Designing tangibles for learning: An empirical investigation
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Mathematics Science and Technology
Abstract
Recent developments in wireless and sensor technologies make it possible for computational power to be embedded in objects and the environment. These objects and locations can be networked together in a number of different ways, and can be linked to various forms of digital representation, such as an image or animation on a screen display, a sound, or even a change in the object itself. For example, Flow Blocks are blocks embedded with sensor technology. When the blocks are connected together light signals are sent through them, to help children to explore different models of flow. Combining physical objects and real world environments with digital enhancement in this way offers the opportunity for learners to explore physical or scientific phenomena in new ways, giving them access to information not normally available in the physical world. Several research studies demonstrate the technical possibilities of such 'tangible environments', but little is known about their particular value for learning. We have now reached a point where more systematic investigation of the learning benefits is essential for guiding future development and use of tangible technologies for learning, and in particular to understand more clearly the impact of different ways of linking together objects, environments and information, on the way that learners interact with and understand scientific ideas.To achieve this a research framework has been developed, which identifies design characteristics of tangible artefacts and related representations i.e., the different ways of linking information and representations of scientific phenomena to objects and actions placed upon those objects. Tangible artefacts and representations will be designed, developed and linked to help students learning about biology topics, such as genetics, or physics topics, such as forces and motion. For example, in understanding genetic diversity through meiosis, chromosomes could be represented as objects created from different materials e.g., colour-coded blocks or a substance that feels more fragile which easily connects and disconnects. When joined together crossovers, or genetic recombination, of the joined chromosomes could be shown, either in the artefacts themselves through changes of colour-coded segments, or as an animation on an adjacent screen, or indeed both. What kind of inferences and conclusions can students draw from the different kind of representations associated with the object-action relationship? Does the 'construction' activity or the tangibility of different materials facilitate inferences/ understanding? Small groups of students will work with the tangibles and be encouraged to talk about what they think is happening when they move objects around, see or hear digital effects produced by their actions. Data from empirical studies will be analysed to explore the impact of different design variables on interaction and cognition. Findings will be used to derive preliminary guidelines to inform the design of effective integration of technologies and representations to develop a tangible learning environment. An example environment will then be evaluated to assess its impact on student learning, and to verify the design guidelines. This research will provide much needed insight into the learning benefits of tangibles and associated representations, and the effective integration of artefacts and representations for particular kinds of learning. This will inform the development of design guidelines for tangible technologies for learning, and ways in which tangible learning can be integrated into teaching to enhance learning and effective pedagogical practice.
People |
ORCID iD |
Sara Price (Principal Investigator) | |
George Roussos (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Falcão T
(2010)
Informing design for tangible interaction
J Sheridan
(2009)
DIY Design Process for Interactive Surfaces
Mueller F
(2012)
Balancing exertion experiences
Mueller F
(2010)
Jogging over a distance
Mueller F
(2010)
Jogging over a distance between Europe and Australia
Mueller, F.
(2011)
Designing Sports: A Framework for Exertion Games.
in Proceedings of SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Panchaphongsaphak B
(2008)
Contact-sensitive artefacts: implementing tangible interfaces through force-torque sensing
in International Journal of Arts and Technology
Pontual Falcão T
(2010)
Interfering and resolving: How tabletop interaction facilitates co-construction of argumentative knowledge
in International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning
Title | Surface Tension |
Description | The full day event consisting of hands-on demonstrations, installations and short talks, followed by an evening of performances and a panel of experts who will discuss the history of interactive surfaces and debate future implications. |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2009 |
Impact | Networking, public engagement and increasing public awareness |
URL | http://vimeo.com/5457345 |
Description | This project investigated how tangible technologies ('tangibles') affect the way learners interact with and understand scientific ideas. In human-computer interaction, 'tangibles' are physical objects or materials (e.g. building blocks, balls) that are embedded with sensor-based technologies and linked to digital information, as images, sound or tactile feedback, such as, vibration. These technologies foster hands-on learning, providing new explorative ways of interacting with information and engendering a more active approach to learning than traditional computing. Physical objects coupled with digital information in this way also offer opportunities to present information not normally available in the physical world, such as invisible scientific phenomena. A purpose built tangible interface (the LightTable) was developed to explore how digital augmentation of physical objects can support children's understanding of science - in this case the behaviour of light with objects of different colours, shapes and textures, i.e. how light is reflected refracted or absorbed with these different kinds of objects. A torch acts as a light source eliciting a digital white light beam when placed on the table. Visual digital effects change when objects are directly manipulated, either by placing them in the pathwayof the light beam, or being taken off the table or altering their position, which causes the light beam to be interrupted or redirected. Studies with 11-14 year olds have shown how tangible interfaces can mediate exploratory learning and collaborative activity, and can engender effective learning processes. Findings are outlined under the following themes: Collaborative learning: This design, where digital information is integrated with the physical objects and dynamically displayed in real time depending on how children move the objects, supported collaborative hands-on interaction in various ways: having tangible objects as a common focus of attention facilitated collective exploration and the process of working together to 'build' new knowledge; the physical characteristics of the objects contributed to balanced levels of participation; the capacity for children to move objects simultaneously provoked rapid changes in configurations and resulted in children frequently interfering with one another's activity. This was found to be instrumental in bringing about further inquiry, both through exploratory and verbal interaction, resulting in productive learning moments.. Engagement: The dynamic nature of the environment and the facility to simultaneously explore concepts, promoted engagement not only with the activity but also with the scientific concept. The rapid changes in light due to movements of objects provided more, and different, examples of the behaviour of light from which children could draw conclusions, a central feature of exploratory and experiential learning. Analysis also showed that tangible environments interested learners in the operational aspects of the technology, contributing to understanding of the technology and the concepts being explored through new functional perspectives. Design of tangible interfaces: The research suggests that the design of the digital representation mapping to the physical object and action is critical, and that children's interpretation of scientific phenomena are not always in line with the designer's correspondence mapping. The findings also illustrate how tactile information is attended to in children's interpretation of scientific ideas, and indicate that all perceptual properties of objects must be considered by designers in contexts where such aspects matter to the interaction and meaning making. |
Exploitation Route | Findings may be of interest to science educators, museum educators, digital designers and computer developers in thinking about or designing tangible technologies for learning. The work also provides a foundation for extending research in this nascent field of tangibles for learning. |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
URL | http://www.lkl.ac.uk/research/tangibles/ |
Description | The findings have been used extensively in the research community, as the basis for further research; and by the research community in publication citations. Findings have primarily been used in HCI and Education research contexts, but also in Computer Science. As part of the project a public engagement event was organised at the Dana Centre, Science Museum, London, where the interactive table was available for the general public to interact with, along with a number of other invited examples of interactive surfaces. http://vimeo.com/5457345 |
First Year Of Impact | 2009 |
Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education |
Impact Types | Societal |
Description | HEIF |
Amount | £32,174 (GBP) |
Organisation | Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2012 |
End | 12/2014 |
Description | HEIF |
Amount | £19,043 (GBP) |
Organisation | Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2013 |
End | 07/2015 |
Description | IOE UCL Strategic Partnership |
Amount | £8,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | University College London |
Department | Institute of Education (IOE) |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2014 |
End | 06/2015 |
Description | IOE/UCL Research innovation |
Amount | £14,970 (GBP) |
Organisation | University College London |
Department | Institute of Education (IOE) |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2013 |
End | 06/2014 |
Description | JISC Geospatial |
Amount | £85,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Jisc |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2011 |
End | 11/2011 |
Description | NCRM MIP |
Amount | £160,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2013 |
End | 09/2014 |
Description | NCRM Node |
Amount | £1 (GBP) |
Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2011 |
End | 03/2015 |
Title | Interactive tangible tabletop |
Description | The interactive tangible tabletop is a purpose built tangible environment developed to support students learning about the behaviour of light. It consists of a table with a frosted glass surface, which is illuminated by infrared LEDs. A variety of hand crafted and off-the-shelf plastic objects are used as input devices. Each object is tagged with a paper marker called a 'fiducial'. When the tagged object is placed on the table surface, it is tracked by an infrared camera, through the Specific concepts explored include reflection, transmission, absorption and refraction of light, and derived concepts of colour. The tabletop environment was custom made and draws from the design of the reacTable, which employs reacTIVision technology for object recognition and Processing language for developing applications. When distinct objects are recognized by the system, different digital effects are then projected on the surface. Digital effects appear around the corresponding object as 'co-located input and output', dynamically showing visual representations of light behaviour. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2011 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Extended user based research studies drawing on different disciplines and research approaches to better understand human interaction and behaviour (communication and learning) with digital environments, foe example around embodied interaction and learning as part of the MODE project (mode.ioe.ac.uk). |
URL | http://www.lkl.ac.uk/research/tangibles/ |
Description | Birkbeck |
Organisation | Birkbeck, University of London |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | informing technology design; empirical research studies; evaluation of technology |
Collaborator Contribution | Technical development: purpose built tangible tabletop to support school science learning |
Impact | Joint publications Technical systems multi-disciplinary collaboration between Psychology/HCI and Computer Science |
Start Year | 2008 |
Description | Early Career Exchange (funded by EPSRC Grand Challenge) |
Organisation | University of Melbourne |
Country | Australia |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Obtaining funding from the EPSRC UbiComp Grand Challenge Early Career Exchange to bring a young researcher from Melbourne to work collaboratively in the project on tangible interfaces, specifically around 'exertion interfaces' with Jennifer Sheridan. Our research team provided expertise in development and HCI user studies to support the research being undertaken collaboratively. The London Knowledge Lab provided the space and resources to achieve this work, as well as an extended network of expertise in digital technologies in education. |
Collaborator Contribution | Bringing of expertise in 'exertion interfaces' which complemented the project team's expertise enabling the work to be extended into a relevant but different area. |
Impact | Mueller, F., Edge, D., Gibbs, M.R., Agamanolis, Heer, J. and Sheridan, J.G. (2012). Balancing Exertion Experiences. In Proceedings of SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 5-10 May 2012, Austin, Texas, USA. Mueller, F., Edge, D., Vetere, F., Gibbs, M.R., Agamanolis, S., Bongers, B. and Sheridan, J.G. (2011). Designing Sports: A Framework for Exertion Games. In Proceedings of SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 7-12 May 2011, Vancouver, CANADA. Sheridan, J.G. and Mueller, F. (2010). Fostering Kinesthetic Literacy through Exertion in Whole Body Interaction. In Proceedings of the Workshop on Whole Body Interaction, SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 10-11 April 2010, Atlanta, USA. Mueller, F., Vetere, F., Gibbs, M.R., Edge, D., Agamanolis, S. and Sheridan, J.G. (2010). Jogging over a Distance between Europe and Australia. In Proceedings of UIST 2010, 3-6 October 2010, New York, USA. Mueller, F., Vetere, F., Gibbs, M.R., Agamanolis, S. and Sheridan, J.G. (2010). Jogging over a Distance: The Influence of Design in Parallel Exertion Games. In Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 2010, 25-29 July 2010, Los Angeles, USA. |
Start Year | 2009 |
Title | RepRap 3D printer |
Description | Open source RepRap 3D printer |
Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
Year Produced | 2010 |
Impact | Development of researcher skill and knowledge. Foundation for developing future research around 3D printing in education |
Title | Tangible tabletop |
Description | The tabletop environment was custom made and draws from the design of the reacTable, which employs reacTIVision technology for object recognition. Interaction was enabled using a variety of custom-made artefacts tagged with fiducial icons. Applications are developed using the Processing language. Multiple objects can be recognized simultaneously thus enabling several participants to interact with the tabletop together. Users interacted with the application using a set of different coloured acrylic blocks and a torch, which were tagged with fiducial markers. Interaction consisted of placing and moving the tagged blocks and torch on the table surface. The tabletop environment in co-located mode running an application on the Physics of light. Visual effects, projected on the table surface showing light reflection, absorption, transmission and refraction, were triggered when users manipulated the torch and the blocks on the table surface. All of the objects simulated real-world behaviours, i.e., the torch shone light and the blocks reflected, absorbed and / or transmitted light according to their colour and opaqueness. |
Type Of Technology | Systems, Materials & Instrumental Engineering |
Year Produced | 2009 |
Impact | Contribution to understanding the design and development of tangible interactive surfaces. Contribution to understanding of interaction with these systems specifically in the context of science learning, and then in later work around the role of physical action (manipulation and gesture) in supporting learning interactions. Enhancing and extending researcher skills Providing a tool for future work in other projects |
Description | 11th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children. Bremen, Germany. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | All conference delegates attended this talk, provoking questions and discussion Development of PhD work |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
URL | http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2307134 |
Description | 3rd International Conference on Tangible and Embedded Interaction, Cambridge, UK |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Over 100 conference delegates attended this talk, provoking questions and discussion Citations in other academics' publications networking opportunities |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
URL | http://www.tei-conf.org/09/ |
Description | 8th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | All conference delegates attended talk, which provoked questions and discussion, as well as leading to networking opportunities within the academic community Increased networking with the academic community Citations in later publications |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
URL | http://www.isls.org/cscl2009/ |
Description | 8th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children. Como, Italy |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Over 100 conference delegates attended this talk, provoking questions and discussion Networking opportunities |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
URL | http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1551826&CFID=445536971&CFTOKEN=76947365 |
Description | 9th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, Barcelona, June 2010 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Over 100 conference delegates attended this talk, provoking questions and discussion Development of PhD work networking opportunities |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
URL | http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1810568&CFID=445536971&CFTOKEN=76947365 |
Description | Fourth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Over 100 conference delegates attended this talk, provoking questions and discussion Networking opportunities Citations in other academics' publications |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
URL | http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1709913 |
Description | Public engagement event (Science Museum, London) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Members of the general public visited the one day open event, which consisted of hands-on demonstrations, installations and short talks, followed by an evening of performances and a panel of experts who discussed the history of interactive surfaces and debated future implications. Enquiry contact from the Science Museum, London to find out more about the work. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
URL | http://vimeo.com/5457345 |
Description | STELLAR Alpine-Rendezvous Workshop on Tabletops for Education and Training. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | All workshop participants contributed to the workshop by presenting their work, sharing ideas and engaging in critical discussion around the use of tabletop technologies in education. Publication in Special Issue Journal |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
URL | http://www.stellarnet.eu/files/7912/5863/1742/TableTop4LearningWorkshopz.pdf |
Description | Second International Conference on Tangible and Embedded Interaction, Bonn, Germany |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 100+ researchers, academics, computer developers attended this talk about the theoretical underpinning of the project work, whichs timulated questions and debate Citations in publications |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
URL | http://www.tei-conf.org/08/ |
Description | Whole Body Interaction, CHI '09, 4 April, 2009, Boston, USA. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | All participants engaged in sharing and presenting their work on whole body interaction in digital environments, engaged in debate around key issues for research, and looked into future research directions Invitation for full paper publication, and for project researcher to become guest editor of a related special issue publication |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
Description | Workshop on Tangibles for Children, CHI '09, 4 April, 2009, Boston, USA. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | All workshop participants contributed to the workshop by presenting their work, sharing and engaging in critical discussion around the research field of tangible interaction for children. invited submission to special issue Journal on Tangibles for Children |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
URL | http://soc.kuleuven.be/com/mediac/cuo/extern/tcube/ |