Museum Facilitator Infrastructuring for Public Computing

• In Event: Learning Sciences Poster Session

Abstract

While previous research has explored how the Learning Sciences can inform museum facilitation, little work has attempted to understand how increasingly complex facilitation practices can contribute to the building of new theories in the Learning Sciences. Designers, educators, and researchers must acknowledge the complex, day-to-day work of museum facilitators. Within the context of a public computing exhibit, we investigated the connections between science museum facilitators’ practice and figured worlds of computing, figured worlds of museums, and institutional norms/regulations. Specifically, we looked at how these three aspects are part of the installed base of a public computing exhibit, and how they impact emergent, improvisational infrastructuring carried out by museum facilitators.

Authors

• Stephanie Hladik, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Marie-Claire Shanahan, University of Calgary

• Pratim Sengupta, University of Calgary