What is the role of school visits to museums in the learning of sciences? One review of the researches

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the present debate about the educational role that visits to science museums have for the understanding of sciences at school. We place this debate in the research line of science teaching in informal settings, and we enclose it in the proposal of Science/Technology/Society/Environment and Nature of Science. We will start this review with a brief comment on the different types of science museums; then, we will analyse the research conducted so far in interactive science museums, which are the most numerous nowadays, both in Spain and abroad, with special attention to the learning of sciences in out-of-school contexts, different ways of learning, the analysis of these visits to museums, and different proposals for improving this learning. Finally, we will comment on the educational implications of these results in the teaching of sciences.