Using Museum Exhibits: An Innovation in Experiential Learning

Abstract

Museum exhibits can be a tool in experiential learning. While instructors have documented various methods of experiential learning, they have not sufficiently explored such learning from museum exhibits. Museum researchers, however, have long found a satisfying cognitive component to museum visits. This paper narrates the author's design to capture the cognitive experience at museums through integrating two Smithsonian exhibits with introductory Microeconomics and Macroeconomics classes in a two-year college. Cognitive gains made by students during the structured museum visit were reinforced with appropriate readings and assignments. The teaching method outlined is a significant addition to an experiential economist's toolkit. This method, however, can be used in any discipline. Apart from introducing students to a resource for lifelong learning, the inclusion of museum exhibits to academic teaching allows instructors to move away from chalk and talk, increase student engagement, increase content-relevance, provide in-depth coverage of certain areas and improve proficiencies. In a nutshell, the use of museum exhibits improves the overall quality of a course.