The contribution of natural history museums to science education

Museums and schools can complement one another to maximise students' learning.

By Diane Hofkins.

Natural history museums provide valuable experiences for students in schools that help them gain a deeper understanding of the nature of science and science enquiry. Students can engage with ‘real life’ applications of science and undertake their own enquiries, using real objects. For example, in fields such as palaeontology they can use actual specimens and equipment, and also engage with scientists at the museums.

A study from IOE, Harvard University and other institutions, and supported by the Wellcome Trust, ESRC and Science Learning + initiative, looked at how schools and museums can work together and researched the long-term benefits to learning and engagement that museums can provide.

The report emphasises the importance of learning as a social and emotional activity. However, neither national history museums (NHMs) nor teachers take sufficient account of these aspects.

“Given that museums invest significant resources in attempting to engage school students, the affective value of museum visits is an area that has received surprisingly limited attention” it says. Teachers, too, need to recognize that students should explore exhibits interactively with others as well as on their own. “The most effective learning in NHMs takes place when students are physically engaged, and when learning experiences are enjoyable, meaningful and socially interactive,” says the report.

One similarity between teachers and students interviewed for the study was that they talked about ‘exciting’ exhibits and how they were able to learn about scale, evolution and change over time, as well as being able to go into more depth about individual exhibits. 

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