Exploring Museum Visitors' Learning With an Interactive Tabletop Exhibit on Electricity

• In Event: 42.072 - Observational Methodologies Across Informal Learning Spaces

Abstract

Objectives. The goal of this study is to investigate how learning with multiple representations happens in an informal learning environment. For this purpose, we examine the design of an interactive tabletop exhibit to help children learn about electricity and electrical circuits. Using the exhibit, visitors interact with electrical circuits at two levels. At one level, visitors can create and test a variety of circuits by wiring together circuit components (circuit-level). At another level, visitors can inspect computational models of electrons moving through these components (electron-level). We conducted a museum study with parent-child dyads at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, comparing four different interfaces of our design.

Perspectives. Even though the idea of combining multiple representations seems promising, studies have demonstrated that learners fail to gain from multiple representations if the environment is not carefully designed (Ainsworth, 2006; Goldman, 2003). The current focus of this study is to answer two research questions. First, we investigate the effects of dynamically linking the two representations, as presented in DeFT framework (Ainsworth, 2006), on visitor’s learning and quality of interaction. Second, we study if explorations with physical circuit components improve visitors’ engagement and learning gains compared to a digital circuit simulator.

Methods. On each observation day, we set up one of the four interfaces and recruited dyads including parents with children between 10 and 14 years old. We invited participants to use our design as they would use any other exhibit in the museum and to talk out loud while interacting with the system. To assess the learning gains, we run surveys with children after their interaction with the design. Sessions were video recorded and took around 25 minutes to complete.

Data Sources. Data took the form of video recordings from participants’ interactions with the system and post interview responses, field notes, and records of interaction times. We used two camera angles, to capture both the parent-child interaction and the quality of dyad’s interaction for each interface. We also recorded the screen of the interface (figure 1).

Results. We analyzed videos of sessions to investigate how participants made sense of both the circuit-level and electron-level representations. We examined discourse, physical interaction, and the shifting roles of parents and children in the activity. We also looked at visitors’ interaction times, types of activities, and conversational elaborations. We are particularly interested in understanding how visitors established a conceptual link (bridge) between the two representations and how that link was communicated between the parent and child. Our preliminary findings show that a wide variety of interactions in the form of talk and gesture can occur while dyads connect the two representations of a circuit.
Significance. Using video data, we investigate how visitor families make sense of multiple representations in an interactive tabletop interface. Our findings help us identify the design factors that can support a fluid and meaningful transition among the representations.

Authors

• Elham Beheshti, Northwestern University

• Michael S. Horn, Northwestern University