ABSTRACT
LEARNING IN MUSEUMS Although it is usually assumed that learning means cognitive or conceptual change, learning in the broad sense also includes outcomes like an expanded sense of aesthetic appreciation, the development of motivation and interest, the formation and refinement of critical standards, and the growth of personal identity. This sense of learning is consistent with sociocultural theory’s focus on meaning-making in the broad sense, which emphasizes social interaction and cultural symbols and tools as crucibles for appropriating and adapting forms of knowledge, values, and expression. Under this interpretation, visitor learning is an objective shared by a wide variety of informal learning contexts, including science and children’s museums, art museums and galleries, historical museums and reconstructions, and zoos and botanical gardens.
