Learning theory in museums: investigating the role of serendipity in public engagement and learning of stem

The American Museum of Natural History received a $1,053,769 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) to investigate the role of serendipity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning within informal museum settings. The award, obligated on September 15, 2025, with completion expected by August 31, 2027, supports empirical research examining how unplanned yet meaningful learning experiences—termed serendipitous moments—can spark curiosity, deepen understanding, and encourage public participation in STEM. The project builds on and refines the SAIL (Serendipity and Agency in Informal Learning) model developed during preliminary research, with the core objective of identifying key features and contextual conditions that support serendipitous learning across different museum visitors and environments.

This theory-building investigation directly supports national efforts to increase public access to and participation in STEM by advancing the knowledge base on how informal learning spaces can foster meaningful scientific engagement. By examining when, how, and for whom serendipitous moments occur in museums, the research will contribute evidence-based understanding to inform museum design, educational programming, and visitor engagement strategies that leverage unexpected discoveries and visitor agency to promote deeper STEM learning and exploration.

Abstract

Serendipity, or insight coupled with chance, has been identified as an essential element of scientific discovery and played a key role in the work of countless scholars and researchers. For instance, examples of serendipitous discoveries include penicillin, radioactivity, and the adhesive for post-IT notes. Yet serendipitous moments are neither rare nor solely the domain of magnificent discoveries; they happen regularly to all. This project investigates how unplanned yet meaningful learning experiences-termed serendipitous moments-can spark curiosity, deepen understanding, and encourage participation in informal science learning environments like museums. Serendipitous learning occurs when a learner encounters an insight by chance while having the background to recognize and act on the discovery. These moments often arise when visitors encounter something unexpected that connects with their prior knowledge and, when they feel a sense of agency, leads to insights that encourage further exploration. While research on serendipity has burgeoned in the last two decades in the context of library and information sciences and scientific research, its role in supporting learning in education contexts is only beginning. By examining when, how, and for whom serendipitous moments occur, this research aims to further understand this phenomenon in informal learning spaces like museums. The project will contribute to national efforts to increase public access to and participation in stem. This theory-building empirical investigation will explore the role of serendipity in learning at museums. IT builds on and refines a new model of learning in museums - sail (serendipity and agency in informal learning) conceptualized during early pilot work. The core research question is, what are the key features and contextual conditions that support serendipitous moments across different exhibit types? Using a mixed-methods approach, the research team will conduct surveys, interviews and observations, and in-museum experience sampling to document when and where these moments occur, what triggers them, and what cognitive, emotional, and behavioral outcomes they produce. The project specifically examines the relationship between serendipity and prior experience, personal agency, and spatial context (e.g., liminal or transitional areas within museums that foster connections between spaces). A team of researchers, including youth CO-researchers and museum staff, will guide the study to ensure relevance to real world applications. As foundational research, findings will advance a new theory of learning in informal learning environments. To ensure this study considers potential practice implications, the team will regularly explore emerging findings in collaborations with museum educators and exhibit developers. This aisl integrating research & practice award is funded by the advancing informal stem learning (aisl) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of stem learning in informal environments. This includes providing everyone with multiple pathways for accessing and engaging in stem learning experiences. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.