PLANNING A SCHOOL VISIT

All school visits must be booked .
By booking, you get access to the latest information and educational materials. Booking also prevents congestion in galleries and helps ensure the best learning outcomes and student supervision.

Telephone bookings on 8207 7429
Fax booking requests to 8207 7430
Email booking requests to the Education Service

Note that bookings will be confirmed by fax.
If you do not receive confirmation within three days, please give us a ring.

Planning your Museum excursion

We try to ensure that all classes get adequate time and space, but teacher cooperation is essential. Book early and be considerate of other classes.

What are the educational benefits of visiting museums?

One of the most fundamental types of thinking involves the manipulation of concrete objects. It is much easier to grasp ideas when using real items than when dealing with abstractions: a piece of petrified wood or a visual comparison of two orders of mammals is easier to relate to than explanations in books.

Learning will often take place more readily when the learner is using the real thing rather than reading about it. Even students with advanced reasoning powers tend to revert to more concrete levels of thinking when confronted with new concepts for the first time.

This is where the South Australian Museum fits in. As a place where the real thing is collected and displayed, it enables students to interact with objects and thus increase their understanding of a wide range of topics. It is a place where students can use their knowledge to solve problems involving actual artefacts - where they can deduce facts from genuine evidence.

Of course these cognitive points are not the only reasons for using the Museum. The excitement and interest aroused by many of the items on display can make your job much easier simply by enthusing the students.

First Things First

The first thing to decide is, what area of your course will benefit most from a visit to a Museum? The South Australian Museum specialises in Anthropology (Aboriginal, Ancient Egyptian and Melanesian) and Natural History (Animals and Minerals). These areas offer strongest support for Art, Science, Society and Environment, History, Religious Studies and language teachers, although many other have found the Museum useful for their purposes.

Cost and time constraints often dictate that multiple visits are not possible (though often they are desirable).

A call to the South Australian Museum Education Service is generally a good idea at this stage. The staff will be able to tell you what alternatives are available for your year level and direct resource materials your way. If you call in person you will also get a chance to see the displays for yourself. Displays are altered and replaced at intervals, so don't rely on past experience.

This is also the time to decide on the timing of your class visit. A trip to the South Australian Museum can be used to introduce a topic, illustrate points during a course, or to revise a topic. Generally the choice of timing is up to you, but as a rule it is best to introduce at least some basic information to enable students to understand what they are looking at. The responses of students ("that's the one we saw in the book!") can serve as both evaluation of understanding and as springboards for further exploration of the subject.

A visit at the end of the year is an excellent way to structure revision of work that was done at the beginning of the year.

Once a time has been decided upon, ensure that you book as early as possible, otherwise the planning may be in vain.

Preparing the Class

Students will only learn effectively if they have a framework on which to hang new information. It is important that this framework is in place before the students visit. Thus, if you decide to use your visit as an introduction to a subject, you must ensure that the student's general knowledge will enable them to interpret what they see. Learning will always take place when a student visits a Museum, it is up to the teacher to prepare the ground so that a large proportion of the learning is in the area desired.

Avoid a detailed explanation of the items the class will see at the Museum. An atmosphere of discovery is part of an effective learning environment. Give students a general background and let them fit the specific item into it. This may involve setting research projects or formal teaching.

In any case, it is important that the students have a clear idea of your expectations for the trip. Tell them what kind of information you expect them to collect and how. Give them an aim by explaining what they will be doing with the information when they return to school (report, talk, test, or whatever).

Supervision (From the DECS Policy document 3.3.2 Supervision options)

Types of supervision

Direct: Participating teachers are at the activity location, supervising and/or instructing each student/child involved.

General:Teachers oversee the total activity, which may be occurring in smaller groups.

Indirect: Teachers oversee the activity at a distance which ensures safety but minimises interruption — eg oversight of voluntary worker supervision of an activity at a sports camp. Parents must specifically consent to students under 18 participating in activities involving indirect supervision.

Self-reliant: Teachers oversee the activity by employing very indirect supervision techniques such as:
* discrete shadowing of the group
* a series of checkpoints that students must visit
* meeting the group from time to time along the way
* predetermined telephone check times.

In employing this type of supervision, teachers and principals must be particularly vigilant in addressing the considerations outlined in 3.3, including age and development of students, nature of the activity, possible hazards, location and environment. The frequency and closeness of the supervisory contact with students should be adjusted accordingly. This type of supervision is not normally considered appropriate for students below secondary school age.

Approval for indirect and self-reliant supervision

Self-reliant expeditions and indirect supervision must only occur when the principal and the teacher-in-charge are satisfied that:
the age and development of the student group are sufficient
parent or adult student consent has been receivedplanned student learning outcomes require and are suited to this style of supervision and that students have been well prepared to participate in self-reliant or indirectly supervised activities, ie they have received training and have satisfactorily demonstrated the prerequisite skills and knowledge, the local terrain, environmental conditions and reasonably predictable hazards are within the capabilities of the students. The style of indirect supervision reflects the degree of readiness (both mental and physical) of the students involved.

The type and/or style of supervision may need to change during an activity if there is a change in:
the condition of the students, eg fatigue, health care needs, injury
other factors such as equipment failure or the weather.

The teacher-in-charge must be prepared to promptly alter the style of supervision as necessary.

It also Departmental Policy that all school visits to the museum (or any other Outreach site) are only undertaken after consultation with the Education Officers based at the institution.

At The Museum

Upon arrival at the Museum, always inform an attendant of your presence, even if you are not having an Education Officer to guide your class. This will ensure that you are given any additional information you may need to know. You will also be able to find out where bags, lunches etc may be left, and where to find the display you have come to see.

After the journey to the Museum, most classes, especially the younger ones, will appreciate a toilet stop. This can increase the ability to concentrate and may avoid interruptions later.

Using the Displays

If you do not have an Education Officer to help, it is usually best to let the students have a good look at the display before they are asked to do any formal work. Often some of the most lasting impressions are gained in this first general exploration. The spontaneous connections made during this first few minutes are valuable because they come from, and build upon, the student's own understanding.

If you wish to talk to your students about the display, there are a number of things to bear in mind. Firstly, remember that the gallery is a public space and, although booking should ensure other school groups do not bother you, the general public are still entitled to see the exhibitions. This means not sitting in groups in front of particular displays for long periods, blocking access or in other ways monopolising spaces.

You must be familiar with the contents and the concept of the gallery. The most exciting objects can be, at times, displayed in places where only a few students can see them at once. This means a talk to the whole group is not always the best idea.

Bear in mind that the Museum is a very distracting place. There is much to see, so don't talk too long. Remember, the main purpose of your visit is to interact with real objects. Don't be led into the trap of using the gallery as a classroom and doing things here that could be done back at school.

Labels & Objects

It is important that the students know how to get the most from the information in the Museum. The information is generally in two forms - labels and objects.

Your class needs to be aware that not all the information on the labels is relevant to their objectives. Indeed, depending on age, some information may well be unintelligible. This means students will need to use their reading skills to select the text that is useful.

You can assist them by pointing out how the labels relate to the objects (general labels relate to the whole exhibit, some labels only apply to groups of objects and specific labels tell about each item).

It may also be appropriate to talk about the format of the labels, ie how the labels are placed (below items, adjacent, numbered etc) and how they are set out (scientific names on top, distribution maps etc). These factors will be easy for you to ascertain, but they are difficult for the uninitiated.

While explaining this, you could also point out which part of the labels are most likely to be of relevance for your class.

It is important to explain that the objects are often able to inform without reference to the labels. A quick and simple activity you can use to illustrate this is to have students select an object, then report one fact they could discover from its label and one fact that could only be discerned by looking at the object itself.

Learning Activities

Your class will get the most value from a visit if they are actively involved in seeking information. Your preparation for the trip is one way to motivate students to do this and the nature of the Museum itself encourages it, but there is also a variety of activities you can use to help.

• Ask students to look for a specific type of item (monotreme, ornament, herbivore etc)
  

• Have students look for different types and swap information;
  

• Have students select specific items and tell the class about them;
  

• If you know the topic and the gallery well, send the students out to find a question they want answered. Answers could then be discussed by the class;
  

• Describe a process (fossilisation, mummification etc) and have the students search for evidence of this;
  

• Use the specimens to devise a key to animal orders;
  

• Ask students to infer from evidence in the exhibition (What was the weather like during the Triassic Period? How did people cook in New Guinea? What might be needed to make a shield?);
  

• Look at fine detail by asking students to find examples of particular features (Aquatic adaptations, things made from feathers, items with particular designs or made in special ways).

The ideas are only limited by imagination. Keep in mind that discussion of what is seen often leads to greater understanding, so activities that require small groups and explanations to peers are generally a good idea. Extra teachers/parents are sometimes helpful in facilitating such work.

Many activities of this sort are best done verbally. Some are good for activity sheets and question sheets.

Activity Sheets

Various types of activity sheets are used to focus student attention on specific aspects of the exhibitions in the South Australian Museum. They are not as valuable as independent, self-motivated enquiry, however this form of learning is, by its very nature, not always amenable to being turned in the direction of the school syllabus and, as teachers are aware, some students need a formalised activity to keep their attention on the subject at hand.

Having said this, one must note that many students have justifiably developed the attitude that the completion of questions is the most important activity on an excursion. For these students the question sheet can actually work against maximising their learning. They only see ehat is directly related to the questions (and often obtain this information from friends without direct reference to the objects). Many students see "The Answer" as being of prime importance and don't relate their answers to the body of knowledge you are trying to get across.

Thus activity sheets need to be used in different ways with different students. Well motivated, perceptive students might be best served by a blank page and a specific topic on which to compile a report. They may also do well with an activity sheet which provides extra information, or one which contains a number of open ended questions to provoke differing opinions.

Other students may do better with more specific questions, to focus their attention on items you will discuss back at school.

Questions which are open ended are valuable as they require the students to think about what they see - and reviewing such questions is a good way to start discussion of the trip back at school.

Many different activity sheets are available from the South Australian Museum Education Service. If you decide to use one, read it carefully to see if it fits your requirements. Feel free to add to or change it if it does not. (If an Education Officer is to address your class, remember to inform them of any changes).

It is always important that the students get an opportunity to make their own discoveries about the exhibitions before they are asked to answer questions. For this reason it is usually unwise to give out any activity sheets before the class has had time to look for themselves and have listened to any talks.

When you do hand out the sheets, remind students to please keep clipboards and folders off the exhibits. It is also a good idea to suggest student write their answers in pencil. Pencils don¼t run out when used at unusual angles, they don¼t leak, and answers are easily revised and corrected.

The Education Officers

The role of the Education Officers starts well before the students arrive. You will have discussed your program with them while you were planning your excursion. If an Education Officer is to talk to your class, make sure they know how this trip fits in with what the students are doing at school. This will affect the treatment your class receives. Do not assume that an Education Officer's program for any given subject will be the same for all groups, it will vary to suit your requirements if these are known by the Education Officer.

These variations will affect the topic presentation, but as a general rule the Officer will give a background to the topic using examples from the gallery or, if possible, "hands on" examples from the teaching collection. The Officer will also give an overview of the exhibition(s) and direct students attention to specific items that are of particular interest. The role of the South Australian Museum in collecting and researching these items will also be mentioned, as will the way the Museum can assist students in their own research.

After The Excursion

Asking students to recall their trip as soon as possible afterwards is one way of maximising retention of the information they have gleaned. This can be done by way of discussion, a written report or project, reviewing activity sheets, making models, devising debates or in any number of other ways. These culminating activities should flow on from the student's perception of the aim of the excursion.

Contact the Education Service for details.