Beyond Walls: Co-designing for Innovation in Science Centres is an award-winning research poster presented at the Association of Science and Technology Centres (ASTC) 2025 Annual Conference in San Francisco. The poster illustrates how a participatory co-design approach, based on doctoral research with Scitech Science Discovery Centre, transformed the museum into a Living Lab, generating stronger transmedia learning outcomes for children, families, and staff. Findings highlight how these programs strengthen family connections, extend engagement beyond exhibitions, and foster sustained STEM problem-solving in young children.

PhD Research

Simon Daniele’s doctoral research at Curtin University, supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child and conducted in partnership with Scitech Science Discovery Centre, investigates how co-designed transmedia programs can connect physical exhibitions with digital experiences to engage families in new ways. 

Early insights show that these approaches extend learning beyond the walls of the centre, foster children’s problem-solving and computational thinking, and encourage return visitation. From this work, a transferable framework is being developed to help science centres and museums design innovative, research-based programs that deliver deeper engagement and lasting community impact.

Publications

Beyond Museum Walls: A Transmedia Approach to Fostering Multimodal Literacy and STEM Engagement in Science Discovery Children’s Museums

Journal of Early Childhood Literacy (Special Issue)

This article reports on an eight-week co-designed transmedia program involving 76 families, linking museum exhibitions with a digital program that extended learning into the home. Families engaged across home and museum settings in narrative-based challenges that fostered multimodal literacy, computational thinking, and sustained STEM engagement, while encouraging return visits and extending learning beyond the museum walls. Findings offer strategies for science centres and museums to design innovative, equitable, and research-based learning programs.

Simon Daniele

Simon Daniele is a doctoral researcher based at Curtin University, supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child and recipient of the Scitech Industry Scholarship. His work specialises in co-designing transmedia learning programs for science centres and museums, investigating how physical exhibitions can be extended through digital experiences to deepen engagement and strengthen family learning. Simon is passionate about improving the lives of young children by harnessing the power of storytelling and digital innovation to inspire curiosity, foster critical thinking, and create meaningful connections for children and families. Through his research, Simon has collaborated with Scitech Science Discovery Centre and undertaken a research internship at the Science Centre Singapore, where he tested the transmedia tools he developed, explored cultural nuances in program design, and created conceptual transmedia programs for an active exhibition. His findings highlight how transmedia approaches foster children’s problem-solving and computational thinking, encourage return visitation, and extend learning beyond the centre walls. While grounded in science centres, Simon’s framework offers transferable strategies for science centres, museums, galleries, and other informal learning environments seeking to design innovative programs that deliver deeper engagement and lasting community impact.