Hidden Value: Investigating the Physics Demonstration as Aesthetic Experience

• In Event: Science Communication - II: Making Science in Public

Abstract

Physics demonstrations have a rich history both in and outside the classroom. In this project, we draw on John Dewey’s theory of aesthetic experience to better understand the value of these events for both presenters and audiences. Evaluations of demonstrations have traditionally focused on their ability to facilitate comprehension and retention of information; however, Dewey’s aesthetic theory offers a lens with which we are better able to examine them as meaningful interactions between demonstrators and audiences. An aesthetic experience, as Dewey describes it, need not be a life-altering moment, but instead, it is a moment that brings with it a sense of wholeness and completion. It gives us reason to interpret the event and allows us to fold it into the way we make sense of the world. We used aesthetic experience as the foundation for a study of undergraduate student group that performed science demonstrations for elementary schools and family science events. Using observation, narrative inquiry, and journal prompts, we collected stories from both the presenters as well as their audiences. We found that the performers were engaged in performing expressive acts rather than explanatory presentations, and that the audiences interpreted these acts through their own lived experience, imbuing them with meanings that were shared by the group, but also unique to each audience member. We conclude that the experience model of science communication has the power to reveal the significance not only of these demonstrations, but of many informal learning and public engagement interventions.

Authors

• Sydney Ozellah Seese, Michigan State University

• Megan Halpern, Michigan State University

• Kathleen Hinko, Michigan State University