2010: Exploring Museum Spaces and their Collections as Tools for Interdisciplinary ESD (Subject Centres)

  • Start date: 2010-06-01
  • End date: 2011-06-24
  • Amount: £9719
  • Status: complete
  • Funding Initiative: Higher Education Academy

This project has evaluated how museum spaces, collections and resources can assist interdisciplinary pedagogies for sustainable development. Evidence was collected from students of distinct disciplines collaborating during workshops at differing museum sites. Findings reveal that students valued their museum experiences. Not only did these learners gain new understandings from interactions across other subject areas; they were also able to extend their initial individual thinking in relation to sustainability. In addition, Personal Meaning Mapping tools provided a visual record of their knowledge and understanding being constructed; each time they were stimulated to extend their thinking on sustainability through designated tasks.

Background
An exploration of relevant literature was undertaken, highlighting how HE-museum collaborative partnerships can provide valuable opportunities for interdisciplinary Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

Aims

  • The aim of this project was to evaluate how museum spaces, their collections, and other resources, can assist interdisciplinary pedagogies for sustainable development.
  • The work of the project was based on student groups, drawn from three distinct discipline areas – of anthropology, art and design, and materials science – collaborating during a series of one-day workshops to analyse museum objects through the lens of sustainability.

Methods

  • The project workshops were held in differing museum contexts, and participating students came from HEIs located in the region of each museum.
  • During a workshop, thematic (sustainability) discussion-based explorations were undertaken by students of selected museum objects/displays. This methodology was innovative for the disciplines involved, because it drew upon the kinesthetic properties of the objects, and their potential for an active learning experience.
  • A variant of Personal Meaning Mapping was used as a tool by students, to record how their thoughts and ideas relating to sustainability changed during the workshops.
  • The project report details the case context at each of the chosen museum sites.

Results

  • Evidence was collected from an evaluation of the student participants.
  • This was presented as reflections from each of the museum workshops.
  • Evidence also addressed the following three key aspects: (i) museums as tools for interdisciplinary ESD, (ii) interdisciplinary discussions for ESD, and (iii) Personal Meaning Mapping to support and evidence learning about ESD.

Conclusions

  • This project can be deemed a success, in part from the rich evidence it has provided into student learning with regard to sustainable development.
  • Participants had fun, they gained new insights, and they took back many positive aspects from the workshops to their institutions.
  • Students valued the interactions of museum spaces and experiences. The museum collections provided a starting point and catalyst for thinking about sustainability.
  • These learners clearly enjoyed the opportunities to come together for interdisciplinary discussions. Not only did they gain new understandings from interactions across other subject areas, they were also able to extend their initial individual thinking in relation to sustainability through structured workshop tasks.
  • In addition, the Personal Meaning Maps provided a visual record of their knowledge and understanding being constructed; each time, they were stimulated to extend their thinking on sustainability through a designated task.

Recommendations

  • Four stakeholder groups have been identified, for whom a set of recommendations have been put forward: students, museums, HEIs, and the Higher Education Academy.
  • In relation to the former group, students can draw on, often free, museum resources to enhance their learning and discovery. They should consider both how, and where, in their learning, tools such as Personal Meaning Mapping, may be deployed. In addition, evidence gathered through this project has indicated how students can make use of both their formal and informal learning to draw on the thinking and insights of other disciplines, especially for complex topics such as sustainable development.
  • In relation to the latter stakeholder group, this project has clearly shown that an interdisciplinary approach recognises a diversity of understandings of sustainable development, and allows a consensus-building approach in line with the aims of ESD. The Higher Education Academy should, therefore, take note of these project findings, and look to promote further interdisciplinary, and inter-institutional, explorations of ESD, along with other complex topics.

Organisation/Institutions:
  • HEA Subject Centre for Sociology, Anthropology and Politics; Debbie Flint, HEA’s Art Design Media Subject Centre; HEA’s UK Centre for Materials Education

Contact details