Title

Museum Curriculum: Exploring Museums via Eisner’s Educational Connoisseurship and Critical Analysis

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

Date of Award

Summer 2022

Abstract

Museums offer many services to their visiting public, but the main objective is to educate those visitors through informal methods. To meet this goal, museum staffs employ many techniques to keep the public engaged and lessen museum streaking—a process in which the client runs through the museum without really grasping what the museum is trying to teach. Over the past 2 decades, numerous researchers have studied this phenomenon from various angles. The researcher in the present study aims to review and analyze these occurrences using Eisner’s connoisseurship and critical analysis from the curator’s perspective in planning the museum’s layout for visitor learning using effective specialized programs, lighting, and display placement. Then, through the eyes of the visiting families as they interact with each type of display, analyze their perceptions of their own ability to learn in this type of informal setting. In this context, informal learning will be recognized and analyzed as a vital part of families supporting children’s learning inside and outside of the classroom setting. Two families have been randomly chosen, and one curator will respond to several key questions to help analyze the process and the methods used to test these ideas of placement, lighting, and program effectiveness. The families will use cameras and tape recorders to share their interactions in real time for later analysis by the researcher.

Advisor

Sherri Colby

Subject Categories

Arts and Humanities | Education | Museum Studies

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