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This paper analyses how the evolution of the railway sector and the changes brought by the railways are perceived and represented in the People's Republic of China. In doing so, we focus on four railway collections (three of them belonging to the same museum) and three temporary exhibitions, among other materials. That lets us build an interpretation giving prominence to material culture and to the symbolic use of objects and images, allowing us to pursue the meanings of railway heritage and history in China. Furthermore, this analysis compares the information available in Chinese and English in the museums, exhibitions, and some media (in this last case we include Spanish too). In terms of methodology, we combine tools from archaeology, museums studies, applied linguistics and cross-cultural communication. We think this approach is innovative and also appropriate to perceive the messages created by the Chinese museum sector and sent both to national and to international audiences – ie, how China uses railway heritage and history to represent itself domestically and to the rest of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, more and more technical tools have been introduced into various museums, bringing new opportunities and challenges for the research of museum learning. Whether the application of these technologies can effectively improve the effects of museum learning has become a major problem perplexing museum learning researchers. In this paper, a meta-analysis method is used to analyze and evaluate the 42 experimental or quasi-experimental studies on the technology application in the field of museum learning in the past decade. The results show that the technology application has a moderate or higher effect on museum learning, moreover, the age of learners, the type of technology, the type of museum and the visiting pattern of museum will significantly affect the effectiveness of technology on the museum learning. Therefore, the museum institutions can learn from excellent cases to accelerate the application of museum technology, give priority to the construction of digital resources, continue to promote the specialisation of museum technology application, and better play the role of technology in museum education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the publication of the National Action Plan for Scientific Literacy (2021-2035) and the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Modern Science and Technology Museum System (2021-2025), and based on a review of the history and characteristics of various science popularization venues, this paper analyses the mission of those venues in advocating scientific methods, disseminating scientific ideas and promoting the scientific spirit and the scientist spirit. It discusses the requirements for science popularization venues to strengthen scientific culture. Finally, the paper provides suggestions for fulfilling the guiding role of scientific culture through promoting the modern science and technology museum system, including enhancing strategic awareness, strengthening academic research and breaking disciplinary barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]