Developing new experiences

In part 4 of our mini-series, Josh Blair, Digital Product Manager at Science Museum Group, and Ben Templeton, Creative Director at game studio Thought Den, discuss the project highs and lows now it has finally launched.

When most people think of engineering, greasy hands and overalls might come to mind. Yet look around you and behind almost everything you see, you will find the work of an engineer…

In part 3 of this mini-series, design studio Thought Den show how they responded to an ambitious brief from the Science Museum Group.

In part 2 of this mini series we look at how we took the idea of a chat-based experience and developed it further to create our brief for a science capital-informed narrative driven game.

How do you bring a complex research-informed idea to a digital experience for children 7-13 years old… and make it engaging, fun and encouraging reflection on everyday life?

What we’ve learned about publishing our learning resources online.

I’ve recently attended a training session delivered by the Science Museum’s Enterprising Science project team around science capital and how we can use it in our work.

The Building Bridges project has been a 5-year (2012-2017)  partnership between the Science Museum and secondary schools from its London partner-boroughs and Reading.

The language we use around STEM, both verbal and visual, often reinforces the idea that it is for people who aren’t ‘like me’.

Whether it is on a school visit, as a family day out, or maybe through an experience online, there are many different reasons why museums and science centres are such great places for engaging people with science.

Over the past few months we, at the Science Museum, have been working in partnership with TES and the Arts Council England.

STEM engagement is at the heart of what we do in our museums, and science capital provides us with a research based insight which builds on our understanding of what influences and shapes people’s engagement and attitudes towards science.