Abstract
This study explores the collaboration between a museum and a university, which has lasted for over a decade. By integrating design students into the process of critically assessing and hacking exhibitions, the museum and the university has created a dynamic environment where new stories, unseen props, and innovative interactions are introduced to existing exhibitions. The partnership involves diverse expertise from educators, researchers, young adults, visitors and museum staff. The collaboration emphasizes hands-on participation, allowing students to engage with real-world exhibition practices as hackers of the permanent exhibitions. The aim of the study is to describe the working methods and to analyse how learning takes shape within this type of context. In the article, the concept of hacking is introduced and refers to the creative modification and re-imagining of permanent exhibitions. The study investigates the narratives and the visual documentation from the long-term collaboration and shows that the narratives about the hacking supports but also oppose principles of learning in the wild. The collaborative hacking process presented and analysed, can be used as a support for structuring co-creation and communication between professionals in design education and in a museum, offering a flexible framework that encourages collaboration without imposing overly rigid boundaries. The presented model of hacking a museum exhibition offers insights for advancing educational practices in design.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.039
Citation
Schaeffer, J.,and Sas, M.(2025) The University Hacks the Museum: Learning in the Wild, in Clemente, V., Gomes, G., Reis, M., Félix, S., Ala, S., Jones, D. (eds.), Learn X Design 2025, 22-24 September 2025, Aveiro, Portugal. https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.039
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Full Paper
The University Hacks the Museum: Learning in the Wild
This study explores the collaboration between a museum and a university, which has lasted for over a decade. By integrating design students into the process of critically assessing and hacking exhibitions, the museum and the university has created a dynamic environment where new stories, unseen props, and innovative interactions are introduced to existing exhibitions. The partnership involves diverse expertise from educators, researchers, young adults, visitors and museum staff. The collaboration emphasizes hands-on participation, allowing students to engage with real-world exhibition practices as hackers of the permanent exhibitions. The aim of the study is to describe the working methods and to analyse how learning takes shape within this type of context. In the article, the concept of hacking is introduced and refers to the creative modification and re-imagining of permanent exhibitions. The study investigates the narratives and the visual documentation from the long-term collaboration and shows that the narratives about the hacking supports but also oppose principles of learning in the wild. The collaborative hacking process presented and analysed, can be used as a support for structuring co-creation and communication between professionals in design education and in a museum, offering a flexible framework that encourages collaboration without imposing overly rigid boundaries. The presented model of hacking a museum exhibition offers insights for advancing educational practices in design.