Extension/Education Project Database 
PROJECTS - view record:
| Project details: | |
| ID: | 42 |
| Model: | D |
| Name: | Scienceworks Museum – Melbourne |
| Industry: | Education, recreation, tourism, science |
| Funder: | Victorian State Government (> 65%) Revenues (30%): admission, shops, commercial activities, etc Partnerships/ sponsorships (< 5%): |
| Provider: | - Small organisations providing the Museum with advice; - Formal partners who have an agreement with the Museum, e.g. Victoria University, Melbourne Water, City of Hobsons Bay. They provide information and resources – eg finds, equipment, research or information. - The Museum has 150 active volunteers. It has an extensive volunteer program where the Museum calls for applications, interviews applicants, selects candidates, trains them, puts them through a probation period. Police checks are also made (because they work with many children and general public). The volunteers then host groups around the site, greet visitors on arrival, help them to become oriented with the museum, answer questions, help with the activity programs, such as making kites, etc. There are around 6-10 volunteers at Scienceworks, every day, 7 days a week. The volunteer program allows the Museum to provide: - more value; - a very good network for those people who are able to keep their minds active and give back to the community; and - a good marketing network for the organisation. The volunteers are not trained to take formal education programs, they are only trained to meet visitors, show them around the site but not to take the place of formally qualified teachers. - The Museum has trained educators on staff to carry out the education programs and activities. |
| Abstract: |
The Melbourne Scienceworks Museum is located in the city’s west on a riverside site that makes use of historic and heritage listed technology (the Sewage Pumping Station for Melbourne). The advantage of having an outdoor space is to provide opportunity for children to run around and also to provide space for technology and science experiments and demonstrations. Also, being located on the river, people can come to the museum via ferry. The vision of the museum is to help people appreciate and understand science and technology in ways that are meaningful to them. The staff at Scienceworks try to make sure that visitors are able to involve themselves with the exhibitions, interact with them to improve their science knowledge in order to live and work more safely, and make more informed decisions. It also aims to inspire more students take on science education and careers. The staff also point out different types of careers that science can lead to through different disciplines.
A key point is the difficulty and complexity of running an information organisation that operates everyday of the year. It is seen to be particularly important to keep up with community expectations. To do this it is recognised that the museum must continuously find out what the audience is thinking, what they want, what are their expectations. Also a high priority, is seen to be looking after the paid and volunteer staff because without them the organisation could not function. It is also seen as very important for the organisation to continuously listen and learn, and be open to new ideas and changes. Taking risks and trying different things is also viewed to be important. |
| Report: | VIEW |
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