1. Research on the Building Bridges project at the Science Museum: From ‘measuring’ to capturing meaning in social contexts
Beth Hawkins Theano Moussouri Naomi Haywood

2. Introduction to the Building Bridges project
Provide links (‘bridges’): science at school, at the Science Museum, and every-day family activities
Structured sequence of activities
Project began in 2012/2013 and takes place over one academic year
Multi nodal approach
18 schools per year with high pupil premium ratio
Please see our poster for more information on the project!

3. Research on the Building Bridges project
Context
Potential of museums to support science engagement
Narrow demographic profile of visitors
Importance of learning within family
Some parents might not engage with or seek out educational activities at school or museums
Aims
Collaboration
Work with families from under-represented visitor groups
Consider their resources, interests and aspirations
Move away from a ’deficit/barrier model’ that highlights what families are lacking

4. Theoretical background
Socio-cultural approach to learning
Funds of Knowledge
Cultural practices and understandings embedded in daily routines
Families accumulate multiple bodies of knowledge, ideas, and skills
Valuable educational resources
Importance of different contexts, and of people regularly crossing the boundaries of contexts
Contexts overlap and information from one context is relevant to other contexts
Capture ‘meaning’ from families’ perspective rather than ‘measure’ their resources from outsider perspective

5. Research questions Importance of broad research questions
How might families’ cultural references and values, including their interests and aspirations, affect their engagement with Western science?
How do families’ everyday conversations, activities and skills relate to science content, process and/or practice?  
What is the impact of families’ involvement in the ‘Building Bridges’ project on their views, conversations and activities related to science?
Importance of broad research questions

6. Research approach and methods
Ethnographic methods
Data collection:
Four case studies with families from under- represented backgrounds
Focus groups with parents and pupils
Interviews with teachers
Family Lates
Observations during outreach activities and school Museum visits
Data analysis
Iterative data collection and analysis
Open coding

7. Overall findings
Science Museum: viewed as educational rather than also ‘fun’
Museums and extra curricular activities: viewed as not potentially relevant for academic or professional success unless part of school visit
Different language and points of reference to frequent visitors, museum professionals and researchers
Families draw on many local networks in their every-day lives rather than ‘official’ information

8. What it means for us?
Role and significance of teachers as gatekeepers to families
Challenge our perception of how we are being ‘seen’
See beyond audience segmentation - insight to people who don’t visit
Critically review previous research with our regular visitors
Communication - not just what we say but how we say it
Before

9. Use the research to reflect on…
Are we making the most of the opportunities that we have to connect and engage ALL audiences?
Our practice when designing and delivering experiences
How we can connect and reach out to audiences who don’t visit us

10. A whole museum approach…
Every moment in the museum is an opportunity to shape our visitors’ attitudes towards science How the whole museum experience comes together (all its spaces and experiences) is an essential part of providing a memorable, inspiring and enjoyable visit for our visitors

11. Discussion questions
What are the benefits and drawbacks of qualitative and other methodologies?
How can qualitative research help address issues of social exclusion? What are the benefits and drawbacks?
To what extent can findings be generalised, and how are they useful to the practice?

12. References and further information
Ash, D. (2004). Reflective scientific sense-making dialogue in two languages: The science in the dialogue and the dialogue in the science. Science Education, 88(6), 855 – 884.

Glaser, B. & Strauss, A. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. New York: Aldine Publishing Company.
Gonzalez, N., Moll, L. & Amanti, K. (2005). Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Maxwell, J. (2002). Understanding and validity in qualitative research. In A. Huberman & M. Miles (Eds.), The qualitative researcher's companion (pp ). London: Sage.
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