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Rethinking Natural History Dioramas: Bundling the Needs of Neuro-Diverse and Neuro-Typical Visitors

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Natural History Dioramas – Traditional Exhibits for Current Educational Themes

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Abstract

Natural history dioramas remain one of the most popular exhibit types for all visitors. But why? This chapter proposes approaching this question by looking at the brain’s functions on a continuum model, in which all types of learners face certain basic processing challenges. From this perspective, persons with cognitive vulnerabilities have the potential to act as expert guides in looking at how dioramas, especially in their updated forms, may be accommodating and sheltering basic processing capacities we all share and that come under strain in sensory rich, novel environments such as museum exhibitions—navigating between oral and written language, sustaining focus and attention, constructing symbolic, physical and social way finding, and coping with sensory (over)stimulation and sensory integration. The chapter will use a case study to explore these issues in depth: a 2006 review of the Fossil Mysteries exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum in San Diego, California, conducted by two groups of atypical learners—persons with dyslexia and ADHD. It will supplement these findings with insights from persons with high-functioning autism. In conclusion, it will summarize how and why dioramas can work well for the brains of all visitors, and will offer specific recommendations about how to enhance dioramas’ power to attract and engage.

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  1. Sparking your Genius LLC, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Paul Gabriel

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  1. Paul Gabriel
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  1. University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Annette Scheersoi

  2. University College London (UCL), Institute of Education, London, UK

    Sue Dale Tunnicliffe

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Gabriel, P. (2019). Rethinking Natural History Dioramas: Bundling the Needs of Neuro-Diverse and Neuro-Typical Visitors. In: Scheersoi, A., Tunnicliffe, S. (eds) Natural History Dioramas – Traditional Exhibits for Current Educational Themes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00208-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00208-4_5

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