Museum Visitor Identification and Engagement With STEM (VINES): A Theory-Driven Process for Designing Transformational Experiences

• In Event: Roundtable Session 49
  In Roundtable Session: STEM Learning and Engagement in Museums

Abstract

Few studies on museum visitors’ learning draw directly from research in academic motivation, even though the desire to learn is arguably a catalyst and a product of museum experiences. Meaningful visits inspire content-related exploration and learning but also an enduring personal connection with the site and its values. Here, we employ two motivation-based models of engagement – transformative experiences (Pugh, 2011) and role identity exploration and development (Flum & Kaplan, 2006) – to offer a theoretically situated process for designing visitors’ experiences that promote these learning, motivation and identity goals. We situate the approach in the broader context of current perspectives in the museum visitor literature, specifically Falk and Dierking’s (2000) Interactive (Contextual) Experience Model and Rounds’ (2006) identity perspective.

Authors

• Joanna K. Garner, Old Dominion University

• Avi Kaplan, Temple University

• Kevin J. Pugh, University of Northern Colorado