Questions have a critical role in learning and teaching. People ask questions to obtain information and express interest in ideas. The Bristol scientific centre "We The Curious" launched "Project What If" in 2017 to inspire residents of Bristol to record their questions and pursue their curiosities. Researching these questions…

This paper draws on a multi-phase project that sought to understand and increase young children's engagement with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) objects. The paper presents findings from one aspect of this project that involved using storytelling to support young children's agency with STEM objects in a UK science museum.…

Research into teaching and learning in science museums has led to innovations in pedagogy, exhibits, and educational programming. Science museum facilitators play a critical role in advancing the educational missions of their institutions, yet the roles that these facilitators have in academic research projects aimed at understanding learning…

This paper explores how biodiversity is represented at the "Life in Crisis Schad Gallery of Biodiversity" (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto). Using theoretical perspectives related to science, technology, society and environment (STSE), and biodiversity in science museums, we conducted a qualitative case study of the exhibit. Data…

This paper critically explores the pedagogy of "Science World" in creating disciplined, birthing patients within the sexuality education BodyWorks gallery on display in Vancouver, Canada. Using Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, I explore the ways in which power/knowledge circulates to regulate and de-agentalise bodies in a science…

Local implementation of science reform efforts in part relies on science teacher leaders (STLs) to improve science instruction in classrooms and beyond. The lack of science-specific professional learning resources drives STLs to act as boundary spanners to locate resources outside their local context to fill that gap. Museums and other informal…

The transformation of natural history and science museums from receptacles (temples) to facilitators (forums) of knowledge fosters discourse around issues relating to science and society, known as social scientific issues (SSI). To assist guests with enhanced object-based learning, extended reality (XR) technologies are thought to leverage the…

In this paper, we emphasize the importance of looking beyond technology itself and including interactional and experiential elements in our research gaze in informal computing education in science museums. We argue that, in these contexts, facilitation can be understood as "design work" that is both complex and challenging. We identify…

School visits to science museums are recognized educational resources that provide students with unique learning experiences, if teachers intentionally plan these. Surprisingly one finds that investigations analyzing teachers adopted practices by systematic monitoring, without researcher intervention, are almost non-existent in the literature. We…

This paper examines the praxeology of informal educational practices (i.e. how participants produce setting-specific practices to make a tour happen) in the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra through close analysis of a video-recorded excerpt of a guided tour. Guided visits in informal science settings are…

The aim of this study was to determine the high school students' views about the trip to the science and technology center with QR code brochure. In the study, the design and development research method was used. The study group consisted of a total of 21 students studying in the 11th and 12th grades of the Technical Anatolian High School in the…

This qualitative case study explores how the LGBTQ+ community is included in informal STEM learning environments (ISLEs) such as museums and science centers. One science center was chosen as a case study to identify how ISLEs may broaden participation to the LGBTQ+ community, how institutional stance impacts LGBTQ+ community members, and how the…

This qualitative study investigated perceptions of STSE topics manifested by adults visiting four biodiversity exhibits at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto, Canada. Seven visitors were observed by researchers during their visits and completed post-visit interviews. The theoretical perspective on STSE relationships expounded by Pedretti…

The social interactions that take place in science museums, whether between family members or with mediators, are recognized as essential to visitors' experience. However, there is still little empirical research in the Brazilian context on how families interact and converse on visits to science museums -- and even less on the role of the mediator…

In an increasingly globalized world, the ability to engage with science meaningfully to make decisions on small and large scales is essential to be an informed citizen and to create a more equitable world. To engage with science, people need to develop a science identity. In this study, science identity, or feeling like a science person, includes…