The Museum

Walking through the museum as a (soon to be) teacher was definitely a very different experience than the times I remember as a student. There is such a vast amount of interesting information available that I never really noticed when I was younger. I think the main reason for this is the presentation of materials - there was SO much text on a wall under an artifact. Obviously this is necessary for describing specific artifacts, but there was nothing drawing say a junior high school student to a series of artifacts on the whole. In my opinion, a museum normally does a very poor job in captivating the interest of a young student. (There were some interactive stations which definitely had the attention of Dr. Price's son, and they were great, but there was not enough...)

To get something out of a museum experience, the responsibility is basically entirely on the observer. I can remember going to various museums when I was traveling, and having to force myself to engage with the artifacts and not simply browse - as I knew the artifacts were incredible pieces with rich histories. But again, they were artifacts, and text on a wall. Something needs to be done to insert a curious or interested thought into a young student's mind about the museum materials. Something to make them want to engage.

There isn't much to this post, other than to say I am very interested to see what sort of curriculum, or design changes might come about.