The Museum as a Learning and Teaching Resource in High School Teaching

Abstract

Higher education, compliant with the new trends, expects students to have a more active and individual engagement in the learning process. Collaborative learning, research-based teaching and learning, and constructive approach are being promoted. Students are expected to demonstrate critical thinking, creativity, and resourcefulness to be qualified for the labor market as well as lifelong learning. The education process at higher education institutions is enriched with collaborations with important institutions that serve as a teaching base aiming to create diverse learning and teaching opportunities. This paper aims to investigate students' opinions about using resources of the University of Sarajevo's teaching base – a museum. Students are asked about the museum as a learning place, their experiences when visiting a museum, and the reasons and frequency of their museum visits. The question is if the students visit museums to explore certain topics for assignments during their studies and how they perceive such forms of learning. 65 students of the University of Sarajevo participated in the research. The results point to the importance of generating a new audience for museums, maintaining the existing one by creating stimulating activities, and designing such a teaching process that would prompt students to return to, explore and learn in museums.

Keywords

• constructivist approach
• museum
• audience
• learning
• higher education