Reflection-on-Action at a Science and Technology Museum: Findings from a University-Museum Partnership

As institutions housing society’s collective knowledge and as sites for public education, museums can complement formal educational efforts to promote citizen literacy. In this paper, we document and discuss a curriculum renewal activity in an Ontario museum of science and technology designed to allow school students significant control over their learning. Qualitative data suggest that the reconstructed museum educational experience successfully addressed initial concerns about the workshop’s disconnectedness from school programs and its technological conservatism. The experiences described here identify some interesting possibilities for collaborative reflective practice in museum program development.