Museums and Education: Gamification Applied to the Enhancement of Railway Heritage
摘要
This chapter proposes a reflection on the dynamics between education and museum(s) in a context of gamification applied to railway heritage, in an evolutionary process of valuing this heritage. Its objectives are: 1) to provide a brief overview of the Portuguese railways, 2) to publicize the first workshop dedicated to the Medio Tejo railway, 3) to understand the level of knowledge on the part of visitors to the Medio Tejo region, about the national railway museum, and also 4) understand the experience of visitors, regarding the use of gamification, as a process of promoting tourism and heritage. This article is based on the presentation of a case study, the National Railway Museum of Entroncamento, located in Medio Tejo (Portugal). The museum tells the history of more than 160 years of the railway in Portugal. Through a railway heritage collection, with around 36,000 objects. It is a space for collective experience, dialogue, and knowledge sharing, open to all audiences who want to learn about cultural heritage and the historical, symbolic, and technological role of rail transport in Portugal. As a methodological option, a questionnaire was developed to meet the previously stipulated objectives. It is concluded, on the one hand, that the existence of a station and a national railway museum located in the Medio Tejo region plays a fundamental role in the growth of tourist activity in the region. On the other hand, regarding the visitors’ experience, regarding the use of gamification, as a process of tourism and heritage promotion, the conclusions point to “relevant”. In this sense, this study encourages a deeper understanding of the museums-education-gamification trilogy, as a structural process, for the valorization of railway heritage.