Chinese Journal of Science Education

Abstract

School teachers and students are target audiences of science museums all the time. Science museums around the world are always trying to expand their relationships with nearby schools. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between science museums and schools using the case study approach. Two science museums were selected as study cases: Science Museum of Minnesota in US and National Museum of Natural Science in Taiwan. A review of the literature showed there were six models used by science museums to improve partnerships between science museums and schools. In these models, professional development, field trips, and outreach programs were most frequently used. Besides the review of the literature, both museum educators and school teachers from two sampled institutes were interviewed. The model of museum school was considered the most successful collaborative relationship between the two institutes. The reasons contributing toward this successful partnership were found to be as follows: assigning staff to promote collaboration, establishing formal communication platforms for museum educators and teachers, and integrating museum processes into school curriculums.

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