In this study, we investigate museum visitor learning and engagement at an interactive visualization of an evolutionary tree of life consisting of over 70,000 species. The study was conducted at two natural history museums where visitors collaboratively explored the tree of life using direct touch gestures on a multi‐touch tabletop display. In the study, 247 youth, aged 8–15 years, were randomly assigned in pairs to one of four conditions. In two of the conditions, pairs of youth interacted with different versions of the tree of life tabletop exhibit for a fixed duration of 10 minutes. In a third condition, pairs watched a 10 minute video on a similar topic. Individual responses on a 53‐item exit interview were then compared to responses from a fourth, baseline condition. Contrasting with the baseline condition, visitors who interacted with the tabletop exhibits were significantly more likely to reason correctly about core evolutionary concepts, particularly common descent and shared ancestry. They were also more likely to correctly interpret phylogenetic tree diagrams. To investigate the factors influencing these learning outcomes, we used linear mixed models to analyze measures of dyads’ verbal engagement and physical interaction with the exhibit. These models indicated that, while our verbal and physical measures were related, they accounted for significant portions of the variance on their own, independent of youth age, prior knowledge, and parental background. Our results provide evidence that multi‐touch interactive exhibits that enable visitors to explore large scientific datasets can provide engaging and effective learning opportunities. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 895–918, 2016
Engaging families around museum exhibits: comparing tangible and multi-touch interfaces
Over the last decade, large multitouch displays have become commonplace in museums and other public spaces. While there is preliminary evidence that exhibits based on tangible technologies can be more attractive and engaging for visitors than displays alone, very little empirical research has directly compared tangible to large multitouch displays in museums. In this paper, we present a study comparing the use of a tangible and a multitouch tabletop interface in an exhibit designed to explore musical rhythms. From an observation pool of 791 museum visitors, a total of 227 people in 82 groups interacted with one of the two versions of our exhibit. We share the exhibit design, experimental setup, and methods and measures. Our findings highlight advantages of tangible interaction in terms of attracting and engaging children and families. However, the two exhibits were equally effective at supporting collaborative interaction within visitor groups. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for museum exhibit design vis-à-vis visitor engagement and learning.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1837661
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10278153
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- IDC '20: Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference
- Volume:
- June 2020
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 556–566
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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