An Activity-Based Approach to Cultivating Skills and Thinking Dispositions

Abstract

Thoughtfully designed learning experiences in the museum can impact participants significantly. Research shows that experiential learning and activity-based teaching—which lie at the heart of the Yale University Art Gallery’s educational practices—are especially effective (Kai-Kee, Latina and Sadoyan, 2020). The opportunity to move to a different learning environment, slow down, look closely at art, activate the entire body as a perceptual instrument, and engage in conversation with others offers a productive (also low-stakes) means of cultivating or enhancing skills (e.g. critical observation, evidentiary reasoning, immersive attention, storytelling) and thinking dispositions (e.g. empathy, curiosity, self-reflection) relevant to both trainees and practitioners in the healthcare sector (Tishman, 2017; Slavin, Williams, and Zimmerman, 2023).