Designing an electronic guidebook for learning engagement in a museum of history

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Abstract

Museums provide important avenues for lifelong learning, and using information and communication technology to maximize a museum’s lifelong learning potential is a recognized issue. This study proposed a human–computer–context interaction (HCCI) framework as a guide for designing a mobile electronic guidebook for a history museum. To fulfill the goals of the HCCI framework, two strategies, problem-based inquiry and historical-context-embedded visiting, were used to implement a HCCI guidebook. To evaluate the effects of the HCCI guidebook, this study conducted an experiment to compare three visiting modes: Visiting with the HCCI guidebook; visiting with a worksheet; and visiting without any supplementary tools. Sixty-two college students participated in the evaluation of the HCCI guidebook in the Tang dynasty tri-color glazed pottery exhibition at the National Museum of History. The results showed that the students with the HCCI guidebooks had, on average, a longer holding time with exhibits than either students with paper-based worksheets or students without supplementary materials. However, there were no significant differences in the knowledge gained about exhibits among the three modes.

Introduction

Museums are one of the most important institutions offering lifelong learning opportunities (Anderson, Gray, & Chadwich, 2003). Researchers have often stressed enhancing the functions of museums, such as designing educational projects connected to both learners’ formal classroom education and informal out-of-school learning, (Cox-Petersen et al., 2003, Dierking et al., 2003) and making museum displays more enjoyable and motivating for learning (Allen, 2004, Karp and Lavine, 1991).

As information and communication technology (ICT) becomes more popular, many researchers have also become concerned with how to use this significant tool to support the museums’ functions of social education and lifelong learning. There are at least two concerns: The first is using virtual museums to make the exhibitions more accessible to those who cannot visit the real museums (Hawkey, 2002), and the second issue is using a mobile digital guidebook to enhance a visitors’ motivation and learning in actual museums (Exploratorium, 2005, Hsi, 2003). The latter concern has been highlighted in this study, which will discuss the design of a mobile guidebook intended to increase the interaction between visitors and exhibits. Furthermore, this study aims to evaluate the effects of the guidebook in enhancing visitors’ attention and learning in a history museum.

Recently, wireless devices, such as the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), the tablet PC, and the mobile phone have emerged to play a critical role in educational settings (Tatar, Roschelle, Vahey, & Penuel, 2003). Due to limited human resources in museums, providing individual human guides is not practical. As a solution, personal electronic guidebooks, which are mobile devices combined with e-learning content and the appropriate interface, have great potential to supplement museum learning. Until now, there has been little empirical research performed in this field (Hsi, 2003, Klopfer et al., 2005, Woodruff et al., 2001, Yatani et al., 2004). Although there is great potential for the application of digital guidebooks in museum learning, there are several limitations that still exist, and must be overcome.

First of all, competition exists between the guidebook and the exhibits for the visitors’ attention. Most research has been inclined to study the hardware design of the mobile guide systems to improve mobility and convenience (Aoki & Woodruff, 2000). As to the software and its content, most guidebooks tend to directly embed the exhibits’ digitized images and descriptions in the mobile devices. Installing the existing e-learning materials into the mobile devices is similar to creating a virtual museum. The visitors’ attention may be attracted to the virtual objects rather than to the real exhibits and their context within the museum. In other words, the intervention of the electronic guidebook may lead to human–computer interaction at the expense of human–object interaction in the museum.

The second limitation is that current designs for electronic guidebooks may not sufficiently enhance a learners’ motivation for visiting. Installing digital materials into the mobile devices may fulfill the knowledge needs or cognitive interest of some specific visitors, like adults or visitors with high intrinsic motivation (Sung, Chang, Lee, & Yu, 2008). However, it would not be much help in promoting the motivation of those who are not interested in the exhibits. Previous research has indicated that in science museums, visitors usually demonstrated more attentive behavior towards hands-on or manipulated exhibitions than to static displays (Cox-Peterson et al., 2003). This may be one of the reasons why history museums featuring static displays are not interesting to young students (Yatani et al., 2004). For this reason, using the supplementary digital materials to engage young visitors may not produce satisfactory results.

We believe that the interface and content of guidebooks play a significant role in effectively increasing participative behaviors (e.g., visitors pay more attention to exhibits and spend more time at them). This study proposes a human–computer–context interaction (HCCI) framework (Fig. 1) for designing mobile guidebooks to enhance interaction and stimulate motivation. The HCCI framework has two features. The first emphasizes that the design and application of the mobile guidebook should encompass the context within a museum learning environment, including the visitors, the visitor’s companions, the exhibits, and the cultural or social meanings behind the exhibits (Dierking, 2002, Falk and Dierking, 2000).

Secondly, mobile guidebooks, as a tool with distributed intelligence, are intended to facilitate a visitor’s interaction with all aspects of the context discussed above. As demonstrated in Fig. 1, there are four levels of interaction. Level one is the visitor–computer interaction, in which visitors may retrieve or save information in the guidebook. However, the mobile device’s potential for connecting the situation/context and learners is minimized if it only provides this function. Level two is the visitor–computer–object interaction. A guide system leads visitors to pay equal attention to real exhibits and virtual materials, rather than the virtual material itself. Level three is visitor–computer–context interaction. At this level, visitors not only pay attention to the physical features of the exhibits, but also interact with the historical background or cultural context to have a more in-depth visiting experience (Bain & Ellenbogen, 2002). Therefore, the ideal guidebook should not only support the interaction between visitors and exhibits, but it also should be able to reinforce the interaction between the visitors and the context behind the exhibits (such as being aware of historic and social perspectives when viewing the Terracotta Army). These extended experiences supplement the visitors’ prior knowledge and promote a more meaningful interpretation of the exhibits. Level four is peer–computer–context interaction. If visitors go with companions, a guide system can avoid isolating an individual (Hsi, 2003) and can facilitate the interaction between each of the visitors based on their common concerns with the exhibits and their relevant context (Woodruff et al., 2001).

In this study, a HCCI guidebook has been implemented according to the HCCI framework. In this guidebook, three strategies were used to minimize the possible problems of drawing attention away from the exhibits and allowing non-motivated students to remain in a passive mode of visiting. The first strategy was to use a multimedia role-playing adventure to enhance visitors’ motivation of visiting; the second was to use a historical-context-visiting strategy to make visitors feel more connected with the exhibition; and the third strategy was to use the strategy of exploring cue-embedded exhibits to promote the interaction between exhibits and visitors. The specific details of the strategies for implementing the HCCI are presented in the next section. Overall, this study has two primary goals. The first is to present our rationale and methods of designing a mobile guide system in light of the HCCI framework and using the principles of situated cognition. Secondly, this study aims to compare visitors’ attention behaviors, specifically the time spent observing the exhibits, and learning results among different visiting modes.

Section snippets

Principles derived from situated cognition for designing a HCCI guidebook

How can we implement a guidebook based on the HCCI framework? The situated cognition theory (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; Greeno, Collins, & Resnick, 1996) provides excellent suggestions. The situated cognition theory (Brown et al., 1989; Greeno et al., 1996) asserts that one’s knowledge and learning is gained through the interaction between their social environment (e.g., people and social culture) and their physical surroundings (e.g., artifacts including books and different objects).

A description of the experimental venue at the National Museum of History

Established in 1955, the National Museum of History (NMH) in Taipei, Taiwan, has been one of the most important museums for preserving Chinese relics. The main exhibitions include the Tang tri-color glazed ceramics (40 exhibits), General Chinese Historic and Cultural Artifacts, The Splendor of Buddhist Statuaries, and other special exhibitions. Like most history museums, the exhibitions in the NMH tend to be static. Alongside the exhibits, the museum provides related historical background

The effects on the viewers’ attention

The AHT of the three modes are shown in Table 2. The AHT at each exhibit of the HCCI guidebook mode was 20.57 s (SD = 11.70), whereas the worksheet mode had an average of 14.03 s (SD = 7.08), and the control mode (free visiting) had an average of 13.26 s (SD = 6.65). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to compare the AHT of the three modes. The result indicated that the group factor was significant, F (2, 204) = 5.91, p < .05, indicating that the students in the three modes spent

Discussion and conclusions

This study developed a mobile guidebook aimed at promoting human–computer–context interaction by applying the strategies of problem-based inquiry and historical-context-embedded visitation. The purpose was to examine the influence of the HCCI guidebook on the visitors’ behavior and their learning effects. To achieve this goal, this study designated three different treatment groups. In regards to the goal of increasing the attention the visitors paid to the exhibits, the average holding time of

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by grants from the National Science Council, Taiwan, Republic of China (Contract Numbers NSC 98-2631-S-003-005-, NSC97-2511-S-003-040-MY3 and NSC 98-2631-S-003-001-).

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