Ana Maria Navas Iannini
Simon Fraser University, Faculty of Education, Faculty Member
- Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), Education, Faculty MemberUniversity of Toronto, OISE - CTL, Post-Docadd
Controversy in Science Museums focuses on exhibitions that approach sensitive or controversial topics. With a keen sense of past and current practices, Pedretti and Navas Iannini examine and reimagine how museums and science centres can... more
Controversy in Science Museums focuses on exhibitions that approach sensitive or controversial topics. With a keen sense of past and current practices, Pedretti and Navas Iannini examine and reimagine how museums and science centres can create exhibitions that embrace criticality and visitor agency.
Drawing on international case studies and voices from visitors and museum professionals, as well as theoretical insights about scientific literacy and science communication, the authors explore the textured notion of controversy and the challenges and opportunities practitioners may encounter as they plan for, and develop, controversial science exhibitions. They assert that science museums can no longer serve as mere repositories for objects or sites for transmitting facts, but that they should instead become spaces for conversations that are inclusive, critical, and socially-responsible.
Controversy in Science Museums provides an invaluable resource for museum professionals who are interested in creating and hosting controversial exhibitions, and for scholars and students working in the fields of museum studies, science communication, and social studies of science. Anyone wishing to engage in an examination and critique of the changing roles of science museums will find this book relevant, timely and thought-provoking.
Drawing on international case studies and voices from visitors and museum professionals, as well as theoretical insights about scientific literacy and science communication, the authors explore the textured notion of controversy and the challenges and opportunities practitioners may encounter as they plan for, and develop, controversial science exhibitions. They assert that science museums can no longer serve as mere repositories for objects or sites for transmitting facts, but that they should instead become spaces for conversations that are inclusive, critical, and socially-responsible.
Controversy in Science Museums provides an invaluable resource for museum professionals who are interested in creating and hosting controversial exhibitions, and for scholars and students working in the fields of museum studies, science communication, and social studies of science. Anyone wishing to engage in an examination and critique of the changing roles of science museums will find this book relevant, timely and thought-provoking.
Research Interests:
O livro é mais um convite a educadores para assumirem e compartilharem conosco um olhar reflexivo, crítico e comprometido com uma perspectiva de ciência que rompe com visões dogmáticas, a-históricas e neutras, e assume a ciência como um... more
O livro é mais um convite a educadores para assumirem e compartilharem conosco um olhar reflexivo, crítico e comprometido com uma perspectiva de ciência que rompe com visões dogmáticas, a-históricas e neutras, e assume a ciência como um empreendimento humano, posicionado, ideológico, político e, por isso, uma construção social. É um convite para parar – e reparar!
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Humanities and Art
This paper examines how a particular subset of informal science education settings — science exhibitions — embraces contemporary socioscientific issues (SSI) and fosters public engagement with them. A qualitative cross-case analysis of... more
This paper examines how a particular subset of informal science education settings — science exhibitions — embraces contemporary socioscientific issues (SSI) and fosters public engagement with them. A qualitative cross-case analysis of two SSI exhibitions about teen pregnancy (Brazil) and sustainability (Canada) was conducted. It revealed complex issues around operational funding, and institutional tensions related to the nature, balance, and relevance of the topics displayed. The analysis unravelled opportunities for SSI exhibits to engage with contextualized and situated knowledge; articulate the deficit model with other models of science communication; and consider visitors as agents of change.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In this chapter, I use the currere process of reflexive inquiry (PinarWF, AnnMeetAmEducResAssoc2:19–27, 1975), as a personal experience method (Grumet MR, JTeachEduc40:13–17, 1989) to map my intellectual interests about science museums... more
In this chapter, I use the currere process of reflexive inquiry (PinarWF, AnnMeetAmEducResAssoc2:19–27, 1975), as a personal experience method (Grumet MR, JTeachEduc40:13–17, 1989) to map my intellectual interests about science museums and make meaning of them. Moving through the four moments of inquiry that Pinar describes − regressive, progressive, analytical, and synthetic −, I start with a turn to my autobiographical past, looking closely at undergraduate, graduate and professional experiences that first opened a space for me to combine science and education, and then, to approach (and question) the work of science museums. Places, people, feeling and emotions emerged as part of this reconstruction. In taking distance of the past, I move within the other moments of inquiry. I look at the positions that ground my current doctoral research with museum exhibits that disrupt dominant cultural narratives and prevailing models of science communication. As part of this process, I reflect on the ways I have strengthened and refined my epistemological beliefs and my understandings about the challenges and possibilities to envision (and to advocate for) science museums as places for promoting social change. While identifying relations between intellectual interests and biographical movement, I explore potential angles for future research and, also, possibilities for combining theory and practice.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Drawing from past and ongoing research projects, this study explores visitor engagement through the lenses of controversial science exhibitions and science communication models. Through a cross-case analysis of four case studies, we... more
Drawing from past and ongoing research projects, this study explores visitor engagement through the lenses of controversial science exhibitions and science communication models. Through a cross-case analysis of four case studies, we sought to deconstruct and understand how visitors engage with science exhibits involving complex and controversial topics. Qualitative data sources across the sites include visitor interviews, visitor observations, artefacts, images, comment cards, and field notes. Six themes emerged from our analysis: acquiring and recalling knowledge, personalization and introspection, voice and narrative, listening and talking, dissonance and tensions, and seeds of change.
Research Interests: Sociology and Exhibition
Recently, informal educational settings such as museums and science centres have witnessed increased attention to current issues in science and technology (S&T). In an effort to explore ways to enhance visitors‘ involvement and... more
Recently, informal educational settings such as museums and science centres have witnessed increased attention to current issues in science and technology (S&T). In an effort to explore ways to enhance visitors‘ involvement and engagement, some institutions have attempted to develop contemporary installations with all the social and political trappings of the day, moving from pedagogical and experiential exhibitions to critical exhibits (Pedretti, 2002). In this paper, we refer to a larger research project that focuses on a series of individual case studies of critical exhibitions housed at institutions across Canada. The results and discussion we present here focus on one case related to the travelling exhibit Body Worlds and the Story of the Heart, and represents only one of a series of exhibitions to be explored. In this case, semi-structured interviews with museum staff and visitors, observation of visitors‘ interaction with the exhibit and
Research Interests:
Informal science education has great potential to support equitable and ongoing engagement of a diverse range of participants with science. This study focuses on children from low-income neighborhoods in an East-Central province of... more
Informal science education has great potential to support equitable and ongoing engagement of a diverse range of participants with science. This study focuses on children from low-income neighborhoods in an East-Central province of Canada, who participated in an informal science education opportunity: a science club program. Using theory related to factors influencing a child’s science identity we examined the ways in which children compared science as experienced in club and school settings. Based on a qualitative methodology and case study research strategy, we conducted 14 focus group sessions with 45 children enrolled in the clubs. Our focus group questions did not ask children to compare club and school science but these comparisons emerged in the children’s conversations. Children made strong contrasts between their perceptions of the fun and exciting science of science clubs and the boring lack of learning that occurs in school science. We problematize the positioning of thes...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Fruto de um trabalho colaborativo, o livro é mais uma produção elaborada pelo Grupo de Estudo e Pesquisa em Educação Não Formal e Divulgação da Ciência (GEENF) da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo (USP) e outras... more
Fruto de um trabalho colaborativo, o livro é mais uma produção elaborada pelo Grupo de Estudo e Pesquisa em Educação Não Formal e Divulgação da Ciência (GEENF) da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo (USP) e outras instituições não menos importantes citadas na obra, que traz textos de referência e revisões de literatura sobre o foco central: as controvérsias, a educação e os museus de ciência, mas também resultados de pesquisas e ações realizadas pelos autores. Em particular, compartilha conteúdos do curso de formação de educadores de museus, intitulado "Museus de Ciências e Temas Controversos", voltado para lidar com controvérsias científicas nas visitas guiadas. Nesse sentido, e a partir da constatação da pouquíssima presença de referências sobre o tema em português, esta publicação promove o acesso a alguns dos principais trabalhos existentes, com intuito de aproximar a pesquisa da prática pedagógica museal.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Recently, there have been movements towards the inclusion of critical and often controversial exhibitions in science centres and museums. In this case study we consider the controversial exhibition Preventing Youth Pregnancy, hosted by... more
Recently, there have been movements towards the inclusion of critical and often controversial exhibitions in science centres and museums. In this case study we consider the controversial exhibition Preventing Youth Pregnancy, hosted by the Catavento museum (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Specifically, we explore responses from, and relationships between, school and museum communities that attended the exhibit. We begin with a brief literature review on informal settings and controversial exhibitions, and present a science communication framework that informed our research. Findings are framed by three major themes: building connections between the formal and the informal sector through collaboration, building connections with youth culture, and building pathways for change. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the challenges faced by museums and science centres in creating and/or displaying controversial exhibitions.
Research Interests:
Critical exhibitions represent a trend in the science museums landscape. These installations, often issues-based, tend to: display complex socio-scientific issues, approach controversy, challenge visitors’ points of view, and engage... more
Critical exhibitions represent a trend in the science museums landscape. These installations, often issues-based, tend to: display complex socio-scientific issues, approach controversy, challenge visitors’ points of view, and engage visitors in active ways. Informed by theory in the fields of science communication, scientific literacy and science museums, I examined visitors’, curators’ and museum educators’ perspectives on critical exhibitions in Brazil and Canada. I also investigated dimensions of engagement that visitors experienced in these exhibits. Using a qualitative approach and multiple case study as a research strategy, I examined two individual cases: the exhibits Alerts: Knowing to Prevent. Drugs, Tobacco and Alcohol and Preventing Youth Pregnancy, displayed at the Catavento museum (São Paulo, Brazil), and Our World: BMO Sustainability Gallery displayed at the Science World (Vancouver, Canada). In both research sites I conducted observations and interviews with visitors,...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In this paper we explore how visitors engage with a science museum exhibit that displays controversial topics. Through a case study methodology, we focus on the Brazilian exhibit Preventing Youth Pregnancy that delves into teen pregnancy,... more
In this paper we explore how visitors engage with a science museum exhibit that displays controversial topics. Through a case study methodology, we focus on the Brazilian exhibit Preventing Youth Pregnancy that delves into teen pregnancy, sexual practices and sexually transmitted diseases. Using the lens of science communication (an emergent field of research) we explore: 1) communication patterns established between the exhibit and the public, and 2) the dimensions of engagement that visitors experienced. Data was collected through observations and interviews with visitors, field notes, exit comment cards and interviews with staffers. Our findings revealed the potential of articulating different models of science communication, and exposed a visitor experience in which informed decision making, sharing of personal stories, co-production of knowledge and learning how to care (and act) were at play while negotiating the complexities of the issues raised by the displays.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In this paper we explore how visitors engage with a science museum exhibit that displays controversial topics. Through a case study methodology, we focus on the Brazilian exhibit Preventing Youth Pregnancy that delves into teen pregnancy,... more
In this paper we explore how visitors engage with a science museum exhibit that displays controversial topics. Through a case study methodology, we focus on the Brazilian exhibit Preventing Youth Pregnancy that delves into teen pregnancy, sexual practices and sexually transmitted diseases. Using the lens of science communication (an emergent field of research) we explore: 1) communication patterns established between the exhibit and the public, and 2) the dimensions of engagement that visitors experienced. Data was collected through observations and interviews with visitors, field notes, exit comment cards and interviews with staffers. Our findings revealed the potential of articulating different models of science communication, and exposed a visitor experience in which informed decision making, sharing of personal stories, co-production of knowledge and learning how to care (and act) were at play while negotiating the complexities of the issues raised by the displays.
Research Interests:
In this paper we explore how science, technology, society and environment (STSE) perspectives are embedded in a museum exhibit, and how visitors engage with this experience. We present preliminary findings related to Our World: BMO... more
In this paper we explore how science, technology, society and environment (STSE) perspectives are embedded in a museum exhibit, and how visitors engage with this experience. We present preliminary findings related to Our World: BMO Sustainability Gallery, an exhibit focusing on water access/conservation, food waste, energy consumption and sustainability. 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, visitors engage with STSE perspectives by: (1) building awareness and acquiring credible evidence-based information (settled knowledge); (2) exploring the complexities in which STSE issues are embedded; and (3) acknowledging personal sense, feelings and the potential for agency (unsettled knowledge). Our findings led us to generate a heuristic about the visitor experience in relation to STSE perspectives, and to consider scientific literacy within the changing landscape of museum exhibitions.
Research Interests:
This study aims to examine dimensions of public engagement with museum exhibits that approach critical and complex socioscientific. Particularly, we focus on the patterns of science communication established between the exhibits and the... more
This study aims to examine dimensions of public engagement with museum exhibits that approach critical and complex socioscientific. Particularly, we focus on the patterns of science communication established between the exhibits and the visitors. Using a multiple case study methodology, we present preliminary findings from two exhibits, Alerts and Preventing Youth Pregnancy, displayed by the Catavento museum (São Paulo, Brazil); those exhibits are part of a larger funded project on critical exhibitions. Data collection included observation of visitors while interacting with the exhibits, interviews with all the visitors we observed, field notes and documents/artefacts. Our findings suggest that the patterns of communication prompted by the exhibits reflect dimensions of deficit, dialogue, participation and action and possibilities of articulation between them.