Minda Borun

Implications of Learning Style, Age Group, and Gender for Developing Online Learning Activities

ABSTRACT This study explores the effects of learning style, age and gender on preferences for online educational activities. David Kolbs Experiential Learning Theory (Kolb, 1984) is used as a lens to examine the responses of online learners to five types of educational activities. Results indicate that learning style influences preference for learning activity. The relationship is stronger among adults than among children aged 10–13 (middle school). The four learning styles were not evenly distributed. “Practical” (likes to solve problems and find solutions) was the most frequent style among both children and adults (37%). “Creative” (enjoys brainstorming and open-ended exploration) was the least frequent (8%). These data have particular relevance to the development of educational activities, suggesting that open-ended exploration with “no right answers” may not be the most satisfying and appealing approach for many learners. The results of this study provide new insight into online audiences and can help developers of multimedia activities to create experiences that will appeal to all kinds of learners.

Exhibition Accessibility and the Senior Visitor

Christine Reich is an exhibit planner at the Museum of Science, Boston, who served as both a planner and an evaluator on the Secrets of Aging exhibit team. She has a special interest in creating universally designed exhibits that provide meaningful and educational experiences for people of all ages and levels of ability. Minda Borun is director of research and evaluation at the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia. She has published numerous articles and four monographs on studies of visitor learning in the museum setting. Borun is also a consultant on exhibit and program evaluation. She was project evaluator for Secrets of Aging. How do you create a science center exhibition that appeals to a senior audience? Do the needs and interests of seniors differ from those of the general audience? Can you truly create an exhibition that works for everyone? The Museum of Science, Boston, asked these questions when starting to develop a traveling exhibition called Secrets of Aging, which targeted seniors as a potential audience along with the traditional science center audience of families and school groups. Traditionally, seniors do not attend science centers in large numbers, and little is known about their needs in a science center environment. To learn more, the Museum of Science held assessment sessions to study the ways existing exhibitions worked for seniors. The fmdings were incorporated into the design of Secrets of Aging and were reexamined during formative and summative evaluation.

The impact of misconceptions about gravity on learning in a science museum

The Naive Knowledge Study conducted at the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia was a research and application project to uncover widespread misconceptions about the concept of gravity held by science museum visitors and to test the efficacy of hands‐on exhibits in altering these naive notions. An analysis of visitors’ misconceptions revealed five widespread naive notions about gravity. Prototype exhibits were designed to counter the two most frequent misconceptions—that gravity needs air to work and that gravity is generated by the rotation of the Earth. Visitors interviewed after using the exhibit prototypes showed significant decreases in naive notions. Results point to the importance of front‐end evaluation in the creation of exhibits which build explicit connections between the novice view and more sophisticated ways of looking at a topic.