Games+Learning+Society 11 Conference

Log-data, Interviews, and Observation: What Can They Tell Us About Learning in a Museum-based Mobile Game
Jennifer Sly, David Gagnon, Nicolaas VanMeerten, Kate Haley-Goldman

Museum exhibits are often considered passive experiences that have trouble engaging younger students. To increase their appeal, museums have begun re-inventing themselves by creating interactive multimedia exhibits that are supplemented with mobile technology. The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) has embraced this movement by developing a student-guided field trip experience called Play the Past (PtP), which was developed to enhance collaboration, critical thinking, and understanding of history. The current panel will discuss the development of PtP and evaluation of learning through several methods including, observations, interviews, and logged behavioral data. Lastly, the impact of the findings on the design of the exhibit will be discussed.