Learning at the Interface Conference

How can museums and universities work together purposefully to enhance the learning of higher education students?

July 2010

The conference aimed to provide a forum for debate of issues and ideas that were relevant to the museum and higher education sectors. It brought together policy makers, curators, educators, academics, students and leading professionals from the educational, creative and cultural sectors. Minister for Culture and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey and Roy Clare CEO of the Museums Libraries and Archives Council where amongst our keynote speakers.

Papers

We were delighted by the international response to our call for papers, the interest in the subject and the issues raised.  Papers presented on day one responded to the themes below, and offered a critical perspective of museum and HE policy and practice and make recommendations for future practice.

We also received significantly more case studies than we had envisaged and therefore decided to share and discuss some of these and our collective experiences and what to do next during a networking event on day two.

Themes

• Museums and university partnerships - opportunities and barriers
• The role of museums in supporting HE student learning
• The educational philosophies and theories that underpin learning and research in museums and HE