We experience the world through a combination of what we can see, hear, smell, feel and taste. Sassy Holmes, Associate Interactive Gallery Curator for the National Railway Museum, delves into the importance of exploring all of the senses when creating inclusive community engagement.
What does a science capital informed approach look like in practice? The Science Capital in Practice: Foundations for the Future seminar brought together ideas, experiences, and advice around applying a science capital approach in museums and science centres.
In part three of our Science Capital in Practice: Foundations for the Future blog series, we look at what embedding a science capital approach has meant for the work and across the different partner organisations.
We talk about engagement a lot in our work, it is at the heart of everything that we do and we use it to describe and measure the value and benefit of our experiences. However, it can be a hard word to define. Beth Hawkins explores ‘what exactly do we mean when we talk about engagement?’.
In the latest ‘Out and About’, Maxwell Hamilton took his niece to Eureka! The National Children’s Museum. He shares how they were made to feel welcome, and how the experience encouraged science talk and helped them link STEM to their everyday lives.
In November, we hosted a Skills Fair for students aged 11-13 years at the Science Museum, London. Jess Sashaw, part of the team who developed and delivered the event, shares why we chose to base our fair on skills, rather than hosting a traditional careers fair.
Whilst working to embed a science capital approach across the Science Museum Group, we have also been sharing our experiences with universities, museums and science centres across the world. Sarah Callan, Science Museum Studies student, SUNY Oneonta University, NY, shares her cohort’s experience of applying the research to an informal education setting.
How did we develop a family activity trail for Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries at the Science Museum, London? Laurel Mackie, Content Programmer, Medicine Galleries, Science Museum, shares the process and key elements of the resource.
Maxwell Hamilton catches up with Frederike Gerstner, half of the ‘Ben and Fred’ duo who won the 2019 Josh Award for STEM communication. Find out how they created ‘The Juggling of Science’, and how they adapted it for the Science and Industry Museum’s half term crowd.
For the latest installment of ‘out and about’, Scout Davies explored the Yorkshire Museum. In this post she provides examples of exhibits and activities that help visitors feel welcome and confident to take part in the museum’s experiences.
This summer the Science and Industry Museum had a full programme of solar related shows and workshops to coincide with the new temporary exhibition ‘The Sun’. Maxwell Hamilton reflects on the application of science capital research in this programme of Explainer-led activities and beyond.
In September, the Explainer team at the Science and Industry Museum reflected on their current practice and refreshed their knowledge of science capital. This posts shares the good practice happening within their programme and the opportunities the science capital approach offers.