Learning from university museums and collections in higher education: University College London (UCL)

Abstract

Object-based learning (OBL), drawing on the rich resources of university museums and collections, offers a way of leaping lightly over knowledge hurdles. At UCL, over 100 course units include OBL, translating into 2,500 instances of students working with the museum collections each year. Learners in higher education (HE) can be confronted with difficult topics which become obstacles to understanding, slowing down their learning. These obstacles often take the form of new concepts which may initially appear counter-intuitive. Misconceptions sometimes have to be unlearnt before such challenging areas can be negotiated. Active student engagement with museum artifacts can facilitate such processes.