyslexic student in the public schools. My history also renders transparent the biases I hold so the reader can discern how this informs my data analysis and interpretation.Item Visitor interaction with video art(2012-12) Neumann, Sara Tess; Mayer, Melinda M.; Bolin, Paul EThe purpose of this study was to see how visitors to the Landmarks Video media station in the Art Building at The University of Texas at Austin described how they make meaning while watching video art and what learning models those visitors drew on in their responses. I conducted a qualitative case study using semi-structured interviews to see how visitors described their meaning making process. I used discourse analysis to compare the visitor’s responses to art and film theories to see where the responses and the existing theories overlapped. I applied the results of the discourse analysis to determine how visual literacy and media literacy could be used in museum education surrounding video art. Visitors drew on a variety of background experiences in their responses to the videos Sigalit Landau’s DeadSee (2005) and Dara Birnbaum’s Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman (1978-1979) including past experiences with art and film as well as experiences with feminism, pop culture, and politics. Their responses also related to a variety of areas within art and film theory. While background knowledge helped the participants begin to make meaning with the videos, it also blocked them when the video touched on something beyond their comfort level. I researched current uses of visual literacy, including uses in the museum, and current trends in media literacy. Due to the fact that the visitors’ reactions related to art and film theory, but they were finding themselves blocked in their meaning making, I conclude that a museum education program that uses current museum education practices in visual literacy, but incorporates techniques from media literacy, would be successful in helping visitors articulate their interpretations of a piece of video art and move past what is limiting them.