This paper draws on notions of embodied learning to inform exhibit design that fosters children's... more This paper draws on notions of embodied learning to inform exhibit design that fosters children's meaningful embodied engagement to successfully unveil science ideas. While children's interaction in the museum is often hands-on and speaks to the physical emphasis that embodiment brings, observation of children's spontaneous engagement at a museum's Water Zone revealed opportunities and barriers to engagement with, and access to, science ideas in terms of what we call 'embodied proximity' and 'embodied dislocation'. Drawing on design considerations from these findings a set of purpose-built prototype exhibits were developed and deployed to examine how they supported children's embodied exploration of science. The findings highlight key design dimensions that support children's accessing and making meaning about science through fostering embodied proximity: considering palette of embodied features; applying direct multisensorial experience; developing temporal-positional contiguity; and designing opportunities for communicating experiences through the body.
Although adults are known to play an important role in young children's development, little w... more Although adults are known to play an important role in young children's development, little work has focused on the enactive features of scaffolding in informal learning settings, and the embodied dynamics of intergenerational interaction. To address this gap, this paper undertakes a microinteractional analysis to examine intergenerational collaborative interaction in a science museum setting. The paper presents a fine‐grained moment‐by‐moment analysis of video‐recorded interaction of children and their adult carers around science‐themed objects. Taking an enactive cognition perspective, the analysis enables access to subtle shifts in interactants’ perception, action, gesture, and movement to examine how young children engage with exhibits, and the role adult action plays in supporting young children's engagement with exhibits and developing ideas about science. Our findings demonstrate that intergenerational “embodied scaffolding” is instrumental in making “enactive potenti...
Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference: Extended Abstracts, 2020
This workshop aims to identify and generate critical pathways to more sustainable impact, that ma... more This workshop aims to identify and generate critical pathways to more sustainable impact, that maximizes the value of IDC research in children's everyday lives. Whilst the importance of collaboration between research and practice has been well established, and notably embedded into IDC research, the most effective strategies to maximize subsequent sustainable impact are yet to be fully explored and realized. To achieve this, we need a clearer understanding of the audiences that will benefit from IDC research, and how best to reach them beyond current forms of knowledge exchange, infrastructuring, and industry links, to not only ensure sustainability, but also to foster the growth of impact. This workshop will bring together IDC community members together with practitioners and industry to identify and develop ways to sustainably maximize the impact of their work, to make a difference in children's lives, as we look ahead to design for the future.
Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference: Extended Abstracts, 2020
In this Demo, we present EPESonic [1], a movementbased installation prototype for researching des... more In this Demo, we present EPESonic [1], a movementbased installation prototype for researching design aspects relating to young children's meaning making through metaphorical action in a multimodal, digital setting. This prototype is the outcome of an embodied design approach that has been developed through codesign workshops with young children aged 2-7, their caretakers and museum professionals. With this prototype and its iterations, we have studied the relationship between predetermined metaphorical action and fictional framing, digital feedback and playfulness. The goal of our prototype design is to provide methodological insights about embodied learning design for young children that integrate fictional narrative, play and digital feedback to support meaning making with metaphorical actions.
ABSTRACT Research has demonstrated that gesture produced during conversation can provide insights... more ABSTRACT Research has demonstrated that gesture produced during conversation can provide insights into scientific thinking and can aid scientific communication in adults and school-aged children. However, to date, there has been a limited exploration into the role of gesture in supporting young children’s science communication, and how this is underpinned and shaped by their sensorimotor experiences. This study examines, identifies and conceptualises ways in which children spontaneously used gesture during their interaction-orientated discourse and how this mapped to their action experiences at a water table. Findings show how gestural communication in children under 5 years of age can convey different levels of complexity related to science thinking.
This paper draws on notions of embodied learning to inform exhibit design that fosters children's... more This paper draws on notions of embodied learning to inform exhibit design that fosters children's meaningful embodied engagement to successfully unveil science ideas. While children's interaction in the museum is often hands-on and speaks to the physical emphasis that embodiment brings, observation of children's spontaneous engagement at a museum's Water Zone revealed opportunities and barriers to engagement with, and access to, science ideas in terms of what we call 'embodied proximity' and 'embodied dislocation'. Drawing on design considerations from these findings a set of purpose-built prototype exhibits were developed and deployed to examine how they supported children's embodied exploration of science. The findings highlight key design dimensions that support children's accessing and making meaning about science through fostering embodied proximity: considering palette of embodied features; applying direct multisensorial experience; developing temporal-positional contiguity; and designing opportunities for communicating experiences through the body.
Although adults are known to play an important role in young children's development, little w... more Although adults are known to play an important role in young children's development, little work has focused on the enactive features of scaffolding in informal learning settings, and the embodied dynamics of intergenerational interaction. To address this gap, this paper undertakes a microinteractional analysis to examine intergenerational collaborative interaction in a science museum setting. The paper presents a fine‐grained moment‐by‐moment analysis of video‐recorded interaction of children and their adult carers around science‐themed objects. Taking an enactive cognition perspective, the analysis enables access to subtle shifts in interactants’ perception, action, gesture, and movement to examine how young children engage with exhibits, and the role adult action plays in supporting young children's engagement with exhibits and developing ideas about science. Our findings demonstrate that intergenerational “embodied scaffolding” is instrumental in making “enactive potenti...
Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference: Extended Abstracts, 2020
This workshop aims to identify and generate critical pathways to more sustainable impact, that ma... more This workshop aims to identify and generate critical pathways to more sustainable impact, that maximizes the value of IDC research in children's everyday lives. Whilst the importance of collaboration between research and practice has been well established, and notably embedded into IDC research, the most effective strategies to maximize subsequent sustainable impact are yet to be fully explored and realized. To achieve this, we need a clearer understanding of the audiences that will benefit from IDC research, and how best to reach them beyond current forms of knowledge exchange, infrastructuring, and industry links, to not only ensure sustainability, but also to foster the growth of impact. This workshop will bring together IDC community members together with practitioners and industry to identify and develop ways to sustainably maximize the impact of their work, to make a difference in children's lives, as we look ahead to design for the future.
Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference: Extended Abstracts, 2020
In this Demo, we present EPESonic [1], a movementbased installation prototype for researching des... more In this Demo, we present EPESonic [1], a movementbased installation prototype for researching design aspects relating to young children's meaning making through metaphorical action in a multimodal, digital setting. This prototype is the outcome of an embodied design approach that has been developed through codesign workshops with young children aged 2-7, their caretakers and museum professionals. With this prototype and its iterations, we have studied the relationship between predetermined metaphorical action and fictional framing, digital feedback and playfulness. The goal of our prototype design is to provide methodological insights about embodied learning design for young children that integrate fictional narrative, play and digital feedback to support meaning making with metaphorical actions.
ABSTRACT Research has demonstrated that gesture produced during conversation can provide insights... more ABSTRACT Research has demonstrated that gesture produced during conversation can provide insights into scientific thinking and can aid scientific communication in adults and school-aged children. However, to date, there has been a limited exploration into the role of gesture in supporting young children’s science communication, and how this is underpinned and shaped by their sensorimotor experiences. This study examines, identifies and conceptualises ways in which children spontaneously used gesture during their interaction-orientated discourse and how this mapped to their action experiences at a water table. Findings show how gestural communication in children under 5 years of age can convey different levels of complexity related to science thinking.
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Papers by Minna Nygren