Research

Didactic research

Didactic research

 

GeoCenter Møns Klint is dedicated to didactic research in the fields of biology, palaeontology and geology.

Our projects have resulted in a number of didactic research projects at various universities in Denmark, Germany and Portugal.

 

Research

 

GeoCenter Møns Klint is an academically based, natural attraction. For the sake of our own professional development and to be able to provide our visitors with exciting experiences and new knowledge, we are involved in research.

In 2012 we led a dinosaur excavation in Greenland. This led not only to a number of geological and palaeontological research projects at the universities involved, but also to a new dinosaur exhibition at GeoCenter Møns Klint. By means of didactic research, this new dinosaur exhibition will teach us more about how, in the future, we can create fun, relevant and instructive experiences for our visitors.

 

PhD in the Didactics of Palaeontological Exhibitions

 

How do you go about creating a fascinating dinosaur exhibition? What is the best way to combine fun with learning, giving visitors the best possible experience?

At Geocenter Møns Klint we are dedicated to creating experiences for our visitors that are both instructive and entertaining. In the long run it would be great if our visitors returned home with a basic interest in natural science, which might inspire them in their day to day approach to natural science in society and the outside world.

It is precisely this intersection between exhibition design and palaeontology (dinosaur research) that our colleague Eliza Jarl Estrup is investigating in her Industrial Doctorate. She is concentrating particularly on dinosaur exhibitions and on how fossils and palaeontology are particularly suitable when disseminating natural science and showcasing the practical, magical dimension of a field of activity, which for many people is somewhat abstract and alien.

Our new dinosaur exhibition, The First Dinosaur, tackles the practical dimension of an actual excavation project in East Greenland in 2012. The exhibition presents the research process that leads to bringing the fossils to life in an exhibition, in which the fossils are presented to visitors almost as if they were living creatures.

So the PhD project looks at this exhibition, compares it with other dinosaur exhibitions and investigates concepts such as the didactics of natural science, exhibition design and the scientific competence of people in general - what is referred to as ‘scientific literacy.’ Eliza will explain all these concepts in greater detail in her didactic science blog, which you will find here:

 

Follow Eliza’s blog about didactic research