TY - GEN
T1 - Looking inside the wires
T2 - 2017 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2017
AU - Beheshti, Elham
AU - Kim, David
AU - Ecanow, Gabrielle
AU - Horn, Michael S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 ACM.
PY - 2017/5/2
Y1 - 2017/5/2
N2 - Understanding electrical circuits can be difficult for novices of all ages. In this paper, we describe a science museum exhibit that enables visitors to make circuits on an interactive tabletop and observe a simulation of electrons flowing through the circuit. Our goal is to use multiple representations to help convey basic concepts of current and resistance. To study visitor interaction and learning, we tested the design at a popular science museum with 60 parent-child dyads in three conditions: a control condition with no electron simulation; a condition with the simulation displayed alongside the circuit on the same screen; and an augmented reality condition, with the simulation displayed on a tablet that acts as a lens to see into the circuit. Our findings show that children did significantly better on a posttest in both experimental conditions, with children performing best in the AR condition. However, analysis of session videos shows unexpected parent-child collaboration in the AR condition.
AB - Understanding electrical circuits can be difficult for novices of all ages. In this paper, we describe a science museum exhibit that enables visitors to make circuits on an interactive tabletop and observe a simulation of electrons flowing through the circuit. Our goal is to use multiple representations to help convey basic concepts of current and resistance. To study visitor interaction and learning, we tested the design at a popular science museum with 60 parent-child dyads in three conditions: a control condition with no electron simulation; a condition with the simulation displayed alongside the circuit on the same screen; and an augmented reality condition, with the simulation displayed on a tablet that acts as a lens to see into the circuit. Our findings show that children did significantly better on a posttest in both experimental conditions, with children performing best in the AR condition. However, analysis of session videos shows unexpected parent-child collaboration in the AR condition.
KW - Agent-based modeling
KW - Augmented reality
KW - Design
KW - Electrical circuits
KW - Interactive surfaces
KW - Multiple representations
KW - Museum learning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044854343&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85044854343&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/3025453.3025479
DO - 10.1145/3025453.3025479
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85044854343
T3 - Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings
SP - 1583
EP - 1594
BT - CHI 2017 - Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
PB - Association for Computing Machinery
Y2 - 6 May 2017 through 11 May 2017
ER -