Research On The Development Of Science Education In American Museum Of Natural History(1881-Present)

Since entering the 21 st century,with the continuous development of museum construction,in recent years,as important educational resource,museums have been paid more and more attention and recognized,especially in the field of science education.How to use museums more accurately and effectively to develop science education and give full play to the unique role of museums in training scientific talents and improving national scientific literacy has become an important research topic and realistic proposition.The development of science education in museums can not be separated from learning from foreign advanced experience and learning from foreign museum education,especially the outstanding achievements in science education in museums.Museum education in the United States developed earlier.At the end of the 19 th century,the role image of museums as educational institutions was generally recognized.Especially in the middle of the 20 th century,American museum education developed rapidly and accumulated many successful experiences.The educational development of the American Museum of Natural History is a typical example of the development of museum education in the United States.The museum was founded in 1869 and has a history of more than 100 years.Around its natural science education resources,many different forms of science education activities have been carried out so far,which is of great significance to the overall development of science education in the United States.Starting from the historical context of the science education activities carried out by the American Museum of Natural History,combing and analyzing the specific process of its development,the background reasons of its development,and understanding its development logic and successful process are conducive to summarizing its successful experience and providing reference for my country to explore the science education function of museums and its realization.This paper focuses on the research scope from 1881 til now,and the main contents include the following five parts:Part Ⅰ: By combing the establishment of the Department of Public Education of the American Museum of Natural History,the early popular science exhibitions and children’s lectures,and the collection of science education resources,it shows the development of science education in the American Museum of Natural History from1881 to 1905.During this period,the development of science education in American Museum of Natural History has just started.Although there is no remarkable achievement,it has also found a basic direction for the follow-up development of science education in museums and accumulated some experience.Part Ⅱ: By combing the construction and development process of the main educational organizations such as the Hayden Planetarium,Library and School Service Building in the American Museum of Natural History,this paper combs the series of science education activities such as science lectures and science courses carried out by museums and the lending service of science education resources carried out by museums,and shows the development of science education in American Museum of Natural History from 1906 to 1997.During this period,in a series of rich and varied active attempts,the good development of science education has been realized by connecting the past with the future,gradually,it has formed a development model that relies on the educational organization in the museum,carries out educational activities such as science lectures and science courses,and borrows science education images and real resources as the basic content,which has created relatively stable basic conditions for the long-term development of science education in the American Museum of Natural History.Part Ⅲ: By combing the formation and development of the "Seminars on Science" project,"the Teacher Renewal for Urban Science Teaching project","Urban Advantage" project and the National Center for Science Literacy,Education,and Technology construction plan carried out by the American Museum of Natural History and related institutions of surgery education and culture,this paper shows the development of science education in American Museum of Natural History from 1998 to 2005.During this period,on the basis of the previous development,the American Museum of Natural History actively cooperated with each other and extended and developed some far-reaching educational cooperation projects,which reflected the diversity and innovation of the development mode of museum science education.Part Ⅳ: By combing the process and influence of the construction of the Richard Gilder Graduate School and the implementation of the Master of Arts in Teaching with a Specialization in Teaching Earth and Space Science in the American Museum of Natural History,it shows the development of science education in the American Museum of Natural History from 2006 to now.During this period,the American Museum of Natural History gathered more academic professional and standardized educational development achievements,showing a new trend of museum science education development.Part Ⅴ: On the basis of summarizing the research situation of the previous four parts,it presents and explains three empirical understandings summarized from the research,including: the optimization and integration of science education resources runs through the development process of museum science education;outreach cooperation is an important way for the development of museum science education;building a digital education platform is an important way for the development of museum science education.