AUGMENTED REALITY FOR INTERPRETIVE AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
The goal of the ARIEL project is the creation of an exhibit platform that uses scientific visualization techniques to transform modern visitor interaction with traditional hands-on exhibits. The project will ultimately demonstrate an innovative solution to a key problem faced by science centers: the reinvention of the exhibit experience for visitors with changing 21st century learning expectations.
The project has three main goals:
- to increase awareness of STEM content;
- improve 21st century learning skills;
- produce an evidence-based model for use of augmented reality activities within science museum settings.
The project combines technological and pedagogical components in the AR fixed-station activities and the VR environment that exhibit multiple characteristics and constraints to engagement.
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SOFTWARE
ARIEL Builder is free software, developed to facilitate the use of augmented reality technology in informal science learning experiences. The target user community includes exhibit and program developers who work at hands-on science museums. While the software was developed with this community in mind, all developers are welcome to use ARIEL Builder—in fact, we look forward to seeing how it might be adapted for other purposes!
Available for Download:
ARIEL Builder
Version 2.0
September 21, 2012
System Requirements:
Mac Operating System OS X 10.6 or higher
Minimum 2 GB RAM
300 MB Hard Drive Space
The ARIEL Builder Documentation is included in the installation package.
Development Updates are available at Github.
ARIEL Builder software is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.
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LEARNING RESEARCH
The ARIEL project seeks to understand the impact that augmented reality technology may have on informal science learning in a science museum exhibit.
The central research questions are:
> What variables influence engagement with the fixed-station and virtual environment aplications?
> What configuration of variables produces optimal learning outcomes with respect to the identified project goals?Research Publications
Yoon, S., Elinich, K., Wang, J., Van Schooneveld, J., Anderson, E., (2013). Scaffolding informal learning in science museums: How much is too much? Science Education
Yoon, S. & Elinich, K. (2013) Doing augmented reality and knowledge-building in a science museum: Formalizing an informal learning experience. Proceedings of the annual conference of the International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, Madison, Wisconsin.
Yoon, S., Elinich, K., Wang, J., Steinmeier, C., & Tucker, S. (2012). Using augmented reality and knowledge-building scaffolds to improve learning in a science museum. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 7(4), 519-541. doi:10.1007/s11412-012-9156-x
Yoon, S., Elinich, K., Wang, J., Steinmeier, C., & Van Schooneveld, J. (2012). Learning Impacts of a Digital Augmentation in a Science Museum. Visitor Studies, 15(2), 157-170. doi:10.1080/10645578.2012.715007
Wang, J., Yoon, S., Elinich, K, & Van Schooneveld, J. (2012). Investigating the effects of varying labels as scaffolds for visitor learning. Proceedings of the International Conference for the Learning Sciences (ICLS), Sydney, Australia.
Yoon, S., Elinich, K., Wang, J., & Van Schooneveld, J.G. (2012). Augmented reality in the science museum: Lessons learned in scaffolding for conceptual and cognitive learning. Proceedings of Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA), Madrid, Spain.
Yoon, S., Elinich, K., Wang, J., Steinmeier, C., & Van Schooneveld, J. (2011). Fostering critical thinking in science museums through digital augmentations. Proceedings of the annual conference of the International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, Hong Kong, China.
Yoon, S., Elinich, K., Steinmeier, C., Wang, J., & Tucker, S. (2011). Learning science through knowledge-building and augmented reality in museums. Proceedings of the annual conference of the International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, Hong Kong, China.
Snyder, S., & Elinich, K. (2010). Augmented reality for interpretive and experiential learning. Proceedings from EVA 2010: Electronic Visualization and the Arts, London, UK. Retrieved from: http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/ewic_ev10_s4paper4.pdf
Conference Presentations
Yoon, S., Elinich, K., Wang, J., & Van Schooneveld, J. (2012). Augmented reality and knowledge building: To what extent can they enhance learning in a science museum? Annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada.
Snyder, S., & Elinich, K. (2010). Augmented Reality for Interpretive and Experiential Learning. Technology, Interpretation, and Education Online Conference. American Association of Museums.
http://www.aam-us.org/getinvolved/learn/interpretation2010.cfm
Elinich, K. (2010). Augmented Reality for Interpretive and Experiential Learning Demonstration Session. Museums and the Web 2010. Denver, CO.
http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/abstracts/prg_335002413.html
Snyder, S. (2009). Augmented Reality for Interpretive and Experiential Learning. Association of Science and Technology Centers Conference. Fort Worth, TX.Other Publications
ASTC Dimensions - October 2012 -
Dimensions-Sep2012.pdf -
PHOTOS & VIDEO
Coming Soon
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0741659. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. -
CREDITS
The following are the key contributors to the ARIEL project.
Principal Investigator: Karen Elinich, Ed.D. - kelinich@fi.edu
Co-Principal Investigator: Susan Yoon, Ph.D. - yoonsa@gse.upenn.edu
Original Principal Investigator: Steve Snyder, Ph.D.
Emma Anderson, Al Bruno, Jayatri Das, Brigette Indelicato, Brian Kelly, Erika Kiessner, Elizabeth Reynolds, Christopher Steinmeier, Kyle Stetz, Joyce Wang, Jacqueline Van Schooneveld, Eric Welch.