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…

Science centres are informal learning spaces embedded with artefacts embodying mediational affordances. This exploratory and small-scale mixed methods study juxtaposes eye-tracking technologies and qualitative interviews to examine how visitors to a gallery navigated this space and interacted with different artefacts. A total of 15 visitors to the…

Science Cafés create open, public forums to promote the exchange of ideas between science experts and the public. This study explored Science Café attendees' interest in science content, and motivational factors in attending events as well as documenting what attendees did with the information presented at an event through the means of a survey (n…

The current study, which uses a survey approach, aims to identify middle school students who visit BILSEMs (Science and Art Centers) in terms of their creativity and learning preferences and to look into the impact of various factors on these traits. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 214 fifth, sixth, and seventh graders were chosen using the…

Science centers, despite their growing popularity (Association of Science and Technology Centers [ASTC], 2022), have diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) concerns (Garibay & Olson, 2020) that threaten the achievement of their mission (Feinstein & Meshoulam, 2014) and the very utility of their existence (Ash 2022; Dawson, 2019). The…

In this paper, the authors focus on theoretical discussions regarding the socio-scientific issues based exhibition, whose importance has become greater for science centers in the past two decades, but has no clear definition. We examine the background of the socio-scientific issues based exhibition, including its scope and qualities, through…

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 study aims to explore the perspectives of gifted students on augmented reality, one of the innovative possibilities offered by instructional technologies. Action research involved 40 gifted students aged 10-11, enrolled in a Science and Art Center (SAC). Over the course of five weeks, the study focused on teaching various topics related to…

This study pursues a twofold objective: first, to assess Physical Science teachers' knowledge in teaching at science centers, and second, to investigate their perceptions of their roles in facilitating teaching within these centers. Employing a qualitative case study method with interviews and observations, eight teachers voluntarily participated.…

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 the study reported on here, the effects of science centres on the perceptions of secondary school students towards the nature of science were examined. The study group consisted of 16 students aged 13 and 14 of which 7 were female and 9 male. In this study, a total of 4 trips were arranged to the science centre twice a month for 2 months.…