Human-in-the-Loop: Supporting Facilitators' Scaffolding of Visitor Engagement and Learning in Science Museums

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: Museums and Visitor Engagement

Abstract

The overarching goal of this study is to investigate how the design of a dashboard tool can support explainers (i.e., facilitators in a museum exhibit) in scaffolding visitor engagement and learning in open-ended inquiry activities. To better understand the design requirements, we conducted observations in situ to document current facilitative activities and focus groups to elicit the explainer’s perspectives on the problem space. In this paper, we present our preliminary analysis of different types of tasks performed and envisioned by the explainers. We anticipate our findings will give us greater insight into essential design features of a digital dashboard for any learning context that aims to support learners’ engagement with open-ended inquiry activities.

Authors

• Elham Beheshti, ETS

• Leilah Lyons, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Wren Thompson, New York Hall of Science

• Aditi Mallavarapu, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Stephen Miles Uzzo, New York Hall of Science