Assistant Professor Lynne Zummo receives Faculty Small Grant Program award to transform museum learning at NHMU

Lynne Zummo, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology and Curator of Learning Sciences at the Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU), has been awarded a Faculty Small Grant Program (FSGP) award from the VPR Office for her project, “Scaffolding Data Practices for Museum Learning: Deepening Experiences with Data, Evidence, and the Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry.”

This exciting project brings together learning scientists, exhibit developers, and paleontologists to explore a big question: how can exhibits help visitors engage with real scientific data without losing the joy that makes museums special and experiential? Through design-based research, the team developed and tested three exhibit prototypes, studying how different levels of scaffolding structured guidance helps learners interpret information and how that affects visitor engagement at the NHMU.

“A major question in museum practice and, specifically, exhibit development, is around scaffolding,” Zummo explains. “While it is generally accepted that scaffolding is an important aspect of museum experiences, what remains unclear is how much scaffolding is necessary for learners to derive a learning benefit without sacrificing the fun and joyful exploration inherent to museums.”

The Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry exhibit was the perfect setting for this research. Since NHMU was already planning revisions, the team saw an opportunity to investigate how visitors interact with scientific data in a real-world exhibit.

“Knowing from pilot data that visitors tend to engage in data-based practices only in limited ways at the exhibit, the team wondered about what degree and type of scaffolding might promote deeper engagement,” she says. “So, we partnered up and submitted a grant proposal!”

Professor Zummo hopes this research will make an impact beyond NHMU.

“I hope that museum practitioners can apply findings from this study to the design of many different types of exhibits so that exhibits can better engage learners in meaningful, data-based science practices,” she says. “I also hope that findings from this study provide insight about what types of scaffolds can promote learning in museum settings while still fostering the fun, joyful experiences museums are known for!”

She also expressed gratitude to the NHMU Exhibits and Paleontology teams for their support. “Together, they developed the Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry exhibit years ago, and it remains a highly engaging, favorite exhibit of visitors. Together, we can now take it a step further with this research study.”

Zummo expands on the grant’s future impact: “I am grateful that the award offers an opportunity to collaborate with the NHMU Exhibits Team, who are an amazing group of museum professionals, and that it will support a Ph.D. student in Learning & Cognition,” she says. “Professionally, I’m eager to see where this research goes and how it can contribute to the wider field.”

Zummo’s continues to bring a fresh, interactive approach to science learning in museums.

Congratulations, Professor Zummo!