ABSTRACT

There is a substantial body of research concerned with the behavior of visitors in museums, galleries, and science centers, settings that are sometimes referred to as informal learning environments. Much of this research has focused on the individual visitor and addressed their cognitive response to particular exhibits or exhibitions. Interviews, questionnaires, and in some cases, tracking visitors have proved popular ways of gathering data; data that can be subject to measurement and quantitative analysis. Research has been driven by a commitment to understanding the effectiveness of exhibits and exhibitions and to exploring the extent to which they encourage and engender understanding of science, culture, and the arts. The quality of an individual’s experience at an exhibit has received less attention, and despite the growing interest in situated learning and collaborative action, we still know little of the conduct and interaction that arises at, with, and around the exhibit. Indeed, it is increasingly recognized that communication and interaction provide the foundation to learning in informal environments such as museums and galleries, and yet the interaction between visitors, both those that are with others and those who just happen to be in the same space, remains surprisingly neglected. This neglect derives, in part, from the types of methods that are conventionally used to examine conduct and experience in museums, galleries, and science centers.