Preliminary Material / Eva Davidsson and Anders Jakobsson -- Introduction / Eva Davidsson and Anders Jakobsson -- Using Sociocultural Frameworks to Understand the Significance of Interactions at Science and Technology Centers and Museums / Anders Jakobsson Professor, Science Education and Eva Davidsson Senior Lecuturer in Science Education -- Changing Practices, Changing Identities as Museum Educators / Doris B. Ash Associate professor , Judith Lombana and Lucia Alcala -- The Medium is the Message / Erminia Pedretti Professor, Science Education -- Family Engagement at Aquarium Touch Tanks—Exploring Interactions and the Potential for Learning / Shawn Rowe Assistant Professor and James Kisiel Assistant Professor -- Student Teachers’ Moment-To-Moment Reasoning and the Development of Discursive Themes – An Analysis of Practical Epistemologies in a Natural History Museum Exhibit / Jesús Piqueras Senior Lecturer, Science Education , Per-Olof Wickman Professor, Science Education and Karim M. Hamza Senior Lecturer, Science Education -- The Impact of Exhibit-Based Professional Development on Teachers’ PCK / Judith S. Lederman Associate Professor, Mathematics and Science Education , Gary M. Holliday Assistant Professor, Science Education and Norman G. Lederman Professor, Science Education -- Exploring and Scaffolding Learning Interactions Between Teachers, Students and Museum Educators / Janette Griffin Senior lecturer, Science Education -- Look and Learn / Terence P Mcclafferty and Léonie J Rennie Professor, Science Education -- Activity Theory as a Lens to Examine Project-Based Museum Partnerships in Robotics / Jrène Rahm Associate Professor -- Scaffolding Students’ Post-Visit Learning From Interactive Exhibits / Jennifer Dewitt -- Imitating the Family Visit / Tali Tal Associate Professor -- Index / Eva Davidsson and Anders Jakobsson.

There is an increasing interest in understanding learning and knowledge development when visitors attend informal institutions, such as museums, science centers, aquariums and botanical gardens. But in what ways do visitors develop new knowledge, skills and awareness about displayed issues in these kinds of settings and how does the exhibition environment affect and scaffold learning processes? In this book, the authors turn their attention to visitors’ and staff members’ actions and dialogues during the visits in order to identify and study learning situations. A common approach is the use and development of socio-cultural and cultural-historical frameworks and theories as means for coming closer to the significance of interactions at different levels and in different contexts. The individual chapters cover learning interactions in relation to staff members’ roles and identities, family visits, exhibitions as resources for professional development and school visits.

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