Relationships between apprehension and engagement at MOXI exhibits -Sam S.

*Apologies for the late post.

One section that stuck out to me in Designs for Learning was where Sue Allen describes the tension between making exhibits more easily apprehendable, while also pushing visitors to challenge themselves and make deeper connections. In Allen's descriptions, the addition of explicit labeling or emphasis on "the salience of key variables" led to greater understanding, but sacrificed prolonged engagement with exhibits. I think this same tension exists in all the exhibits at MOXI, and I wonder how possible it is to strike the right balance between apprehension and engagement at many exhibits, given a large diversity of learning styles and abilities.

I feel that here at MOXI, we often strive to land more on the active engagement side of this relationship. I think that very few of our exhibits are over-explained, which allows for learners to investigate their behaviors without shutting down learning. Many of our exhibits purposefully lack any explanatory labeling whatsoever, and instead feature simple prompts or directions for using the exhibit. As a result, the exhibits often are more "fun," and allow for more organic engagement, but might not result in the visitor leaving the exhibit having engaged with the relevant concepts. One example of this is the whisper dishes. They don't feature any labeling whatsoever. As a result, they do prompt a variety of responses. Most guests intuit that they may have something to do with sound, but their behavior from there varies hugely. I've mostly seen guests facing towards each other to talk, rather than towards the dishes, or seen guests (mostly children) pressing their face against the metal and shouting, and never really changing their volume to experiment. They'll leave the exhibit energized and not overwhelmed, as sometimes happens with exhibits that Allen describes. However, I've rarely observed a greater understanding of what sound is or how it travels through the air. I wonder if any minimal labeling would help with this without sacrificing deeper engagement. At the same time, I'm sure that labeling could easily make concepts too explicit and limit engagement and experimentation. This also becomes even more complicated when you account for different ages, learning styles, and previous knowledge between guests. What an interesting challenge!

-Sam S.