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These are some of the predominant learning theories currently being applied
to exhibit development:
Social Learning Theory. Vygotsky and other theorists have elaborated
on the social nature of learning. Learning often occurs in the context
of interaction and collaboration with other people, in the presence of
a wide range of levels of understanding and interests. Learning happens
when different levels of understanding meet and grow in the encounter.
This is, of course, a basis for much of our exhibit work. A media program
can also reflect this approach when it is specifically designed to encourage
visitors to talk about the topic rather than just click through information
about it. (In fact, it is often less expensive to develop this type of
program, since it relies on the visitor's own communication, rather than
on elaborate and expensive "entertainment" techniques.) For example, a
survey program developed for Boston's "Teen Tokyo" exhibit asks visitors
to compare their answers to questions such as "What makes kids popular
in your school?" with responses from teens in Boston and Tokyo. The focus
on simple, engaging questions provides a space for many conversations
between parent and child. Role-play situations may also be facilitated
by media; a chromakey studio in the "TV and Me" exhibit in Boston allows
the child to play weather forecaster as the parent or another sibling
operates the video camera.
Constructivist Learning Theory. Constructivist approaches to learning
focus on ways visitors can develop their knowledge by giving them tools
to "construct" their own objects or ideas. Children's museums have traditionally
excelled in this area, with opportunities to build things incorporated
as part of many exhibits.
Media programs, too, can take a constructivist approach to learning,
though in museums they need to contend with the short amount of time most
users spend in an exhibit. By focusing on simple forms of user constructions
with "prebuilt" support structures, the user can supply key elements,
such as quick drawings incorporated into an animation or short recorded
statements that become part of the program. Visitors can also begin projects
in the museum which can continue at home (an ideal use of a museum Web
site which in turn allows the user to later share with the museum what
he or she creates at home).
Multiple Intelligences Theory. Howard Gardner's theories which
identify several types of "intelligences" (including language, logical/mathematical,
spatial, musical, body/kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal)
have been popular in children's museums, where exhibits tend to focus
on a wide range of sensory, "whole" experiences.
It is not a great revelation that technologies can be designed to fit
any particular intelligence type, especially with the use of novel interfaces.
But the more important point is that technologies should be developed
in the context of the larger exhibit, so that the exhibit as a whole appeals
to the broad range of intelligences. It can be helpful to look at the
total exhibit to see if one approach is overused or underserved, and to
be sure the media program doesn't simply fall into line, going over the
same territory covered by other exhibit components. In practice, there
should be a close line of communication between the media developer and
the exhibit developer (if they are not the same person), and there should
be a direct conversation about the different ways in which people learn
and how the exhibit can be designed to appeal to the greatest possible
number of visitors.
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