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By Elee Wood, Public Scholar of Museums, Families, and Learning
There are so many different opportunities for learning at the museum—some that happen after all the visitors go home. Pretty regularly on Wednesday nights I pass most of the museum visitors and staff as they head home for the evening, but I’m just on my way in. Since 2005, The Children’s Museum has been “home” to my museum education classes for the IUPUI Museum Studies program.
Part of my role with the museum is to serve as the “public scholar of museums, families, and learning, ” and this is in addition to my work as a professor in the School of Liberal Arts and School of Education at IUPUI. The partnership between the university and the museum is a unique combination of scholarship, community-based and applied research, teaching and museum practice and this “public scholar” partnership is one of few in the country!
Museum studies students in the program are able to see “behind the scenes” and learn more about the way museum’s plan for audiences, develop exhibit concepts, organize and plan programs and understand the museum’s continuing mission to “transform the lives 
of families” through good learning experiences. The museum serves as a learning laboratory for students and in return my students and I work on a number of different projects to support the museums mission. Students apply what they are learning to different projects to help museum staff, and often take on internships where they can further their learning experiences.
One of the benefits to museum staff is the continued access to new research on education in informal learning, and the wealth of interesting ideas that come from students. When I’m not teaching classes, I spend one day each week meeting with staff and working on a variety of exhibit and programming projects.
What I really enjoy about working in and “between” the museum and the university is that there’s a strong value of learning in both places. I love that the museum can host classes to help students get a real world perspective on how museum education works and why it is so important. I also appreciate being able to stay connected to the museum field and contribute to the good work the museum does.
