Paper Info
Title
Comparing the use of tangible and graphical programming languages for informal science education
Abstract
Much of the work done in the field of tangible interaction has focused on creating tools for learning; however, in many cases, little evidence has been provided that tangible interfaces offer educational benefits compared to more conventional interaction techniques. In this paper, we present a study comparing the use of a tangible and a graphical interface as part of an interactive computer programming and robotics exhibit that we designed for the Boston Museum of Science. In this study, we have collected observations of 260 museum visitors and conducted interviews with 13 family groups. Our results show that visitors found the tangible and the graphical systems equally easy to understand. However, with the tangible interface, visitors were significantly more likely to try the exhibit and significantly more likely to actively participate in groups. In turn, we show that regardless of the condition, involving multiple active participants leads to significantly longer interaction times. Finally, we examine the role of children and adults in each condition and present evidence that children are more actively involved in the tangible condition, an effect that seems to be especially strong for girls.
Year
DOI
Venue
2009
10.1145/1518701.1518851
CHI
Keywords
Field
DocType
present evidence,graphical system,conventional interaction technique,boston museum,interaction time,graphical interface,informal science education,tangible interaction,graphical programming language,tangible interface,robotics exhibit,tangible condition,graphical programming,programming language,programming languages,interaction technique
Computer science,Visual programming language,Human–computer interaction,Graphical user interface,Artificial intelligence,Multimedia,Robotics,Computer programming,Science education
Conference
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
90
4.82
28
Authors
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Michael S. Horn183756.12
Erin T. Solovey273048.09
R. Jordan Crouser318915.89
Robert J. K. Jacob42862341.84