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1. Mobile Augmented Reality in the Backyard: Families’ Outdoor Spaces as Sites of Exploration about Pollinators

   Zimmerman, Heather Toomey; Land, Susan M.; Grills, Katharine; Chiu, Yu-Chen; Faimon, Lillyanna; McClain, Lucy; Williams, Jeff (January 2021, 15th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) Proceedings)

   de Vries, Erica; Yotam Hod, Yotam; Ahn, June (Ed.)

   From the first iteration of a design-based research study with 16 families, we investigated at-home intergenerational exploration of pollinators and plants. The team developed a mobile augmented reality app focused on plant-pollinator interactions. We investigated how AR elements influence families’ learning in their backyards. This analysis informs the design of mobile augmented reality apps that are site-independent for families’ collaborative learning opportunities in outdoor, home-based settings. 

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2. Visualizing Observation: The Role of AR App-Supported Science Learning in Fostering Families’ Scientific Observation

   https://doi.org/10.22318/icls2024.664683  

   Xu, Yanping; Zimmerman, Heather Toomey; Land, Susan M; McClain, Lucy R (June 2024, International Society of the Learning Sciences)

   Lindgren, R; Asino, T I; Kyza, E A; Looi, C K; Keifert, D T; Suárez, E (Ed.)

   To support scientific observation, we conducted a research study using a place-based, mobile augmented reality (AR) app to assist families in learning about healthy habitats for pollinators. By analyzing videos and transcripts from 17 families, we found the significant effects of seven learning activities on families’ scientific observation along four dimensions. The study contributes findings related to how engaging with various features of an AR app can influence aspects of families’ scientific observation. 

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3. Mobile Augmented Reality Supporting Community-based Learning: Families’ Exploration of Land-Water Interactions.

   ​​Zimmerman, H. T.; Land, S. M.; Faimon, L.; Chiu., Y.-C. (January 2022, 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences Proceedings)

   Chinn, C; Tan, E.; Chan, C; Kali Y. (Ed.)

   From a design-based research study investigating rural families’ science learning with mobile devices, we share findings related to the intergenerational exploration of geological time concepts at a children’s garden at a university arboretum. The team developed a mobile augmented reality app, Time Explorers, focused on how millions of years of rock-water interactions shaped Appalachia. Data are recorded videos of app usage and interviews from 17 families (51 people); videos were transcribed, coded, and developed into qualitative case studies. We present results related to design elements that supported sensory engagement (e.g., observation, touch) through AR visualizations related to geological history. This analysis contributes to the literature on informal learning environments, theory related to learning-on- the-move, and the role of sensory engagement with AR experiences in outdoor learning. 

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4. Mobile augmented reality supporting families’ immersive collaborative learning: Learning-on-the-move for place-based geoscience sense-making

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-023-09399-9  

   Zimmerman, Heather Toomey; Land, Susan M.; Faimon, Lillyanna; Chiu, Yu-Chen (July 2023, International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning)

   Abstract We investigated how families experienced immersion as they collaboratively made sense of geologic time and geoscience processes during a place-based, learning-on-the-move (LOTM) experience mediated by a mobile augmented reality (MAR) app. Our team developed an MAR app,Time Explorers, that focused on how rock-water interactions shaped Appalachia over millions of years. Data were collected at the Children’s Garden at the Arboretum at Penn State. Data sources were videos of app usage, point-of-view camera recordings with audio capturing family conversations, and interviews from 17 families (51 people). The analytical technique was interaction analysis, in which episodes of family sense-making were identified and developed into qualitative vignettes focused on how immersion did or did not support learning about geoscience and geologic time. We analyzed how design elements supported sensory, actional, narrative, and social immersion through photo-taking, discussion prompts, and augmented reality visualizations. Findings showed that sensory and social immersion supported sense-making conversations and observational inquiry, while narrative and actional immersion supported deep family engagement with the geoscience content. At many micro-sites of learning, families engaged in multiple immersive processes where conversations, observational inquiry, and deep engagement with the geoscience came together during LOTM. This analysis contributes to the CSCL literature on theory related to LOTM in outdoor informal settings, while also providing design conjectures in an immersive, family-centered, place-based LOTM framework. 

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5. Design Conjectures for Place-Based Science Learning About Water: Implementing Mobile Augmented Reality with Families

   Zimmerman, H. T.; Land, S. M.; Grills, K. E.; Chiu, Y.-C.; Jung, Y. J.; Williams, J. (January 2020, Proceedings of the 14th International Conference for the Learning Sciences)

   From a design-based research study with 31 families, we share the design conjectures that guided the first two iterations of research. The team developed a mobile augmented reality app focused on water-rock interactions to make earth sciences appealing to rural families. We iterated on one design element, the augmented reality visualizations, to understand how these AR elements influence families’ learning behavior in a children’s garden cave as well as their resulting geosciences knowledge. This analysis is an example of how design conjecture maps can be used to support research and development of mobile computer-supported collaborative learning opportunities for families in outdoor, informal learning settings. 

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