Consuming, Wasting, and Developing Awareness: Science, Technology, Society, and the Environment Perspectives in a Science Museum Exhibit

• In Event: 18.071 - Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: 18.071-18 - Learning in Museum Settings

Abstract

In this paper we explore how science, technology, society and environment (STSE) perspectives are displayed in a museum exhibit, and how visitors make meaning of this experience. We present preliminary findings related to Our World: BMO Sustainability Gallery, an exhibit focusing on water access/reservation, food waste, energy consumption and waste recycling. Data collected from observations and interviews with visitors, field notes, collection of visitors’ written comments and interviews with the museum staff suggest that, in this exhibit, STSE perspectives were related to: acquiring theoretical knowledge; generating understandings about the complex interactions in which STSE issues are embedded; and encouraging personal environmental awareness and agency. Our findings led us to generate a heuristic about STSE perspectives and the visitor experience.

Authors

• Ana Maria Navas Iannini, University of Toronto

• Erminia G. Pedretti, OISE/University of Toronto

• Daniel Atkinson, University of Toronto