Educational mechanisms of dioramas

TY - CHAP

T1 - Educational mechanisms of dioramas

AU - May, Michael

AU - Achiam, Marianne

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - The diorama remains one of the most popular exhibit types in museums, and it has proven its educational potential time and time again. In spite of this, the specific mechanisms behind that educational potential remain unclear. In other words, museum practitioners and museum researchers know that dioramas work, we just don’t know how they work. In the following, we use visual perception theory as well as cognitive linguistics to explain the perceptual and meaning-making mechanisms that give dioramas their unique potential. Specifically, we construct a framework to understand how museum visitors can ‘translate’ the visual scene from what is essentially a collection of specimens in a box into a meaningful experience.

AB - The diorama remains one of the most popular exhibit types in museums, and it has proven its educational potential time and time again. In spite of this, the specific mechanisms behind that educational potential remain unclear. In other words, museum practitioners and museum researchers know that dioramas work, we just don’t know how they work. In the following, we use visual perception theory as well as cognitive linguistics to explain the perceptual and meaning-making mechanisms that give dioramas their unique potential. Specifically, we construct a framework to understand how museum visitors can ‘translate’ the visual scene from what is essentially a collection of specimens in a box into a meaningful experience.

KW - Faculty of Science

KW - diorama

KW - museum

KW - education

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-00175-9

DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-00175-9

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 978-3-030-00174-2

SP - 113

EP - 122

BT - Natural History Dioramas – Traditional Exhibits for Current Educational Themes

A2 - Scheersoi, Annette

A2 - Tunnicliffe, Sue Dale

PB - Springer

ER -