Perspectives On Objectcentered Learning In Museums 1st Edition Scott G Paris Perspectives On Objectcentered Learning In Museums 1st Edition Scott G Paris Perspectives On Objectcentered Learning In Museums 1st Edition Scott G Paris

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6. Perspectiveson
Object-Centered Learning
in Museums

7. This Page Intentionally Left Blank

8. Perspectiveson
Object-Centered Learning
in Museums
Edited by
ScottG.Paris
University o
f Michigan
LAWRENCE ERLRAUM ASSOCIATES,PUBLISHERS
2002 Mahwah,NewJersey London

9. (:over design by Kathryn HoughtalingI x e y
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publlcation
Data

10. TO MY WIFE JAN,
a muse of whimmy and ulondel;
who usks the improbable questions, paints
the ulorld
in brightcolors, seeks goodness in eueqlthing,
and brings imagination to
ltjie.

11. This Page Intentionally Left Blank

12. Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
List ofContributors
Part I Studying Learningwith Objects in Contexts
1 The Role of Context in Children’s Learning From Objects
and Experiences
Lynn Dierking
Shawn Rowe
2 The Role of Objects in Active, Distributed Meaning-Making
3 Children Learning with Objects in Informal Learning
Environments
Scott G.Paris and Susanna E.Hapgood
4 The Authentic Object? A Child’s-EyeView
E.Margaret Evans, Melinda S.Mull, and
DevereauxA.Poling
5 When the Objectis Digital:Properties of Digital Surrogate
Objects and Implications for Learning
C.Olivia Frost
6 Through the GardenCrate:Objects and Informal Education
for Environmental and Cultural Awareness in Arboreta and
Botanic Gardens
David C.Michener and IngerJ Schultz
James K Wertsch
7 EpistemologicalIssuesaboutObjects
ix
xv
xix
xxi
3
19
37
55
79
95
113
vii

13. 8
9
10
11
12
13
viii (:ONTENTS
Part I1 Discipline-Based Explorationsof Objects
Learning
With,
Through, and About Art:The Role of 121
Social Interactions
Barbara Piscitelli and Kutrina Weier
Placing Objects Within Disciplinary
I’erspectives: Examples 153
From History and Science
Fostering an InvestigatoryStance:IJsingText to Mediate171
Inquiry with Museum Objects
Robert Rain and Kirsten
M.Ellenbogen
S~~sanna
E.Hafigood andAnnemarie Sulliuan Pulincsar
Objects and Learning: UncIerstandingYoullg Children’s
Intemction with Science Exhibits
LkonieJ Rennieand TerenceI?McCIcifferty
ChristinaE. zlan Krauyenoord andScott G.Paris
Leona Schauble
Reading Objects
Cloaking Objectsin Epistemological Practices
Part I11 Conversations AboutObjects
14 Object-Based Learning and Family Groups
15 Maps, Globes, and Videos: Parent-Child Conversations
Mindu Rorun
About Representational Objects
MaureenA.Callanan,Jennzjier L.Jipson, and
Moniku Stamnpf Soennichsen
16 I’athways Among Objects and MuseumVisitors
KristineA.Morrissgl
17 Objects of Learning, Objectsof Talk:Changing Minds
in Museums
GcreaLeinhardt and Ke‘llinCroudey
18 Leveling the I’laying Field Through Object-Based
Dc)AnnaRanks n e ~ t t e
and Mylu Sbanue pope
19 The Object of Experience
Sully Duensing
Service Learning
Author Index
Subject Index
191
215
235
245
26 1
285
301
325
351
365
375

14. Foreword
Understanding the interactions between objects, children, and museums is
both a fascinating and daunting task.Although few topics could be more fun-
damental to our
understanding of how museums function as educational,cul-
tural and leisure settings,historically, littlethought and even less researchhas
been directed towards this area of inquiry.
H
y its veryexistence, then,
this vol-
me makes an important contribution.However, likeso many other aspects
of museum visitor research, this topic toois at the earliest stages of develop-
ment. Represented in this book are perspectives from a wide range of disci-
plines and schools of thought,many of them quite new to the
museum field.
Some have focusedon objects, some
on children,ant1others on the
museum
itself;all provide interesting ways to begin to think about how to wrap our
minds around this exceedingly complex entitywe call museumsand the even
more complex phenomenon called the museum experience.
I found particularlythought provoking the epistemological issues discussed
byvarious authors. In fact, the theoreticalframing of issues thatoccurs
throughout the book, appropriately grounded in most cases with rich quali-
tative examples, isprobably its most important contribution. In addition,
there were some interestingmethodological approaches suggested by Bain
and Ellenbogen;vanKraayenoord and Paris; and Piscitelli and Weier that
might prove fruitful inthe future.As someone who has spent a lifetime inves-
tigating people in museums,I personally came away from reading this book
with many new ideas and thoughts about not just objects and children in
i
x

15. museums,but about how to even begin to think about the museum experi-
ence. Such is the benefit of bringing so many varied,bright people together
and challenging them with an interesting topic, as was the purpose of this
National Science Foundation-fundedeffort.However,as much as I was heart-
ened by the new approaches and
insights offered,so too was I struck by how
little we still actually know.
When the search imagehas been appropriate, and the lenssuitably se-
lected, museums
consistently emerge as extremely powerful learning institu-
tions. Inlarge measure, museums support successful learning experiences
for the public in general,and children in particular,because they afford un-
precedented opportunities to explore, observe and sense a fairly limited set
of contextually relevant,highly structured, concrete
experiences; all within a
socially and physically novel,
but safe,environment.Equally,or perhapsmost
importantly,museumsare also one of the few places left inour society where
children can exercise a high degree of personal choice and control overtheir
behavior and learning. In a museum,children normally get to choose what
and when tohave anexperience.They getto choose what to
look at,What to
touch, whatto climb on,and they are permitted a high degree of discretion
over whom they might choose to have experiences with. However, choice
and control,as well as novelty and safety,are all relative constructs. Hence,
making sense of these important constructs, and how they affect the museum
experience,requires examining them within the larger context of the child’s
entire life, not just during the 2 hours or so they happen to be within the
museum.
A similar case could be made for objects as well. Objects, although con-
crete,actually represent a vast continuunl of abstract ideas and inter-related
realities.The objects on display in a museum represent whole classes of ob-
jects, most of which clo not exist only within the context of a museum. The
perceived social,cultural and educational value of a steelworker’sboot or an
aerodynamically shaped airplane ishighly dependent upon the context in
which that object exists, aswellas the relationship of that object to the
viewer.Hence, thesame boot foundin a flea market stall mightnot arouse as
much curiosity or awe as one enshrined in a museum display case with an
appropriate label attached.A plane exhibited in the context of a science cen-
ter exhibition on flight mightevokedifferent experiences than one parked at
the airport.And both boot and
plane assumeparticular meanings forthe visi-
tor only because he or she
has a repertoire of experiences with both footwear
and transportation in general,and,ideally,boots and planes,steel workers and
flight,in particular.In the absenceof such repertoires of experience, the ob-
jects would take on entirely different meanings than those intended by the
museum.Again,it is not possible to fully understand a museum object, or for
that matter any object,by investigatingit solely within the physical and tem-
poral bounds of the museum.

16. It is from this perspective, then,
that I would suggestan additional Way to
begin to think about investigations of children, objects andmuseums: a per-
spective absent from most ofthe papersincluded in this book.I am referring
tothe pervasive practice of conceptualizing the museum experience as
somethingthat happens uniquely within the physical and temporal envelope
of the museum, rather than
as an experience
that happens,in part,within the
museum.The contextof the museum experience, including the people who
visit itand the objectsthat reside there,is larger
than the museum itself.
SO too
should the investigations of the museum experience.
This problemI refer to,is of course not unique to
this book or museums for
that matter.Thinkingabout learning experiences,as well as
efforts to investi-
gate the phenomenon,have almost alwaysbeen narrowly focused physically
and temporally.On the surface this makes sense.For example,understanding
museum visitors,be they children or adults,would seem most easily accom-
plished within the museum itself. Although not exactly a captive audience,
they are at least identifiable
as the audience.Similarly, any
effort to understand
museum objects seems to logically suggest investigation of only those spe-
cific objects displayed and interpreted within the museum; since these are
the objects and interpretations
in question.As reasonable and obviouslycon-
venient as this approach seems,it is arguably a limited and potentially a dis-
torting perspective.Certainly,we need to situate our thinking and investiga-
tions of museums within an appropriate museum context.However,to limit
our gaze to thespotlighted object or the ephemeral
interaction between visi-
tor and object is to risk missingthe entire forest because we have focused so
intently upon a single tree.
Museumprofessionals, and the researchers who study museums,suffer
from the samemyopia that has long afflicted other educationally-oriented
organizations. This is
the myopia of assuming that all learningand experience
begins and ends with the
institution-“if they don’tget ithere, where else?”
In part, this myopia is an outgrowth of the interests and concernsof those
who work within the institution.In the case of the museum professional-
the curator, the museum educator,and the exhibition designer, they spend
their dayswithin the four walls of the institution.Although it is human
nature
to assume that one’sown reality isshared by all,this view isnot appropriate
for individualscharged with public communication.More troubling,though,
are the behaviors and beliefs of social scientists who study learning in muse-
ums;individualswho’sjob it isto take a broader,more“objective”view.
As a group,today’s investigators
of museum learning largely rejectthe idea
that investigations conducted in schools and laboratories readily transfer to
the museum context.Certainly, most
of the authorsin this book appropriately
appreciate the highly contextual,or “situated,”nature of learning;and hence
the unique circumstances surrounding the museum experience. However,
like the generations of learning researchers before them,many investigators

17. xii FOREWORD
working within the museum context reveal an unspoken assumption that
learning,or its larger relative“experience,”
can somehow be readily compart-
mentalized and captured, as if it were something with a discrete beginning
and ending.These investigatorsopemte with the tacit ;tssumptionthat learn-
ing,no matter how it is variouslydefined,is something that,functionally,“hap-
pens” as a direct response to some unique interaction, event or “stimulus”
within the museum. In truth, learning is a continuous process, a state of be-
coming, rdther than a unique product with distinct and totally quantifiable
outcomes.I would assert that m y effort to understand the visitor experience,
let alone visitor learning,needs to be conceptualized within the larger con-
text of individuals’lives.
Specifically,any effort to define,observe and measure
the effects of ;
I visitor’sinteractions with museum objects and exhibitions,
that seeks to understand how those interactions contribute to that individ-
wtl’sgrowth,change and/or development, must be conducted over a reason-
ablylarge framework of time and space. There must be a time and space
framework that includes the effects of experiences both inside and outside
the museum,both prior and subsequent to the museum visit.I n short,it is not
possible to fully understand children’s museum learning and experiences
with objects,or for that matter,any other group of visitors having any
type of
museum experience,by investigatingthose children and objects solelywithin
the physical and temporal bounds of the museum.Museum experiences con-
tribute to what children know and unclerstand, and
what meaningthey make
of the world, but rnuseums are not, nor should they be assumed to be the
place where “suchand such”learning actually occurs.When museums suc-
ceed,which they do a remarkable percentage of the time,it isbecause o f the
contributions they make to deepening,expanding and enhancing children’s
understanding and appreciation of the world;but these outcomes are cumu-
lative, long
term,and not easily teased out of the fabric of children’slives.
The same perspective holds for investigationsof museum objects. MLW-
urns more often than not do a wonderful job of situatingobjects within con-
texts that have personal meaning for visitors. And visitors,with or without
interprctation by the museum,do a wonderful job of contextualizingobjects
for themselves.However,both museums and visitorscontextualize objects in
relation to events, experiences and realities that exist beyond the museum.
Buildingthat bridge between visitors andobjects-between past andfuture
realities,between events that occurred prior to a visitor’sin-museumexperi-
ence and those that will occur subsequently-is the essence of good mu-
se~11n
design;it also needs to become a regular part of social science research
on museum objects and visitors.
Accommodating this appmach, or more accurately perspective, ischal-
lenging,but doable. For example, none of the theoretical frameworks or in-
vestigations described in this book are antithetical to this perspective; all
could bc reconfigured to accommodate this perspective. I woulcl assert that

18. POREWOIID xiii
incorporating this longer-termperspective is essential if we are to truly come
to understand the museum experience;truly understand the role of museum
in the lives of those who experience them.
In fact,understanding how muse-
ums support lifelong learning,which is reallythe essenceof this perspective
which I ;In advocating,would be one way inwhich research on learning from
museums could serve as a modelfor learning research in other domains,
includingresearch on learning from schools.
In conclusion, I heartily recommend this book to all who are truly inter-
ested in discovering more about how we currently understand museum ex-
periences in gened,and children and objects in prticular. Not only arc the
ch;lpters in this book ;Luseful timecapsule of current understanding,in most
cases they represent a reasonable vision for what the near future of under-
standing could look like;iswell.Without exaggeration,it could bc stated that
investigations in this area are only now beginning to achieve the critical mass
of time and thought necessary to propel us into a new era of understanding of
the museum experience. Along with this new understanding will come the
clevelopment of ;I whole new toolbox ofvalidam1 reliable research ap-
proaches and methodologies. Thisbook provides encouragement that the
ne;ir future will provide a better, more theoretic;tlly grounded collection of
museum investigations.The hope is that these new investigations will lead
to a better uncierstmding of the meaning that children make of objects and
museums and the role objects ; l t ~ d
museums can play in supporting the life-
long learning of all citizens.

19. This Page Intentionally Left Blank

20. Preface
The first wordsthat you read in
this book were thelast ones writtenso I want
to provide a broad perspective and a sense of anticipation for readers of this
book. My intention wasto writethis Preface before a business trip toWash-
ington,DC, but fortunately I missed that deadline and spent a week walking
through the nation’s capitol and wandering in many museums. Amidst the
busloads of children and countless
families intee shirts and shorts
in the sum-
mer heat, some whining and some
wide-eyed, we swiveled our necks to see
the sights. The majestic Washington Monument, the White House, and the
Capitol dome became familiar landmarks with huge buildings of every size
and shape in between.
Quickly I learned to recognize the Smithsonian Insti-
tution castle,the doughnut-shaped Hirshhorn Museum,the domeof the Na-
tionalMuseumofNaturalHistory, and the boxy lookingNational Air and
Space Museum.Subsequent discoveries,such as the gardens near the castle,
became secret spacesof respite from the crowds.I was totally immersed in
America’sicons and
treasures:museums,memorials,and monuments,indoors
and outside, aesthetic and functional, scientific and historical, joyous and
somber. The heat of the summer did not melt the exhikaration I felt each
morning as much as the sheer exhaustion from investing emotional energy
into the objectsI saw. It is
the same sense of immersion and excitement that I
hope readers experience as they encounter the chapters
in this book.
I do not need to convince
you that a visit toWashington, DC,or a museum
can beinspiring,but I would like to persuade readers that the study of such

21. experiences is equallyexciting ;und intellectually;ulventurous.For those read-
ers whomay wonder what “object-centeredle;m1ing”entails,let nle say that
the topic represents a convergence of many approaches into a relatively new
;lreaof inquiry for psychologistsand educators.There are several distinct his-
torical precedents that deserve mention. First,museum educators and cum-
tors pioneered the study and exhibition of objects beginning in the nine-
teenth century. Second, anthropologists examined objects as evidence of
nyaterial culture and constructed theories about objects and their meanings.
Third,psychological researchers studied visitors’behavior i n museums since
the 1920s. Fourth, early childhoocl educators from Pestalozzi to Froebel to
Montessoriemphasized the importanceof hands-onle;lrning, play, and
object
study. Fifth, eclucational
philosophers from Herbart to Dewey to Bruner have
emphasized the value of educative experiences based on genuine objects.
Thus,the nwnerousissues of pecklgogy based onobjects have ;
1 long and mul-
tidisciplinary history.
Let me chart the conceptuallandscape that I see embodied in the chapters
in this book. First,there is ;Lbroad uncharted territory of pechgogy md epis-
temology with ;luthentic objects.The topogrnphy includes issues about how
people of :my age experience objects,that ishow objects speak to them, how
people read objects, and what kinds of interpretations and meanings they
imbue in objects. It is ;Ltransaction between object and person that evokes
and allowsmeaning construction.Ixarning about, with,
and through objects
involves hands-on learning and nunipulation. Beingin the presence of an
original object can be uplifting. Talkingabout your own reactions to objects
can be edifying.Respondingto an object can deepen the experience.
Authen-
tic,unique,and first-handexperiences with objects stimulatecuriosity,explo-
rrltion, andemotions.These are featuresof an object-basedepistemologythat
stand in contrast to thetraditional methods of learning through text ;lnd tlis-
course.Authorsin this book explore many facetsof object-basedlearning,and
1 hope readers consider these issues ;ISfrontiers for future explorrltion.
A second feature of the landscape concerns the places of learning.lnfor-
mal learning environments include a wide variety of physical places and
sp;~ces
;md they invite analysesof their contexts.It is tempting to make con-
trastsbetween learning in schools ; u n d museumsbut this distinction only cap-
tures a few hills and valleys.
The larger issuesinclude the roles of context on
learning and the mini-worldscreated for visitors.Consider the ways that mu-
seum contexts project visitors to other places. The experiences mightin-
clude:walking inside a submarine or coal mine;sitting inside a giant modelof
a hum;ln heart listeningto thepumping sounds as an unborn child might hear
them;strrtppingon a helmet and walkingthrough a virtual world;or standing
at ;I podium reading a I-’residential
inaugurationspeech while your friendssee
your projected image.Museums create contexts that may be authentic or
imaginarybut all are designed to alter the perspectives,thoughts,and feelings

22. of visitors.Contexts may also affect visitorsthrough the architectural design
of shape,
size,space,:md light. Naturalenvironments,such as gardens,po~lds,
antl arboreta, may evoke feelings of solitude,serenity,and tranquility.The ;1p-
peal of these settings is evident in their popularity as destinations for cultural
tourism and family gatherings.The environments ought to be studied in order
to identify how various contexts influence visitors’experiences.
A third featureof the landscape is the disciplinary orientations to objects
evident in the detailed interactions of people in these environments. MLW-
ums devoted to scientificobjects elicit scientificreasoningand f;lct-b;lsed dis-
cussions.Contexts designed to display sculptures, paintings,or art are more
likely to elicit aesthetic reactions and c1iscussions.A~ visitors
meander through
recreated historicalvillages or homes,they are likely to discuss historical top-
ics,the authenticity of primary sources, and the accuracy of the cumtors’in-
terpretations. Appreciation of different intellectual domains,as well as clisci-
pline-basedreasoning,can be nurtured in diverse contexts and these issues,
especially asthey relate to children and education,are uncharted territory.
A fourth feature of the intellectual landscape mapped in this volume isthe
nature of object-basedinteractions and discourse.Objects are stimuli forcon-
versations and explorations,a beginning point for discourses that may be sci-
entific,historical,aesthetic,or personal.Some of these discourses may involve
narratives about the object or the person that give unique meaning to their
interaction. For example, touching the name of a friend on the Vietnam
Memorial,touching a moon rock,or looking at an exhibit of your own cultural
heritagecan elicit deeply personal narrativesabout your own lifeand identity.
There is a great deal to learn about how people talk about objects and how
objects foster question asking and answering. Pedagogical conversations
surrounding object investigations are the focus of several chapters in this
volume.
Readerswill find other features of the intellectual landscape of object-
b;lsed learning equally provocative. If the landscape isconstrxinecl in our
analyses,it is partlydue to the
richness of the topicsthat can be investigated.
The chapters represent many different approaches but share uncierlying em-
phases on (a) the psychological dynamics
of museum experiences antl (b) the
pedagogical principles of object-based learning.There are connections wait-
ing to be made fromthe issues explored in this volume to research in and out
of schools,to otherdisciplines,to museum education and exhibition design,
and to theories of teaching and learning.I hope that readers share the same
sense of adventure and intellectualdiscoveryas the authorsdid inour discus-
sions and writing.

23. This Page Intentionally Left Blank

24. Acknowledgments
The seeds
of this book were planted in a Distinguished Facultyseminar at the
Universityof Michigan,supported by the Rackham Graduate School and De-
partment of Psychology,and taught for the first time in
January through May
1999.It wasa fascinating seminar,
UnpredicVdbk because the ideas often tum-
bled forth in discussions that ranged across topics in psychology,education,
anthropology,music, art,environmental education,and philosophy. Severalof
the authors in this book attended the seminar or gave presentations to our
diverse group of faculty and studentswho represented many departments at
Michigan.The seminar was truly transdisciplinary as well as
interdisciplinary
because each personworked hard to make connections from their ownfields
to new disciplines. I have observed similarbridge-building efforts among
many groups when discussing how people experience museums and am
always impressed with the inquisitive tone of these discussions.Trdnsdisci-
plinary connections require an unpretentious
and open attitude,
and our sem-
inar was exciting because we were all learning so much from each other. I
cannot thank these colleagues enough for their inspiration and creativity:
David Michener, Margaret Evans, Susanna
Hapgood,Hiroyuki Hashimoto,Mau-
rita Holland,
Zilia Estrada,Melissa Mercer,MiTrue,Laura Congdon,Kari Smith,
Kate Theimer, Ingrid Redman, Tina Glengary, Aimee Giles, Megan Hanson,
Carla Christensen,Cindy Brown,
and Shannon Quesdda.I am deeply indebted
to Elaine HeumannGurian,Mary Ellen Munley,John Falk, LynnDierking,and
Kris Morisseywho shared their time and ideas with ourseminar and themu-
seum community inAnn Arbor.
XiX

25. Special thanks go to Jennifer Jipson who provided excellent substantive
and editorial suggestionsto me and the authors on first drafts of chapters. I
alsowant to extendnly gratitude to CynthiaYao,the founder of the Ann Arbor
Hands-On Museum anda dedicated community leader,for her collaboration
and leadership in museum education. I am also grateful to the National Sci-
ence Foundation forsupporting theconference in Ann Arbor during the win-
ter of 2000.
Last only inthe orderof acknowledgments is the inspiration of my family.
My p;~rents
George and Muriel showed I ~ L '
the treasures of Chicago's muse-
ums froman early age andmodeled an ~lnq~lenchable
thirst for learning.My
wifeJan teaches me to wonderabout the whys and what-ifsof objects we en-
counter and has a knack for making museum visits adventurous.My children
Jeff, Kristi,and Julie have inspired me through their curiosity,humor,and in-
sight to try to ut~derst;~nd the
eye-openingand enduring effects of n1useums
on each of us.I hope this book reveals some of that nugic to readers.

26. List of Contributors
Robert Bain
School of Education
IJniversityof Michigan
Ann Arbor,MI
DeAnna Banks Beane
Associationof Science-Techtlology
Washington,DC
Minda Borun
The Franklin Institute Science
Centers
Museum
Philadelphia,P
A
Maureen A. Callanan
1)epartment of Psychology
[Jniversity o f California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz,
CA
Kevin Crowley
Museum Learning Collaborative
Learning Researchand
Development Center
IJniversityof Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh,P
A
Lynn D. Dierking
Institute for Learning Innovation
Annapolis,MI)
Sally Duensing
Universityof Bristoland
The Exploratorium
San Francisco,CA
Kirsten M. Ellenbogen
School of Education
King’s College London
London, England
E. Margaret Evans
Department of Psychology
Universityof Toledo
Toleclo,OH
C. Ohia Frost
School of Information
[Jniversity of Michigan
Ann Arbor,MI
SusannaE
.Hapgood
School of Education
[Jniversity of Michigan
Ann Arbor,MI
JenniferL. Jipson
Department of Psychology
IJniversityo f Michigan
Ann Arbor,MI
Gaea Leinhardt
Museum Learning Collaborative
Learning Researchand
Development Center
Universityof Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh,P
A
TerenceP. McClafferty
Western Australia Museum
Perth,WesternAustralia
xxi

27. xxii
David Michener
BotanicalGardens
Universityof Michigan
Ann Arbor,MI
Kristine A. Morrissey
Michigan State University Museum
East Lansing,MI
Melinda S. Mull
Department of Psychology
Shawnee State University
Portsmouth,OH
hnemarie Sullivan Palincsar
School of Education
Universityof Michigan
Ann Arbor,
MI
Scott Paris
Department of Psychology
Universityof Michigan
Ann Arbor,MI
Barbara Piscitelli
Queensland Universityof
Brisbane,Queensland,Australia
Devereaux A. Poling
Department of Psychology
Universityof Toledo
Toledo,OH
Myla Shanae Pope
John A.Johnson Achievement Plus
Elementary School
St. Paul,
MN
IKonieJ.Rennie
Science and Mathematics Education
Technology
Centre
Curtin University
of Technology
Perth.Western Australia
<:ONTRIIIIlTORS
Shawn Rowe
Department of Education
Washington University
St. Louis,
MO
Leona Schauble
Department of Educational
UniversityofWisconsin
Madison,WI
IngerJ. Schultz
Nichols Arboretum
IJniversityof Michigan
Ann Arbor,
MI
Monika StampfSoennichsen
Department of Psychology
Universityof California,SallVd Cruz
Santa Cruz,CA
Christina van Kraayenoord
Schonell Special Education
The Universityof Queenskand
Brisbane,Queensland, Australia
Katrina Weier
Queensland Universityof
Technology
Brisbane, Australia
James V. Wertsch
Department of Education
Washington University
St. Louis,
MO
Psychology
Research Centre

28. P A R T I
Studying Learning
With Objects in Contexts

29. This Page Intentionally Left Blank

30. C H A P T E R O N E
The Role of Context
in Children’s Learning
from Objects and Experiences
3

31. 4 DIERKING
This actual post-field-tripaccount of a school trip to a
nature center in North-
ern Ireland points out both the wonderand challenge of understanding chil-
dren’slearningfrom objects and experiences.Clearly,this
trip was memorable,
and clearly objects and experiences played a tremendous role in making it
so. Sarah’srich descriptions of walking along a footpath;seeing pheasants,
bamboo shoots,a bridge made of wood and log,a redwood tree, a
dead bird,;I
squirrel, waterfalls, and a wooden hut; smelling garlic leaves; climbing hills
and steps,eating a picnic lunch,playing games and exploring rock pools,all
attest to the richness of this experience.’ At the Same time,though,this rich
account also demonstrates the challengesof understanding the meaning that
children make of such objects and experiences,for how does one tease out
the essential threads of learning from such a description? Did Sarah actually
learn from this experience?
I arguethat she did,but
documenting this requiressteppingback and
think-
ing about learning from objects and experiences more broadly than is typi-
callydone;traditionalmodelsof learning,such as the transmission-absorption
model (Hein, 1998;Hein Sr Alexander,1998;Roschelle,1995),do not account
for or explain the highly inte~~ctive
learning that results from such experi-
ences and encounters with objects. An important missing ingredient is the
role that context plays in facilitatinglearning from objects and experiences.
Traditional models of learning do not account for the richness and com-
plexity of learningfrom objects and experiences,particularly not its richcon-
textual nature.M L K ~
of the traditionalresearch has focusedon learningin and
from classroomsor laboratories,where much of the learning is decontextual-
izecl from direct experience with objects.The notion that objects and experi-
ence, with their inherent physical and sociocultural natures, might actually
play an essential role in learning,and that these processes encompass much
more than learning about Pacts and concepts but alsoinclude changes in atti-
tudes,beliefs,aesthetic understandings, identity,etc.,has been missing. Such
models of learning do not work well when attempting to document thecle-
contextu;llized learning inandfrom schools and laboratories;when these
models are ;tpplied to the real object- and experience-centered world, they
are seriously deficient.
This chapter describes a framework,the Contextual Model of Learning,
that Falk and I have conceptualized to deal with the complexity and richness
of learning and meaning-making fromobjects and experiences (Falk L
k Dier-
king,2000).I then use the model to tease out and discuss Some of the poten-
tial factors that might influence Sarah’slearning and rneaning-m;lking from
her sc11ool trip to theforest park, utilizing research done by Falk and myself
and others.

32. 1. THE R O L E O F CONTEXT 5
The Contextual Model of Learning startsfrom the premise that all learning
is situated,a dialogue between theindividualand his or her environment.It is
not someabstract experience that can beisolated ina test tube or laboratory,
but an organic,integrated experience that happens in the real world with real
objects (Ceci & Roazzi, 1994;Lewin, 1951;Mead, 1934;Shweder, 1990).I n
other words, learning is a contextually driven effort to find meaning in the
real world.The model advocates thinking more holisticallyabout learning as
a series of related and overlapping processes that accommodate the com-
plexity and ephemeral natureof learning and meaning-making from objects
and experiences,
learningthat we callfree-choicekarttirtg.3
T H E C O N T E X T U A L M O D E L OF LEARNING
The Contextual Model of Learning(Falk Sr Dierking, 2000) grew out of a
framework we developed 10years agothat,at the time,we called the Interac-
tive Experience Model (Falk Sr Dierking, 1992).In the last yearwe have built
on and refined this model, recasting it asthe Contextual Model of Learning.
The Contextual Model suggeststhat three overlappingcontexts contribute to
and influence the interactions and experiences that children have with ob-
jects and the consequent learning and meaning-making- the personal con-
text, the sociocultural context, and the physical context. Learningis the
process/product o f the interactions betweenthesethreecontextsand is
more descriptive than predictive.The powerof the Contextual Model isnot
that it attempts to reducecomplexity to oneor two simple rules,but rather
that it embraces and organizes complexity into a manageable and compre-
hensible whole.
Thepersonalcontext refers to all that the learners bring to the learningsit-
uation, their interest and motivations, their preferences for learning modali-
ties,their priorknowledge and experience.Four important lessons are at the
heart of the personal context: (a) learning flows from appropriate motiva-
tional and emotional cues; (b) learning isfacilitatedby personal interest;
(c) “new”knowledge is constructed from a foundation of prior experience
and knowledge;and (d) learning is expressedwithin appropriate contexts.
The sociocultzcrulcontext encompassesFactors that recognize that learn-
ing is both an individual and a group experience.What someone learns, let
>Wehave begunadvocatingfiu.e-cbc,ice/emwing as a better term than
irrformul f e m ~ z i ~ g
for
describing learningfrom objects ant1 experiences, suchas might happen i n a museumo r nature
center. Kather th:m defining the learning
by what it is not (formal) or where
it occ~~rs.
:IS the tern)
informallearning docs. frecchoice learning focuses on thecharacteristicsofsuchlearning-
nonlinear,personally motivated.and involvingconsiderable choice on the part of the learnerits
t o when, where, why,
and what to 1e;m (Ilierking
& Falk. 1994;Falk. 1999;Falk, in press;Falk tk
Dierking. 1998;Johnston.1990).

33. 6 I>IERKIN<;
alone why andhow someonelearns,is inextricably bound to the cultural and
historical context in which that learningoccurred.At one level, learning
is dis-
tributed meaning-making. Knowledge,rather than being within the domain
of the individual,is a shared process, and learning and meaning-making take
place within often delimited communitiesof learners. In other words, there
exist a myriad number of communitiesof learners,defined bythe boundaries
of shared knowledgeand experience.Interestingly,not
only is
learninga socio-
cultural process in the here ;md now, butthe historical andcultural modes of
communicatingideas are also sociocultural in nature. This helps to account
for the fact that universally,people respondwell and better remember
infor-
gnation if it is recounted to them in a story or n;lrrative form,an ancient soci-
ocultural vehicle forsharing information.
The third context, the
phvsiccrl tuntext, accounts for the fact that learning
does not occur isolated from the objects and experiences of the real world.
The physical context includes the architecture :lnd “feel”of the situation-in
other words,the sights,sounds, and smells,as well as the design features of
the experience. Ourresearch and that of others suggests that when people
;ireasked to recall their experiences in free-choice settings, likeGlens of
Antrim ForestRuk, whether
a day or twolater or after 20 or 30 years,the most
frequently recalledand persistent aspects relate to these physical context fac-
tors -memoriesof what an individual saw, what
they did,and how they felt
about those experiences.“
The model also includes a fourth and very important dimension- time.
Looking at free-choice learning as a snapshot in time, even a long snapshot
(e.g.,the time Sarah spent exploring the forest park with herclassmates and
teacher) is woefully in;ldequate. One needs to pan the camera back in time
and space so that one cansee the learner across a larger swath ofhis or her
life,and canview the experience within the larger context of the community
and society in which he or she lives.A convenient, though admittedly arti-
ficial,way to think about this modelis to consider learning as being con-
structed over time as people move through their sociocultural and physical
worlds; over time, meaning is built up, layer upon layer. However,even this
model does not quite capture the true
dynamism of the process because even
the layers themselves,once laid down,are not static or necessarily evenper-
manent.All the layers, particularly those laid down earliest,interact and di-
rectly influence the shape and form of future layers;the learners both form
and are formed by their environments. For convenience, we havedistin-
guished three separate contexts,but it is important to keepin mindthat these
contexts ;Ire not really separate,or even sepamble.

34. 1. THE
LE OF CONTEXT 7
F
I
G
.
1.1. The Contextual Modelof Learning.(Falk & Dierking,2OOO).
Western science in general,and psychology inparticular,are strongly tied
to ideas of permanence-the brain isa constant,
the environment is a given,
memories are permanent.None of this appears tobe, in fact,reality.None of
the three contexts
-personal, sociocultural, or physical-is ever stable or
constant. Learning, as well as its constituent pieces, is ephemeral, always
changing.Ultimately then, learning can be viewed as the neverendinginte-
gration and interaction of these three contextsover time.A valiant effort at
depicting thismodel isshown in Fig. 1.1,appreciating that
it really should be
depicted in three dimensions and animated,so that boththe temporal and
in-
teractive nature of learning could be captured.
The Contextual Model of Learning provides the large-scaleframework
within which to
organize information about learning from objects and expe-
rience; the
detailsvary depending on the specificcontext of the 1earner.After
consideringfindings from hundreds of research studies,10 key factors-or,
more accurately,suites of factors-emerged as particularly fundamental to
experiences with and
from object^.^
sThis model is a work in
progress.In our recentbook and attheAnn Arborconference,only
eight factors were presented. Subsequent thinking suggests that there
are 10suitesof factors.

35. 8 DIERKING
Personal ContextFactors
Motivation and Expectations. People have experiences with objects
for manyreasons and possesspredetermined expectations
for what those ob-
jects and experiences will hold. For example, children visiting a parklike
Glens of Antrim Forest Park expect to have a direct encounter withthe out-
doors,with plants and animals.These motivations and expectations directly
affect what children do and what they learn from these objects and experi-
ences.When expectations are fulfilled,learning is Facilitated.
When expecta-
tions are unmet,learningcan suffer. Intrinsically
motivatedlearners tend to be
more successful learners than those who learn because they feel they have
to. Learning situations are effective when they attract and reinforce intrinsi-
callymotivated individuals.
Interest. Based on prior interest, learners self-select what objects and
experiences with which to interact, for example, what to see and do while
exploring Glens of Antrim Forest Park.The term interest refers to apsycho-
logical construct that includes attention,persistence in a task,and continued
curiosity, all important factors when one wants to understand what might
motivate someone to become fully engaged and perhaps tolearn something
(Hidi, 1990). In research about freechoice learning, interest emerges as
an important variable that greatly influences later learning (Dierking & Pol-
lock, 1998;Falk & Dierking, 2000), directly affecting what people do and
what they learn from objects and experiences such as encountered in a
place likeGlens of AntrimForestPark.For this reason, learning is always
highly personal.
Prior Knowledge and Experience. Prior knowledge and experience
are fundamentalfactors contributing to learning (Roschelle, 1995).They play
an important role in encounters that children have with objects and experi-
ences in real world places like Glenarrif Forest Park. This prior knowledge
and experience directly affects what children do and what they learn. The
meaningthat is made of objects and experiences is always framed
within and
constrained by prior knowledge and experience.
Choice and Control. Learning is facilitated when individuals can exer-
cise choice over what and when they learn,and feel in control of their own
learning.Thisis certainlythe case for children.Real world settings,such as the
outdoors,are quintessential free-choicelearning settings and afford children
abundant opportunity for both.Research suggeststhat children are very sen-
sitive to these issues,often preferring to encounter objects in real-worldset-
tings with their families rather than with school groups for the very reason
that they feel they have more choice and control over the experience (Grif-

36. 1. THE R O L E O F CONTEXT 9
fin, 1998; Griffin & Dierking, 1999;Jensen, 1994). Consequently,effective
learning situations affordlearners abundant opportunity forboth choice and
control.
Sociocultural Context
Within-Group Sociocultural Mediation. Children are inherently so-
cialcreatures.They learn and makemeaningas part of socialgroups-groups
with histories, groups that separately and collectively form communities of
le;lrners,such as Sarah’s class.
Peers build socialbonds through shared expe-
riences and knowledge.All social groups in settings like Glens of Antrim For-
est Park utilize each other as vehicles for deciphering information,for rein-
forcingsharedbeliefs,formakingmeaning.Suchsettingscreateunique milieus
for such collaborativelearning to occur.Children have experiences with ob-
jects with their peers and Familiar adults,such as parents or teachers,and this
collaborativelearninggreatly influences the meaning they make.
Facilitated Mediationby Others. Sociallymediated learningdoes not
only occur within one’s ownsocial group. Powerful socially mediated learn-
ing occurs with other people perceived to be knowledgeable such as teach-
ers, parents, and other facilitators.Such learning has long evolutionary and
cultural antecedents. Interactions with other people can either enhance or
inhibit a child’sobject-basedlearning experience.When skillful,the staff of ;l
free-choicelearning setting can significantly facilitate
visitor learning.
Physical Context Factors
Advance Preparation. Study after study has shown that people,partic-
ularly children,learn better when they feel secure in their surroundings and
know what is expected of them,that is,when they have received aclvance or-
ganizers and orientation for the experience.Real-world settings, such as the
outdoors, tend to be large, visually and aurally novel settings.When people
feel disoriented, it directly affects their ability to focus on anything else;cer-
tainly this is the case for children.When people feel oriented, some novelty
can enhance learning.Similarly,providingconceptual advance organizers sig-
nificantly improves people’s ability to construct meaning from experiences.
When children feel oriented and are provided conceptual advance organiz-
ers,this advance preparation enhances their object-basedlearning.
Setting. Whatever the learning experience, learning and
meaning-
making are influenced by setting, that is, the ambiance,feel,and comfort of
the place or situation.When children feel comfortable in a learning setting or
situation,learning is enhanced. This is certainly important in real-world set-
tings like the outdoors.

37. Design. Whatever the learning experience, learning and meaning-
making are influenced by design,that is,the specific design elements of that
experience.I n real-worldsettings children see and experience authentic,
real
objects, within appropriate environments. Appropriately designed learning
experiences that capitalizeon the elements of the real worldare compelling
learning tools.
SubsequentReinforcingEvents andExperiences. Learning does
not respect institutional boundaries. Children learn by accumulating uncler-
standing over time, from many sources in many different ways. Subsequent
reinforcing events and experiences are as critical to 1e;lrningfrom objects
and experiences as are their immediate interactions.In a very real sense, the
knowledge and experience gained from any one experienceis incomplete;it
requires enabling contexts to become whole. More often than not, these en-
abling contexts occurin other places-weeks,months, and often years later.
‘rhese subsequent reinforcing events and experiences are as critical to learn-
ing fromobjects and experiences as are the initial encounters.
Indiviclually and collectively,these 10 factors significantly contribute to
the quality of a learning experience and influence the learning ; u l d meaning-
making that results;thus, wecan utilize this framework ;IS ;I concrete model
for understanding and facilitating children’slearning from objects and expe-
riences.Wecan use Sarah’sexperience at the forest park as
;I case study,to ;IC-
tually consider a very specific set of factors that might I I ; ~
influenced her
learning from that experience.
SARAH’S EXPERIENCE
Clearly, persotla1context factors influcnccd her experience, evident as one
reads Sarah’s account, written 2 weeks after the visit. Although this was ;L
school trip with her teacher,Miss Armstrong,her very vivid description sug-
gests she was highly motivated and
interested ;lnd paidtremendous attention
to details ;ISthe trip unfolded, remembering manyof those details 2 weeks
later.As 1 said earlier,I have visited this park
myself and can attcst to theaccu-
mcy of her description. Clearly,she and her classmates also 11;d expectations
for what the trip would hold. For example, Shaw had brought 111oneyalong,
perlqw to buy a special lunch or souvenir of the trip.
Sarah’s specific interests also are clear-she seemed most interested in
all aspects of the natural world she was observing, in particular,the plants
she encountered.She wasable to describe i n great detailher expcriencewith
:I redwood tree,includingthe textureof its bark,where it came from,how tall
it was,and how old. She also recallecl smelling garlic leavesand seeing bam-
boo shoots.

38. 1. THE
OLE O F CONTEXT 11
Sarah’sprior knowledge and experience are less evident in this account.
It does not appe;lr that she had visited the park before,although it was only
about an hour from her school and is;I popular place for families andschools
to visit. She did
describe a coupleof instances of dealing with “rulA~ish,”
but it
is hardto know whether sheheld this conservation ethic herself or whether
it was encouraged by her guide and teacher.It is far easier to think about how
these objects ;~nd
experience will build future knowledge and experience
and how they might be built on later. Hermemories are so detailed and rich
that one can envision these experiences being remembered and reinforced
throughout her lifetime.Research documenting long-term recollections of
school field trips suggests that such rich experiences are remembered and do
support long-termmeaning-making(Falk Sr Dierking,1997).
In terms of choice and control it is not clear how free choice theday was,
particularly at the park. Although the children were led on a guided tour,
Sarah m;ldeno complaints about her guide,or what she did not get to see or
do,suggestingthat at least for Sarah,
there was a feelingof freedom to look at
what she was interested in lookingat.Her account would suggestthat she did
feel that she had some choice and control in the learning situation.Certainly
the time atthe beach in Ik~lleygalley,
when thechildren played games,chased
their teacher, paddled in the water,explored the rock pools,and hac1 a trea-
sure hunt,was free-choicein nature.
Sociocultuml context factors also influenced her experience greatly. ?‘he
highly socialwithin-group nature of the school trip was very visible asSarah
describes the bus ride, Shaw’s unfortunate experience losing his money, a
picnic lunch, and the fun at Ba1leyg;llley Beach, playingwith her classmates
and teacher. In her own words, when they arrived home at j o’clock,they
were happy,though tired.The role that such sociocultural“st;lmping”
plays in
the remembering and meaning-makingprocess is only now coming to light,
but it clearly plays a11 important role (Falk Sr Dierking,2000;Schauble,Lein-
hardt, Sr Martin,1998).Kese;lrch suggeststhat in later years it will be very dif-
ficult for Sarnh to think about this trip am1 its significancewithout recalling
the rich socioculturalcontext in which it was imbedded.
Facilitation by a skillful guide also seemed to support Sarah’s rnenloryof
the experience.
Sheremembered the guide’s11ameand all the things that they
did together walking along the path,such as Penny picking garlic leaves and
letting the children smell them, a
very “ge-;lpprc)pri“te
and effective strategy,
which suggestsshe was a skilled guide.Our research suggeststhat it will not
be unlikely forthese memories to persist over time and for I-’enny McRride
to
be indelibly linked in;I positive way to Sarah’slong-termrecollections of the
experience (Falk & Dierking,1997).
Probablythe most obviousfactors influencingher experience
are the phys-
ical context factors. Seven-year-oldSarah Jane Minfortl,who lives in ;I small
vi1l;lge approximately 30 miles north of Belfast, Ireland, was able to recall

39. 12 DIERKING
considerable details of her day-long school field trip to an outdoor environ-
mental preserve in Northern Ireland.Although several days hadelapsed be-
tween hervisit and her writing about the experience, she
was still ableto re-
member quite vividly what she saw and did that day. Physicalcontext factors
obviously playeda major role in
the experience, none
more importantly than
the nature of the setting,the fact they were outside,seeing and experiencing
objects in their natural environment. Sarah’sdetailed and vivid account of
her experiences
alongthe pathattest to the power
of being outside,in nature.
She noticed the spongy texture of a redwood tree’s bark, a bridge made of
wood and log,the smell of garlic leaves, and
the foam andbubbles of beautiful
waterfalls.Suchhighly contextualized and multisensory memories are the
ones that tend to persist over time (Falk Sr Dierking, 2000).
I n terms of advance preparation,I am not sure how much the teacher pre-
pared the class before the visit; I do know that the teacher had received a
packet of advance information about the visitfrom the guide so that she
could presumably prepare the children before the visit.I also know that on
their arrivalat the park,Penny McBrideprovided an overview to the children
of what they would experience while on the visit, anadvance organizer for
their exploration.
However, probably most
interesting,but unknown to me,is what reinforc-
ing events and experiences Sam11has hadsubsequently in her life that would
contribute to the long-term meaning of this school trip. I do know that the
teacher had children write something about the experience, a reinforcing
experience to some degree,but only 2 weeks later,so it is difficult
to assessits
impact.The trip occurred about 5 years ago andwhat would be most useful
would be to be able to follow up with Sarah,to see whether shehas visited
this park o r other parks since and what sense and meaning she nowmakes of
the experience.
Has it continued toinfluence her feelings andattitudes about
nature, her conservation ethic, herknowledge of redwoods?Clearly, itwas a
powerful experience and one can hope that it did,but much depends on how
the experience was used in school beyond the writing exercise and what
other related experiences Swab has had in her life. Didshe continue toread
about redwoods,perhaps visit the United Statesand see one in situ?Knowing
this kind of information would make it far easier to predict just what Sard1
might havetaken from the experience.
Finally,we ask the question:What do wethink Sarah learned from her ex-
perience in the Glens of Antrim Forest Park?At the very least,it is clear that
this brief, ephemeral experience resulted in demonstrable, albeit modest,
changes in her knowledge and thinking.Asa direct consequence of her expe-
rience in the park,Sarah could describe facts and ideas she experiencedand
presumably relate them to pieces of knowledge gleaned from other sources.
There was tangible evidence that the events Sarah experienced and the infor-
mation she perceived during her forestparkvisit were not only stored in

40. 1. THE R O L E OF CONTEXT 13
memory, but retrievable, utilized and extended subsequent to the visit. In
other words,Sarahdemonstrated clear evidence of having learned.
Obviously, Sarah’s
curiosity and interest were very much a central trait of
her learning as well,as evidenced by her thorough description of the natural
world she experienced.A nature center like the Glensof Antrim Forest Park is
a veritable wonderland for the curious. It is also likelyto anticipate the role
the guide played,as well as
her teacher,in influencing her learning.By taking
them therein the first place,their teacher was alsomodelingfor all
of the chil-
dren therole that nature centers like this park can play intheir lives asplaces
for learningand places that preserve the natural heritage of Northern Ireland.
Through this experience, Sarah was learning a great deal about how to use
nature centers to satisfy her many curiosities,an activity that she can enjoy
throughout her life.
I believe that this case study demonstrates that, bothindividually and col-
lectively,these 10 factors do significantlycontribute to the
quality of a child’s
experience with objects, contextualizing the experience, and consequently
influencing the learning and meaning-making that occurs a result of these
interactions. Certainly in other studies this has been demonstrated (Falk Sr
Dierking,2000).Thus,this framework can be utilized as a concretemodel for
understanding and facilitatinglearning from objects and experiences.
Thisvignette also points to the importance of documenting children’sex-
periences with objects and framing subsequent learning and meaning-mak-
ing appropriately.Insteadof asking,“Whatdid Sarah
learn as a consequence
of
visiting Glens of Antrim Forest Park?,” we should be asking “How did this
experience contribute to what Sarah knows, believes,feels,or is capable of
doing?”All learning is a cumulative,long-term process, a process of making
meaning and finding connections among a variety of learning experiences.
What we know about any particular topic is the accumulated understanding
constructed from a wide variety of sources, including school, newspapers
and magazines,books,conversations with friends,family and knowledgeable
acquaintances,television shows,films, andinteractions within real-world set-
tings (Falk,2001;Johnston, 1999;Miller,2001;Miller & Pifer, 1996).It is only
when we step
back and lookmore broadly atchildren’sexperiences with ob-
jects that we can truly understand their impact in children’slives.
Clearly,the frameworkprovided by the Contextual Model of Learning
does
not simplify the task of trying to understand what Sarah learned, but it does
provide a road map forthe inquiry.The model permits a thoughtful and reli-
able approach toconsidering the true complexity and richness of the learn-
ing process without significantlycompromising either precision or generaliz-
ability.It helps us focus our attention on salient parts of the data,such as the
key factors of prior knowledge and experience:interest; motivation and ex-
pectations;choice and control;within group socioculturalmediation;the role
of guides as facilitators of learning;orientation and advance organizers;the

41. 14 D I E R K I N G
importance of setting,real objects,and appropriate contexts;
:und finally it en-
courages us to frame the question of individual 1e;lrning
within a larger com-
munity and society-widecontext.In short, the
model reduces the major issues
down toa manageable number,within a comprehensible framework,without
losing sight of the inherently holistic and synergisticnature of learning.Hy no
Inems complete, the three contexts we have proposed provided a starting
point from which to both think about and describe free-choicelearning out-
comes.As this example clemonstrates,free-choice1e;lrningenvironments like
Glens of Antrim Forest Parkemerge as particularly effective
learning environ-
ments because they enable people to explore cultur;tl, aesthetic,and scien-
tific issuesperceived :is important within ;
I socially supportive, intellectually
comprehensible, andcontextmllly appropriate environment. [Jtilizing the
Contextual Model of Learning allows LIS to better document,and ultimately
influence,learning in thesc rich environments.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So what docs this all mean interms of our efforts to meaningfullyunderstand
the nature of children’slearningfrom objects ;md experiencesand our efforts
to research it?As we all know,children are innately curious and learning all
the time. atschool, at home, during structured time ;lnd free time.Although
few would dispute this, interestingly,when it con~es
time to investigatechil-
dren’s learning, such broad perspectives are rarely considered and conse-
cpently dmost never integrated into research designs.However,in order to
design ;L
trulymeaningful research study to investigate children’s 1e;lrning
from objects ;lnd experiences,such broad perspectives are critical.One must
fr;ume the research study broadly to include not only school, but also home
;lnd community experiences.So what would constitute thekey elements of a
n1e;tningful research plan to investigatechildren’slearning from objects and
experiences?
Key Elements of a MeaningfulResearchPlan
The research plan needs to investigate children engaged in ;luthenticac-
The research design should include multiple,creativemethodologies for
There shoulcl be opportunities for the group to be the unit of analysis,
not just individualchildren.
The research designshoulcl include efforts to investigate the learning
that happens at home ;lnd in the community,as well as that of school,
tivities,so that their learning is studied in “real” context.
assessinglearning in a variety of ways.

42. and include efforts to demonstrate the connections between these ex-
periences.
as the products of learning.
Researchdesigns should be longitudinal,with opportunities to tmck
children forseveralyears to see how experiences areused ;und con-
nected to subsequent
experiences.
There shoulcl be effortsto investigate the processes of learning 3s well
Investigate Authentic Activities.A high qu;llity research study investi-
gates learning in “real”contexts and takes into account the persoml, social,
and physical dimensionsof learning.Although it is changing,m m y studies,
even those designed for children, rely on paper and pencil instruments. ad-
ministered to individual chilclren,
in a test-likecontext. Such research tools are
highly decontextualized and their content validityis suspect. Authentic r e
searchdesignsallowchildren to demonstratetheir skillsand knowledge in rich
environmentsfilled with objects and m;uteri;lls that have some relationship to
the learning.Authentic research designsalso often provide opportunities for
children to demonstmtetheir knowledge and skills ingroup situations.
Multiple Methodologies. A high quality research study for children in-
cludes a wide variety of creative methodologies such
as observations,discus-
sions,in-depth interviews,and imbedded activities such as developmentally
appropriate games,drawing,and other tasks.In contrast to the paper
and pen-
cil instruments described previously, these methodologies arecontextu;ully
rich and allow children to demonstrate a wide range of skills and knowledge
in varied waysthat are very amen;~ble to
children’sperson;ll styles.
The Group as the Unit o
f Analysis in Research Designs. As sug-
gested earlier,11um;lns are social ;unim;lls and much of our learning is medi-
ated through sociocultural interaction with others, including our parents,
teachers, and peers (Falk & Dierking, 1995;Fishbein, 1976; Hansen,1979:
Ogbu, 1995; Schauble, Leinhardt, Sr Martin, 1998;Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch,
1985).Despite this fact,for the most part,the unit of ;In;llysis for learning is
almost alwaysthe individual. Meaningful research designs
need to explore op-
portunities for group investigation and to experiment with the groupas the
unit of analysis.
Research About Learning at Home, in the Community, and at
School. Children are learning all the time, at school, at home, and in the
community (Epstein, 1995).Because learning is ;I series of overlapping and
reinforcing experiences over time and place, a meaningful research design
includes opportunities to investigate children using the wealthof knowledge
and experience they have constructed in a
1
1 parts of their life. Such research

43. should also provide opportunities for researchers to explore the connections
children have constructed among
and between these experiences.
Research About the Process and Products o
f Learning. Muchof
research currently focuses on the products
of learning-what achild has fig-
ured out or created. Consequently,a meaningful research design should in-
clude methodologiesfor investigatinghow children have figuredsomething
out or created something,emphasizing theprocesses of learning as much as
the products of learning.
LongitudinalResearch. Because learning is a series of overlapping
and reinforcing experiences over time and place,to most meaningfully inves-
tigate learning,the research designneeds to be comprehensive
and longitudi-
mal so the full range of understandings can be assembledacross enough time
that meaningful patterns and relationships can be discerned. A meaningful
research design would be comprehensive, including opportunities to track
children over several yearsto determine howexperiences with objects and
consequent learning are used andconnected to subsequent
experiences antl
learning. Although the specifics of some of the methodologies coulddiffer
from year to year,there would also be an effort to consistently research par-
ticular aspects of the child’s learning so that meaningful patterns and rela-
tionships could beestablished.For example, what
kind oflearner is the child?
How can his or her
strengths be capitalized on and weaknesses
strengthened?
How havesubsequent experiences built on and/or reinforced what and how
children have learned from objects?What role haveobjects and experiences
had in makingthe learning meaningful to the child?
I have suggestedsixelementsthat should be
critical componentsof amean-
ingful research planto investigate children’slearning fromobjects and expe-
riences. However, it is important to state that 1 appreciate how difficult it
would be to implement such a
design.It requires profound changesin some
of our assumptions about
learning and the best ways to document learning,
and if implementedas ideallydescribed,would be an exceedingly
time-inten-
sive endeavor for all participants. Having said that,I do believe that it is im-
portant to begin to make such changes and
to take the time and effortthat is
really required to understandchildren’slearning.
REFERENCES

44. 1. T H E
O L E O F C O N T E X T 17

46. C H A P T E R T W O
The Role of Objects in Active,
Distributed Meaning-Making
Although the meaning of education for museum producers and consumers
hasch;tnged sincethe founding ofAmerica’s
earliestmuseums(Roberts,1W7),
informallearning environments havetaken an increasinglyself-conscious
place in the American educational landscape.’ For the progressive era, this
place was so important thatDewey (1900) used the museum ;is both the
physical and metaphorical heart of the ideal school.He saw it as that place
where the experiences
of the child came into contact with the tools and prac-
tices“all-important in
interpretingand expanding experience”(p.85).Dewey
was specificallyinterested in the role thatobjects played not only in sparking
the imagination but also inthe construction of knowledge.
Although one might argue that many of Dewey’s visions for
education have
fadedfrom the current debates concerning education, museums are now
taken-for-granted elements of the educational system in
the United States.The
amount of funding the National Science Foundation ($46 million in 2000),’
the National Endowment forthe Arts (over $12 million in 1999),3and other
funding sources provide for “informal” educatiomal programs and research
19

47. 20 KOWE
each year testifies to museums’central place in the educational landscape,
especially inadult and community education.
Leavingaside temporarilythe question of whether or
not objects are ubiq-
uitous to and the question of how
we should understand the term
objects,5I argue that understanding the role of objects in mediatingpeople’s
muSeumexperiences requires takinga research perspective that accounts for
the active, distributed, meaning-making people do in museums. Such a re-
search perspective is grounded in a variety of what have come to be known
as sociocultural approaches to mind growing out of the cultural-historical
research of Vygotsky (1981), Luria (1982),and activity theory in the former
SovietIJnion(Leont’ev, 1981).What these approaches share is a focus on
everyday cognition as itis grounded in socioculturallyand historically situ-
ated, social activity. Their goal is broadly to explicate the relationships be-
tween human activityand the cultural,historical,and institutionalcontexts in
which it takes place (Wertsch,del Rio,Sr Alvarez,1995.p.3).Wewould expect
from a sociocultural perspective that what “counts”
as learning in any given
museum would be quite differentfrom what “counts”aslearning in school or
in any other museum. However,because most museum research and visitor
studies have focused on the output of school-like knowledge (i.e., recall of
discrete facts) as the most viablemeasure of learning,they have contributed
littleto understanding the unique types of learningpeople reportanecdotally
for museums or the
particular cultural goals,tools,and practices of consump-
tion museums embody and support.The result is an apparent paradox in mu-
seum education. Is the goal the transmission of accurate information about
art,history or science, oris it to engage visitors in a way that validates their
own knowledge,creates return visitors,or makes them critical consumers of
other social texts?The role of objects in human activity can help explain this
apparent paradox and is takenup near the endof this chapter.
In a broader research context, museums provide an exciting opportunity
to explore group activities that we might label“learning”as they develop in
more or less formal, socially
mediated ways for several
reasons.First,between
20%and 80% of museum visitors annually in
the United States visitmuseums
as part of a group(Bitgood, Serrell,
Sr Thompson, 1994,p. 72). Secondly,the
museum is a place where transmission of information is not necessarily the
primary goal of group interaction. Rather, the primary goal of group inter-
action is often thought of as meaning-making. Such
a view emerges from the
widespread constructivist account of learning prevalent in museum learning
research and among museum staff. One important implication of construc-
‘Its:I national battleground memorial an object? Are the htmlfiles that make up ;I virtualart
museum objects?
Are texts and photographic reproductions objects?
5AsI argue later,it is productive to speakof the battlefield memorial, the html files, and
phtr
tognphs as well as very physical, three dimension;ll things
like hammers and nails. sculptures,
and the everyday objects filling history museums as
all textsof one sorto r another(Eco, 1981).

48. 2. THE K O L E O F OBJECTS 21
tivism isthat the meanings people make as a resultof the negotiation of dif-
ferent knowledges and ways of knowing cannot be judged according to au-
thoritative standards of what is “correct”
or “incorrect”as isoften the case in
more formal learning settings.Rather, authority for determining the correct-
ness of an interpretationis shifted to the
visitor. Withoutabandoning the idea
that museums can and do transmit information or challenge visitors’ prior
knowledge, museum researchers have begun to embrace this more radical
aspect of constructivism as well, seeking ways to allow visitors more room
and authority tomake sense.As Hein (1998) puts it,
writing of the“construc-
tivist museum,”
<:onstructivistlearning situations require two separate components, first a rec-
ognitionthat in ordert o learn the active participationof the learner is required.
. . . Second, constructivist education requires that the conclusions reached by
the learner are not validated by whether or not they conform
t o some external
reality,but whether they “make sense” within the constrllcted reality of the
learner.(p.34)
Or as Roberts (1997) puts it,
writing of the negotiation of visitor and museum
meanings, “The essence of the education enterprise is thus the rnaking of
meaning”@.133).
These quotations from Hein and Roberts underscore the third reason mu-
seums provide a fruitfulsettingfor exploring how group activity develops in
socially mediated ways. Part of what makes the museum a unique “learning
setting”is the fact that multiple waysof interacting (multiple ways
of organiz-
ing social activity)
around and with objects are encouraged.That is,the nature
of activity and the meaning of objects in museums are up for negotiation by
groups in ways thatmay be explicitly or implicitly prohibited in other learn-
ing settings(Le.,schools,workplaces).
To understand the roles of objects in group meaning-making inmuseums,
it is usefulto focus on the two
ways in which Vygotsky (1978; 1986) saw all
human activityas being distributed. First,allactivity,includingmeaning-
making,is social. It
is distributedamong people in groups variously described
as communities of learners or communities of practice (Lave &Wenger,1991;
Rogoff,1994) to stress their development over time inshared activities.This is
not tosay that individuals do not or can not learn outside of a group.Vygot-
sky’s(1 981) emphasison the
social distributionof cognitive activity
stemmed
from his claim
that much human mental activity hasits origins in social activ-
ity. Fromthis perspective, the cognitive strategies used by individuals solving
problems or interacting with objects alone retain traces of those social ori-
gins (p. 164).
To say that meaning-making is socially distributed means, first of all,that
the processes of meaning-makingaregenerally distributed among mem-
bers of the group who build up a store of “knowledge”or “cultural capital:’

49. 22 ROWE
According to Horun, Clwnbers, and Cleghorn (19%), family members not
only help shape what each other experiences, but also together build up a
fund of shared knowledge they use in later meaning-making.
As a result, the group, in effect,"knows"more than anyof its individual
pitrts.It is this kind of approach that has led to the search for what kinds of
emergent properties groups have that make them distinct from individuals
and more than simple amalgamations of individuals.Describing and uncler-
standing the behavior of the group is not ;l simple matter of describing and
understanding the individual movements,statements, or knowledge of all of
its members.After all, those movements and statements are always anticipa-
tory ;~nd
responsive (Bakhtin,1981).They are i n a sense strategic,responding
to some other person's movements or statements and anticipating some re-
sponse. Thus, understanding how a group's activityunfolds in a museum
involvesexploring how these actions arejointlynegotiated,al'pr('priated,alld
Second,to say that meaning-makingis socially distributed means that the
processes of meaning-making are active coconstructions-that is, they re-
quire the active participation of and work by some or all participants using
the cultuml tools available to them in the setting.The meanings of what we
s;ly and d o , for instance,are not necessarily obvious,waiting just to be articu-
lated i n language andtransferred into brrdns. Rather,
human meaning-making
requires a great deal of assumptions and interpretive work by both speakers
and addressees. Achieving understanding and m;lking meaning are things
people do actively,and that work is reflected in their conversations both i n
the themes of the conversations (what they sap) they have during meaning-
making activity and
in the structuresof the conversations and activities(how
I;urthermore,Vygotsky(1978;1986) saw human mental activity as distrib-
uted between the acting agent and the physical and cultural tools (like lan-
guage) in the inclividual'senvironment. HLIIKIIImental functioning is i n this
sense always mediated-that is,it may be distributed among multiple agents
or among agents and the cultural tools available to them in ;I given activity.
Wertsch (1998)refers tosuch distribution as mediated crction, stressing that
it ; h q s involves ;ln agent working with or through cultural tools (or more
likely a complex of cu1tur;ll tools).
111 what follows I examine two transcripts of activity at;I particular exhibit
i n St. I.ouis Science Center,"a large,urban, midwestern science md tech-
nology museum,to illustratehow the twotypes of distributionVygotshy out-
lined shape the active meaning-:-m;tkitlg
visitors can do with this particular
cleployed.
they say what they say).

50. object atxi what that ~neans
for tmderstanding the museum as a unique learn-
ing setting ;md the nature of museum education. Both trmscripts are from
videotaped intemctions ;it The G‘recitGmrJityRuce exhibit,an inclineclpl;~ne.
The plane consists of two “tracks” down
which two wheels roll. Each wheel
has three weights that can be moved to any of three positions lrom close to
the centerof the wheel to close to the outer edge of the wheel.Adjusting the
weights speeds up or slows down the movement of the wheels down the
ramp.Specifically,if all three weights are placed closest to the centeraxle of
the wheel, it will move fastest down the r n m p , whereas if all three weights
are placed closest to the outcr
edge of the wheel,it will movemore slowly.A
1;lbel near the cxhibit exp1;lins that visitors should adjust the weights on the
wheels,let them roll down ther a m p , ask questions about their observations,
and makepredictions i n order to think like ;
I scientist.
6
7
8
9
1 0
1 1
12
13
14
H: brings left wheel to topof rxmp xnd s:lys I’mgonna race ya!
M: adjusts knobs.
W: ;tpproachesfrom t o p of table alter readinglal,el.You can move
these knobs [unintelligible]
helps boy :cdjust knobs.Thcyline up the
wheels with theback of the r a m p .
M: Rclc;~ses
his wheel before 13 rcle;lses his.
W: Wait [unintelligible] let
me showyou how to race. Rolls b o t h
wheels back to 1~1ck
edge o f r a m p . Hold yourwheels, make sure that
both yourwheels are touching the back. This
one. Pointing to left
wheel, pullingit back to startingpoint.Thisone, OK. Moves the knobs;I
little more.Which one do
you thinkwill win?
H: This one.
W: OK
M: Holding both wheels,releases and points with his fingersand arms
outspread (i.e..don’t touch)
W: For heaven’s sake.
B: Let’s trythe middle.’likesthe wheel on the rightsick. opposite him.
W: W takes the wheelfrom the boy to bring it back up to the top.
All
right.
13: I want to try the middle.
W: What do you wantto try?
R: The middle.

51. 24 ROWE
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
W: OK.
€
3
: The middle. ..On your mark, get set,
go.
W: Stops them quickly.Ohwait. We’vegot to start from the middle
YOU [unintelligible].
They reposition wheels
at beginning.
B: Releases wheels.Oh [unintelligible].Walksdown side.Picks up
wheel on the opposite side.
On the outside and middle.
W: Walks to endof ramp to get wheel.
Here I’ll carry mine up.Takes
wheel from R’shands.
B: Let’stry the outside and
the middle.
W: Great,you do it. Fix em. She lets him move both setsof knobs
while she holds the wheels
from rolling.Then she lets
go of both of them
while he finishes
and steps back.Finally she movesback in to the frame
only when he’s
about rt-ady to start, butlets go again andpoints between
them.Can you do them b o t h ?
B: Yeah
W Whichone?
B: Taps his wheel,then releases both ofthem.This one’sgoing side-
ways. Brings them back to topand startsthem over.Cool. I know
which one[unintelligible].
G2: Walks up and B leaves.
I’d like to make three points using this transcript. First, asmentioned ear-
lier,each person’s actions and utterances “makesense”from an analytical
per-
spective only in relation to the otherpeople’s actions and utterances. Their
meaningcomes from being situated in the group context.Each utterance is si-
multaneously a response to a prior one and anticipating a further response.
This is mostself-evidentin the questions and answers (lines 5 & 6,13& 14,21
& 22, for instance).But the woman’sutterance in line 3,“Youcan move these
knobs,”is a response to her reading of the exhibit label-which suggestsad-
justing the knobs and observing the differences they make.She thus brings
the information from the label (about the preferred way to use the exhibit)
into the activitywithout directlyquoting the 1abel.The boy’s
statement,“Let’s
try the middle,” in
line 1 0 responds positively to thewoman’ssuggested way
of doing the activity(movingknobs and trying the race again) andanticipates
her response to thefirst trial(that they should try a different configurationof
weights).No utterance can be separated from this chain of responses and still
make sense nor suggestalone what kinds of learningare goingon in the inter-
action.
My second point is that B andW doan incredible amount of work to coor-
dinate their activity,including negotiatingwho has authority over what parts
of the activity.WithoutchallengingB’sframingof the activity asa race,Wtakes
authority for the structure of the activity in several ways. First,
she positions
herself as the expert who
knows not only that one“canmove the knobs”(1ine
3) but a1so“howto race”(1ines5 and 17).Sheinsistson the correct procedure,
includingkeeping the same wlleels-taking“her”wheel from the boy twice.

52. 2. THE R O L E O F OBJECTS 25
The boy works with her, answering the questions she asks, making predic-
tions about whatwill happen,and following the rules of the game-how to
race. Although she positions herself as the expert,W also works to transfer
some authority for the activity to B as it progresses,going as far as stepping
away fromthe table in line21to allow himcontrol over moving the knobs on
both wheelsand running the race“correctly.”But
throughout the episode,the
activity is
distributed among first B, M,andW,then B andW,who must workto
coordinate their
activity froma shared understanding of what is goingon and
how to proceed.
B andW drawon at leasttwo different “waysof knowing”to structure the
interaction,both of which are supportedby the museum and exhibit.The
first
is revealed in line 1: B interprets the activity as play, a race or competition.
This isa very common response to this particular exhibit,and one which
the
name,The Greut Gravity Ruce, suggests,although in this case B had not read
the label.The secondis revealedin the structureof the conversation in lines
5-7.W and B engage in a type of speech pattern very common to American
classrooms:Initiation, Response, Evaluation (IRE). W initiates a question,
“Which one doyou think will win?” to which
B responds,“Thisone.”But W
goes on to evaluate B’s response,“Ok.”By invoking this speech pattern com-
mon to classrooms,W shapes the activity as not“just play,”but educative in
some sense.
Such a reading of the utterance is consistent with herearly taking
of authority and gradualdelegation of authority to B,anothercommon feature
of educative or learning interactions between experts andnovices.The race
thus becomes a type of “guided participation”
(Rogoff, 1990) aimed toward
the boy’s mastery of acceptable practices for interacting with museum ob-
jects.The situation is redefined in this sense as a teaching or learning oppor-
tunity that has (at least implicitly) the gwalof reproducing social practices.
The exhibit encourages both B’s ways
of knowing (play)andW’smore formal
transfer of abilityto do the
task correctly,
but it does notlimit their activityto
one or the
other.
Transcript 2
Two young boys(B1 & B2) approach fromthe end of the
ramp.
1 B1: Fakesthe wheel onthe right hand side of theramp t o the top whileB2
2 H 2: Go!Theybothreleasetheir wheels.
3 B1: Whoa!
5 B1: Ohyeah Both boys follow their wheels downthe sides of theramp.
6 B2: Oh
yeah
7 R1: Ohyeah1
takes the left. They
carefully linethe wheels up at the top
4 n2: Gogo
Adultmale (M) approaches from the end of the ramp, walks to the top, and
stands to the side watchingB1 and B2.

53. 26 KOWE
x
9
I O
132: Taking the wheel from the right side
of the r;ump.Thistime I get that
one.
HI: Yes. I want the faster one.
Picks up opposite wheel,hut brings it t o
the right sideat the top.
02: Also trying to put his wheel
in the right side
of the r;mpMove,move
D.
H i : Takes his wheel to theleft side.I get this other one
H2: G
o
!You pushed yours
HZ: reaches over and stops 131’swheel. They both follow ;klongbeside
131: You
H2: You pushedyours! ah yeah! Ithe r;lmp
B1: You cheated
1
31: You pushed yours
Taking wheels back to topof rmq~
follows it clown the ~ 1 1 1 1 p
B1 starts his
wheel at s;~me
time. Follows it,about ‘/3
o f the way down,pushes it. About half-
way down. he picks his wheel up and
carries it to the end, arriving therehe-
fore B2.
IC) 131: Go, yeah.
20 B2: Oh
yeah.
you cheated J
2 1 131: Both boys carry wheels back to the top. Let’sset themup and let
22 132: Ok.’I’heypositionwheels. G
o
.
The wheels stay in pl;lcc not moving (hec;ulse the weights are not evenly dis-
tributecl). Theyeach give their wheels small pushes,but only until they stxt to
roll.
2.) B2: you had me
24 131: Iknow.
them go
IThey both h
o
l
d their hands
up away from the wheels,fol-
25 B2: oh mygod.Mine’s taking the lead lowingalongthe ramp.
2 6 H i : They were tied!
They bring the wheels back to the top.M steps up to the ramp and addresses
HI.
27
28
29
M: D. you’re supposed to move these, touches the weights on 131‘s
wheel,to see, to
see if they go faster,slower,what
H2: Cool. How do you getthem out
of here?
M: I don’t know. Let’ssee.I.eans over H 1’s wheel ;tncl nxmipuhtes the
weights
B1: Oh,you pull em apart
132: Ok D. let’s go.
I.ets his wheel roll.
131: I can’t get it.
M: Which one?starting to move wheeland adjust weights.
B1: I want thisone out there.
H2: Mine goes slower

54. 27
36 H I : Watching H2’swheel. but holding on tohis.Goesa lot slower
37 132: Nods his head as he drags wheel to the top
of the r ; m p .
38 M: Does yours go slower or faster,D. B1 releases his wheel.
30 B2: Slower
40 131: Faster
4 1 B2: Slower.Pulling the weights on his whecl to the outside. Accidentally
42 131: No
43 M: It goes slower in themiddle in themiddle, duhn’t it.
44 B2: D.
45 M: If you pull em all to theoutside [unintelligible]
46 H2: Struggling to pull his wheel out of the rails.Dad, mine won’t come
47 M: Steps in to p u l l B2’swheel out of the rails.
48 131: Moves his wheel back up to the topof the ramp.
40 M: Extracts H2’swheel.
50 B1: Dad, I want allmine to the outside.
51 B2: has his wheel in place. Here, let’sgo, ready?
52 I31 : Moving his weights,I want mine. There. AU mine are in[unintel-
53 M: Here,lcans over Bl‘s wheel and ;ldjusts one of the weights.This one
54 H 1: To 8 2 ,Are allyours on the outside?
55 H2: Mine are all on the outside. Go!
57 H2: Hurry
58 HI : Pushes his about Ik4 of the way down
59 M: They go faster with more of them on the outside, huh?
60 H2: Yeah.
61 Bl: [unintclligible] Brings wheel back to the top of the r a m p .
62 132: Brings his wheel back to the top, but removes it from the ramp and
holds it up. Mine looks like this. One o f the weights is closer to the
inside.
jams wheel diagonally in theramp’smils.
out.
ligible]
needs to go to the outside.
56 H I : Go, go,go
6 3 M: Moves the weight to the outside.Now you’reall set.
64 132: Puttingwheelbackon ramp. Go. Theybothfollowalong. It looks
65 HI: Thatwas my side.
66 H2: in an exaggcratetl way.That was my side.
like
As in the first transcript,€31and €32begin by racing. Theydo not read the
label.The race itselfcasts the activityas a shared one. One person can do the
exhibit alone.Hut its a shared activity,the race isdifferent.At least inthe be-
ginning of the transcript,the boys certainlysee it ;isa competition rather than
a “learningopportunity.”They urge “their” wheels on
(lines 4, 5,6, 19-and
later in 56-57). They make exclamations about “their”wheels’perform;lnce
(lines 7, 19,20, 23, 25-26), they ;ICCLIS~
each otherof cheating (lines 12-17,

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57. The following test may also be used: Focus on printed matter at a
distance just beyond that at which perfect clearness is given and
gradually approach until the letters are distinctly defined. The
instrument with which the print can be read at the greatest distance
has the best definition.
To express definition as an absolute measure, use instead of
printed matter, a white sheet of paper upon which a series of heavy
lines are drawn at intervals equivalent to their thickness. Focus upon
this and gradually approach from a point where the impression of a
uniform gray field ceases and the black lines and white intervals
begin to appear distinct and defined.
Let the distance thus found be 20 yards and the thickness of the
lines and intervals between them one-tenth inch. The circumference
of a circle with a radius of 20 yards or 7,200 tenths inches is 14,400
by 3.1416 or 45,240 tenth inches; but a circumference equals 360°
or (360 by 60 by 60) 1,296,000′′.
If, therefore, 45,240 tenths inches correspond to 1,296,000′′,
then 1 tenth inch equals 1,296,000 divided by 45,240, or 28.6′′. The
definition is therefore 28.6′′, or practically half a minute.
The capabilities of glasses, including telescopes, in a general way,
lie between the following limits:
(1) Power between 2 and 1,000.
(2) Light may be 0.01 to 200 times that of the unaided eye.
(3) Field measures in most favorable case, 10°; in the most
unfavorable, .01°.
(4) Definition varies between 40′′ and 0.1′′.
Thus, as a maximum, an object may be seen by means of a
telescope, magnified 1,000 times, 200 times brighter and 400 times
sharper than with the naked eye.
If these advantages could be fully utilized for military purposes
the use of glasses would be extraordinary, a power of 1,000

58. practically effecting the same purpose as the approach of the
observed object to one-thousandth of the distance. A hostile
command 10 miles distant could be seen theoretically as well as if
they were only 53 feet away, and the slightest movement of each
single man would become visible. Of course no such wonderful
effect is physically practicable, and the limiting conditions increase
greatly in proportion as either one or the other of the qualities,
power, field, etc., is especially sought.
While astronomers require only that the telescope be made as
capable and perfect as possible in an optical point of view, making
all other conditions subordinate to this one, the military, to whom
the glass is simply an accessory, make other conditions of the first
importance. The glass must have suitable form, small volume, little
weight, and that it may be used without support, mounted or
dismounted, and the image must appear as looked at by the naked
eye—that is, not inverted.
The capability of the instrument, however, is thereby much
limited; great powers give plain images only with relatively long
tubes; glasses must be held the steadier the more they magnify; and
with increasing power all vibrations become more troublesome and
render minute observations very difficult or impossible. The
additional lenses in terrestrial telescopes somewhat decrease power
and affect also light and definition. It is clear therefore that
expectations of achieving great power should not be entertained, the
function of field glasses being to bring out and define objects which
to the naked eye appear indistinct and doubtful.
The distinctness with which anything can be seen through the
telescope depends, primarily, upon the number of straight lines of
light which are collected by it from every point of the object.
Telescopes, the object glasses being equal in size, diminish light
as a general rule in proportion as their magnifying power is great.
The most powerful glasses are therefore to be used for minute
observations on the clearest days or when there is a strong light
upon the observed object. When the light is fading or there is a little

59. light upon the observed object the clearer view will be had with
glasses of large field and low magnifying power.
FIELD GLASSES AND TELESCOPES ISSUED BY
THE SIGNAL CORPS.
The Signal Corps issues four standard field glasses, viz, Type A,
Type B, Type C, Type D.
Field glasses issued by the Signal Corps are not supplied for the
personal use of an officer and will not be used in lieu of the officer's
personal field glass prescribed by paragraph 97, General Orders,
169, War Department, 1907 (Par. 1, G. O. 16, War Dept., 1910).
Under paragraph 1582, Army Regulations, as amended by
paragraph I, General Orders, No. 207, War Department, October 16,
1909, the Signal Corps will sell field glasses to officers of the army
for their personal use.
Application for the purchase of field glasses should be addressed
to the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, Washington, D. C., inclosing
post-office money order or check on the Treasurer or Assistant
Treasurer of the United States for the amount, payable to the
Disbursing Officer, Signal Corps, and Signal Corps Form No. 240
accomplished in duplicate.
The Government does not pay transportation charges for the
shipment of articles sold to officers. Field glasses are sent from the
Signal Corps General Supply Depot, Fort Wood, New York Harbor, by
express, charges collect, unless purchase request is accompanied by
funds so that field glasses may be sent by registered mail.
Forwarding by registered mail is somewhat cheaper than by express,
and the amount of postage required is 40 cents for Type D glass, 46
cents for Types A and B, and 74 cents for Type C. Express charges
depend upon the distance from New York.
The Signal Corps has purchased many samples of field glasses
from various manufacturers with a view of testing their suitability for

60. the military service. These samples may be examined by officers of
the army at the signal office in Washington. Among these samples
there are many excellent glasses especially suitable for the military
service, but the higher grades are too expensive for general issue to
line organizations in large quantities. Officers desiring an especially
fine field glass should inspect the samples referred to; these,
however, are not for sale by the Government, but information will be
supplied concerning dealers and cost.
No advice or fixed rule can be stated as to what constitutes the
most suitable characteristics of a field glass. No single field glass can
furnish maximum results under all conditions on account of varying
conditions of the atmosphere.
A high-power glass is unsuitable for use at night, hazy
atmosphere, or for use of a mounted man where the glass can not
be rested against a firm support. A low-power glass with large object
lens to permit as much light as possible is a necessary condition for
use at night. The double power glass which is issued as a part of the
visual signaling outfits was designed for the military service as a
compromise for conflicting conditions.
A brief description of the field glasses issued by the Signal Corps,
together with the cost of the same, is given below.
Type A:
This glass is the current result of the efforts of the Signal Corps to
provide a field glass that will meet the greatest variety of conditions,
and insure efficient service to the greatest number of military
observers. It is really two glasses in one—a day glass of medium
power, and a night glass of low power.

61. Fig. 31.—Type A. Showing the field glass and case with sling
cord, shoulder straps, belt loops, and compass
It is to be clearly understood that while this glass is considered
superior for moderate ranges, it does not replace, under special
conditions, for long ranges, either the porro prism glass or the
telescope.
When held as shown in figure 32 with the tubes drawn out about
1 inch to secure proper focus, the glass has a power of about 5.6
diameters, and a field of about 5.4 degrees.

62. Fig. 32—Signal Corps field glass, Type A.
If the glass is turned into the position shown in figure 33, the
small plus lenses, just in front of the eye pieces, drop automatically
into position and reduce the power to 3.8 diameters, and increase
the field to 8.3 degrees. This position requires a different
adjustment, the tubes being drawn out about one-third of an inch to
get the proper focus. It will be observed in the illustrations that the
rear bar of the frame is not only lettered to indicate which power is
being used, but the bar itself is shaped with a hump on one side,
and hollowed on the other. When the hump is up, the low power is
in use. This is to facilitate adjustment in the dark.
The action of the small automatic lenses is free and positive.
Neither the eyepieces nor the sections containing the small lenses
should be unscrewed, except in case of necessity, and then not by
unskilled hands.

63. Fig. 33.—Signal Corps field glass, Type A.
The frame, of aluminum and brass, is composite, to give lightness
and strength; and while it is constructed to withstand the rough
handling of field service, no field glass is proof against careless or
wanton treatment. The tubes are covered with tan leather, and a
round sling cord, braided from four strands of pliable tan leather, is
fastened by snaps to eyes in the frame.
The case is of tan calfskin, provided with shoulder strap, and has
an efficient small compass set into the cover. Two loops are sewed to
the back of the case so that it may be worn on a belt.
The glass, complete with case, cord, and straps, weighs 21.5
ounces.
Two of these glasses are issued to each company of infantry and
coast artillery, Philippine Scouts, and Signal Corps, and to each troop
of cavalry for use in instruction in visual signaling. Below is a brief
description of the type A glass.
Magnification, 3½ and 5½ diameters; Galilean type; object lens,
1½ inches; tan leather finish; tan leather carrying case with
compass; weight of glass, complete, with case, cord, and strap, 25

64. ounces. At a distance of 1,000 yards the field of view includes a
diameter of 123 yards for the 3½ power, and 73 yards for the 5½
power. Length of glass closed, 4 inches. This glass is issued as a part
of the visual signaling kit to each company of infantry, coast artillery,
and Philippine Scouts, troop of cavalry, machine-gun platoon, and
Signal Corps field company. Price, $12.15.
The latest issue of this glass known as the Type A, model 1910,
includes provision for interpupillary adjustment, the two barrels
being hinged to accommodate the glass to the distance between the
pupils of the eye. The price of the model 1910 glass is $14.75.
Type B:
This field glass is similar in appearance and construction to the
Type A glass, and is issued to the field artillery organizations upon
requisition. The following is a brief description:
Magnification, 4½ and 6½ diameters; Galilean type; object lens,
1¾ inches; interpupillary adjustment; tan leather finish; tan leather
carrying case with compass; weight of glass, complete, with case,
cord, and straps, 26 ounces; length of glass closed, 4½ inches. At a
distance of 1,000 yards the field of view includes a diameter of 90
yards for the 4½ power, and 60 yards for the 6½ power. This glass
is issued as a part of the fire-control equipment to field artillery.
Price, $17.50.
Type C:
The type C is a high power glass of the porro prism type and is
issued only to certain organizations of the field artillery, Signal Corps,
and to all machine-gun platoons.
Description.—Magnification, 10 diameters; prismatic type; object
lens, 1¾ inches; interpupillary adjustment; tan leather finish;
sunshade; tan leather carrying case; weight of glass, complete, with
case, cord, and straps, 46 ounces; length of glass closed, 7¾
inches. At a distance of 1,000 yards the field of view includes a
diameter of 80 yards. This glass is issued to reconnaissance officers
of field artillery. Price, $39.90.

65. Type D: Purchase has been made for delivery in the near future of
a supply of a new type of high power prismatic field glass for sale
and issue. This new type of glass, to be known as type D, is
considerably smaller than the type C glass, as is shown by figure 34.
The glass in a tan-colored carrying case weighs 15 ounces, the field
glass without the case weighing but 9 ounces. The magnification is 8
powers and the field of view (with both eyes) 5° 40′. The estimated
cost will be $27.
TELESCOPES ISSUED BY THE SIGNAL CORPS.
Type A: This glass complete consists of a 2-inch prism terrestrial
telescope, powers 18 and 24, with alt-azimuth, folding tripod, and
carrying case.
Type B: This telescope is a 19-27 power, 2-draw terrestrial
telescope, in leather carrying case with sling. The leather carrying
case also includes a holder which can be screwed into a tree, post,
or other stationary wooden object.
GENERAL SPECIFICATION NO. 263.
[Revised February 10, 1910.]
SERVICE FIELD GLASSES.
1. Preliminary.—This specification covers the design and
construction of field glasses, types A and B, each having two powers
as hereinafter specified.
2. Sample.—The bidder shall furnish with his proposal a sample of
the glass which he will supply, and award will be made after
comparison of the samples with models on file in the office of the
Chief Signal Officer. The maker will be allowed to examine the model
glasses in detail in the office of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army,
Washington, D. C.

66. 3. Inspection and test.—When the order under this specification is
complete, the contractor will notify the Chief Signal Officer of the
Army, who will cause an inspection to be made. It shall be the duty
of the contractor to remedy any defects pointed out by the inspector,
and the contractor will be held accountable for any imperfections
which the inspector may have overlooked.
Fig. 34.—Field glasses, Types C and D.
The Chief Signal Officer of the Army reserves the right to inspect
any or all processes of manufacture, and unsatisfactory material will
be marked for rejection by the inspector before, during, or after
assembly, as occasion may arise.
Each glass will be tested for power, field, definition, and light. Any
glass which is not the equal of the sample and model in all respects
will be rejected. The properties above enumerated will be tested as
follows:
(a) Power: In testing for power the glass will be placed upon a
firm support about the height of the eye and directed upon a range
rod, accurately divided into divisions of 1 foot, with alternate

67. divisions colored red and white, respectively. The rod should be
placed approximately 100 feet from the glass in a good light and
with strongly contrasted background.
The rod is observed through the glass with one eye and at the
same time with the other eye unaided. An accurate comparison of
the two images by means of the rod scale determines the
magnifying power of the glass.
(b) Field: The field will be determined by the use of a transit or
any other instrument adapted to the measurement of horizontal
angles. The glass will be placed upon the telescope of the transit in
such a way that the axes of collimation of the telescope and field
glass barrels are parallel. The extreme limits of the field of view of
the glass are marked in a convenient way and the horizontal angle of
view accurately measured with the transit.
(c) Definition: In determining the definition of the glass expressed
in units (seconds) a target will be provided with a number of lines
one-tenth inch thick with one-tenth inch spaces between them
drawn on a piece of heavy white paper.
At a certain distance this target will appear uniformly gray when
viewed through the glass.
The inspector will gradually approach the target, focusing the
glass until he reaches the most distant point from the target where
the uniform field ceases and the black and white intervals appear
distinct and defined.
Assume the distance thus found to be 20 yards and the thickness
of the lines and intervals between them one-tenth inch. The
circumference of a circle with a radius of 20 yards or 7,200 tenths
inches is 14,400 by 3.1416, or 45,240 tenths inches; but a
circumference equals 360°, or (360 by 60 by 60) 1,296,000 seconds.
If, therefore, 45,240 tenths inches correspond to 1,296,000
seconds, then one-tenth inch equals 1,296,000 divided by 45,240, or
28.6 seconds. The definition is therefore 28.6 seconds, or practically
half a minute.

68. The definition should be as follows:
For 6.5 power glass 30 seconds.
For 5.5 power glass 35 seconds.
For 4.5 power glass 40 seconds.
For 3.5 power glass 55 seconds.
(d) Light: The light of a field glass is expressed by a number
which is the ratio of the amount of light which reaches the eye
through the glass to the amount which enters the eye unaided. This
comparison will be reached by means of the absorption apparatus
furnished by the Signal Corps. This apparatus consists of two wedge-
shaped vessels made of brass with glass windows in the sides, and
are filled with a perfectly black liquid. The sky line is first viewed
through the apparatus with the naked eye and the instrument
adjusted to limit of visibility. The reading of the scale is then noted.
The sky line is again observed, using the glass, but in other respects
as before, and a second scale reading obtained. The ratio of these
readings measure the illuminating power of the glass which must
conform to the standard sample.
4. Service field glass, type A.—(a) This glass shall conform in
general to the model, now on file in the office of the Chief Signal
Officer at Washington. The arrangement for changing automatically
from the low power to the high power, and vice versa, by the
interposition of the plus lens at the proper distance in front of the
eyepiece, must be strictly adhered to.
(b) The low power shall be approximately 3½ diameters and the
high power shall be approximately 5½ diameters. The figure of
merit given by multiplying the numbers of diameters power by the
number of degrees of field will be considered in the examination of
samples, along with the other properties of light, sharpness of
definition, and general excellence.
(c) The tubes, frame, and metal fittings shall be of aluminum or
an aluminum alloy, with the exception that such metal parts as in the
opinion of the maker require greater strength may be made of brass.

69. Tubes shall be held firmly in the frame, single draw, the draw
action to be through a bearing surface of at least five-eighths of an
inch of best black felt, perfectly fitted so as to preserve perfect
alignment.
The exterior metal parts, except where leather covered, must be
given the best and most durable, lusterless black finish. The tubes
and shades will be neatly covered with best quality tanned calfskin,
the leather to be sewed on, and the seams to lie flat next to the
focusing standard.
The interior of all parts to be painted a perfectly dead black.
The sunshades, when drawn out, shall project at least five-
eighths of an inch and not over 1 inch beyond the edge of the cell.
The focusing screw and standard should follow closely that of the
sample, except that the milled focusing disk should have a face as
nearly one-half inch wide as possible and the milling should be
sharper.
In addition to the diaphragm upon which the automatic lens is
mounted, there shall be two diaphragms in each tube, so situated
and so proportioned as to cut off all stray light and all internal
reflections.
The crossbar supporting the draw tubes should be shaped and
engraved exactly as found in the model.
(d) The lenses must be entirely free from mechanical defects,
such as specks, air bubbles, etc.; must be free from interior strain,
and must be ground from the best obtainable glass for the purpose,
selected for general transparency, as colorless as possible, perfectly
ground and polished, and accurately centered.
The object lenses shall be composite, achromatic, and well
corrected for spherical aberration, with a clear aperture of at least
1½ inches, and not exceeding 15/8 inches. Bidders will state the
number and shape of the pieces used to make up this lens.

70. The compound lenses may be either cemented together with
Canada balsam, or left uncemented, as the maker may deem best
for durability and optical performance, but if left uncemented the
components shall have a permanent mark to indicate their proper
positions in the cell.
The eyepieces shall consist of a single double concave lens having
a clear aperture of not less than three-eighths of an inch and not
more than one-half of an inch.
(e) The sling cord attached to eyes in the frame by means of
brass snaps with black burned finish shall be round and braided from
four strands of pliable tan leather, and shall have a diameter of at
least one-eighth of an inch and not over one-sixth of an inch.
(f) The case and strap must be exactly like sample, and of No. 1
stock. Care must be taken to put in only compasses that are in
perfect condition. The strap buckle must be of brass. The glass,
when closed, must not exceed 4 inches in length, and the glass,
case, cord, and strap, complete, must not exceed 25 ounces in
weight.
(g) The frame shall be constructed with jointed bars for
interpupillary adjustment.
5. Service field glass, type B.—(a) The requirements of part 4,
service field glass, type A, of this specification, shall be followed in
the design and construction of the type B glass in so far as
applicable.
(b) Power: The lower power shall be approximately 4½ and the
high 6½ diameters.
(c) Object lenses: These shall have a clear aperture of at least
1¾ inches diameter.
(d) Case: Case and carrying strap shall be furnished as required in
part 4 of this specification.
(e) This glass shall be constructed with jointed bars for
interpupillary adjustment.

71. (f) The sunshade, when drawn out, shall project not less than
three-eighths of an inch and not more than 1 inch beyond the edge
of the cell.
6. Marking.—Glasses furnished under this specification shall be
marked on one barrel with the words "Signal Corps, U. S. Army," and
on the other barrel "Serial No. ——." Serial numbers will be
furnished with the order. If not furnished the contractor at the time
the order is placed, the Disbursing Officer of the Signal Corps should
be called upon for same, and the numbers and other marking placed
on the glasses prior to the delivery of the order.
James Allen,
Brigadier-General,
Chief Signal Officer of the Army.
Signal Office,
Electric and Telegraph Division.
Transcriber's Notes:
Page 23, "porportions" changed to "proportions"
(in proper proportions)
Page 106, "engineeer" changed to "engineer" (a
French engineer)
Page 126, opening bracket added to subtitle
([Revised February 10, 1910.])

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