Designs for learning: Studying science museum exhibits that do more than entertain

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Science museum staff face a constructivist dilemma as they design their public spaces: the exhibits should facilitate science learning, yet they also need to support a diverse visiting public in making their own personal choices about where to attend, what to do, and how to interpret their interactions. To be effective as teaching tools, exhibits need to be highly intrinsically motivating at every step of an interaction in order to sustain involvement by an audience who views their visit primarily as a leisure activity. Given these challenges, it is vital to support the design process with a strong program of research and evaluation. I give a personal perspective on one institution's research and evaluation work over the last decade, focusing on four areas: immediate apprehendability, physical interactivity, conceptual coherence, and diversity of learners.

Disorientating, fun or meaningful? Disadvantaged families’ experiences of a science museum visit

“…However, only Kayefi's family (discussed in the following section), appeared to transform 'fun' into 'learning' (or, more specifically, learning with a clear exchange value). While research by Sue Allen (2004) suggests that fun and learning work together in hands-on, interactive galleries in ISLEs, our findings suggest that interactive galleries may not represent the same science learning opportunities to all families. Contrary to our expectations, it was noted that family talk and discussion was particularly limited in the large 'hands on' interactive gallery.…”

Out of school opportunities for science and mathematics learning: Environment as the third educator

“…Furthermore, these educational spaces need to be intrinsically motivating at every step of the interaction, have an educational purpose, and respond well to the diversity of learners (Allen, 2004), not just to those with prior scientific interest.…”

Exploring Social Interaction With a Tangible Music Interface

“…However, the behaviour of visitors interacting with computer-based exhibits is difficult to predict because of their novelty (Hindmarsh et al, 2005;vom Lehn et al, 2001): visitors may interact differently than the designer's expectations. In particular, interactive installations need to be immediately apprehendable, so that visitors can quickly determine whether it is worthwhile to interact and understand how to get started (Allen, 2004). Museum educators have also become sceptical of the traditional 'button-pushing' didactic model known from science museums, and aim for installation design that supports discovery, sensemaking, imagination, and constructive learning (Bedford, 2014;Falk and Dierking, 2012;Perry, 2012).…”