Towards a climate of hope: learning in response to frames at an innovative museum exhibit

Abstract

As trusted public institutions, museums could offer crucial opportunities for climate learning. Yet, empirical research on effective approaches is limited. One potential pathway is through strategic framing, given that much research in climate communication suggests the value of specific frames. We developed an innovative climate exhibit, A Climate of Hope (ACOH), guided by five strategic frames: hope, gain, local, community, and playful. To investigate visitor learning at a prototype of ACOH, we collected data from 31 groups as they interacted with a prototype of ACOH while wearing audio recorders. Integrating theories of knowledge and discourse, we investigated learners’ use of resources at ACOH through qualitative discourse analysis and mixed-methods analysis. We found that learners brought a diverse array of resources, some of which were related to incoming views of climate change. We interpret our results as speaking to the potential of framing climate messages through a gain frame. We provide implications for educational practice around climate change in informal spaces.

Keywords:

• climate change
• climate education
• museums

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS:

• SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities

Disclosure statement

This study was granted exemption by the University of Utah Institutional Review Board (IRB) for research involving human participants under IRB_00151735. This exemption included a waiver of documented consent.

All authors contributed to the work described in this manuscript. L. Zummo led the conceptualization of the study, data analysis, and manuscript writing. C. Schultz contributed to data collection, analysis, and interpretation. B. Janney contributed to analysis. C. Clifford, C. Davis, and L. Thompson led the conceptualization and development of the exhibit studied and supported data collection.

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to doing so not requested in the original IRB exemption.