Hope for the Future: Strategic Frames for Learning Within an Innovative Climate Exhibit

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Navigating Learning and Dialogue in Informal Education: Innovative Approaches to Exhibiting Complex and Novel Topics (Table 5)

Abstract

As trusted public institutions, museums are uniquely poised to engage in education around climate change. However, empirical research on climate exhibits remains only nascent. This study investigates visitor learning at an innovative climate exhibit situated within a US natural history museum. Hopeful Future (HF), developed using strategic frames, aims to engage learners with diverse viewpoints. Drawing on an adapted version of resource theory, we use thematic analysis to examine learning processes in relation to frames used in HF. To do so, we conceptualize side door moments, or moments when learners take up strategic frames used in HF to communicate productively about climate change. Our analysis reveals several themes related to the resources that learners use within these moments.

Authors

• Lynne Zummo, University of Utah

• Benjamin A. Janney, University of Utah

• Hailey Sherman, University of Utah

• Marc Whiting, University of Utah

• Jordan Giron, University of Utah

• Monika Lohani, University of Utah