People engaged in playful experiences often have a high degree of intrinsic motivation and affective engagement. However, these experiences are usually very open ended. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but is it possible to have a playful experience with strong motivation and engagement that has specific science learning objectives? That's what we are trying to find out.
We've designed three exhibit prototypes that are designed to engage students/museum visitors in playful, game-type experiences on technologically-augmented playground equipment all while aiming towards specific learning goals.
Note: Though I helped design these prototypes, the actual fabrication/programming was performed by our collaborators at Tufts University.
