The museum experience from the perspective of the Contextual Model of Learning: an understanding from the long-term memories of the visitors

Abstract

This paper presents a case study that analyses the memories of a group of people that participated in an experience carried out in the museum space, after four years have elapsed. The aim of the research was to understand how the recovery of the visitants’ long-term memories, analysed from the perspective of the Contextual Model of Learning (CML), may contribute to the understanding of learning in museums. The recovery of memories was made by resorting to semi-structured interviews conducted (and audio-recorded) with seven students of Primary and Secondary Schools (14 to 16 years old), who had participated in 2009 in an experience in a science museum. Data were analysed by using a Discursive Textual Analysis methodology. We focused on elements related to the personal, physical and socio-cultural contexts of the CML, which emerged from the long-term memories of the subjects. Results point to the presence of eight key factors of the model, which highlight the complexity and richness of the museum experience. The insight into these key factors of the CML, as well as into the relationships between them, enables the qualification of the organization and the analysis of the learning occurring in non-formal education settings.