| NSF Org: |
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 2, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 27, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1612577 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Robert Russell
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2016 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2021 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,802,876.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,802,876.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 SCIENCE PARK BOSTON MA US 02114-1099 (617)589-0118 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
MA US 02114-1099 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | AISL |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
The project will research how informal science learning can be supported while museum visitors are engaged in "productive struggle" with interactive exhibits. Often informal science learning projects focus on developing positive affective outcomes. Research has shown, however, that negative affective experiences such as struggle and challenge can be particularly powerful for learning. Learners who experience struggle and effort are likely to adopt a growth mindset, in which they attribute their mastery of skills and understanding to effort rather than innate ability. This been shown to be an important factor in lifelong learning, academic achievement, and persistence. The research will develop and refine a model of productive struggle and its impact in designed informal science learning experiences, and will elaborate a flexible set of evidence-based design guidelines and strategies for eliciting and supporting visitor engagement in productive struggle. This project is supported by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program which funds research and innovative resources for use in a variety of settings as a part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments.
Research suggests that productive struggle, which manifests itself as confusion or even frustration, can occur when learners actively engage in challenges that push them just beyond the limits of their existing capabilities. For learners to engage in productive struggle, they must perceive that their efforts will be worthwhile. The research will (1) explore the individual and contextual factors associated with the emotional experience of productive struggle during informal learning experiences, (2) elaborate how learning experience design strategies can be implemented to support diverse learners to successfully engage in productive struggle, and (3) examine the relationships between productive struggle experiences, learner characteristics, and desired learning outcomes. Through an iterative research process involving qualitative comparative analysis, design-based research, and descriptive quantitative analysis, the proposed project will develop an empirically-tested theoretical model and a refined and tested set of guidelines and strategies for designing informal learning experiences which encourage productive struggle.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
How can museums provide experiences that are challenging but satisfying to work through? Building off research showing that difficult emotions can enhance learning, this project's team of researchers and museum professionals from the Museum of Science, Boston, EdTogether, CAST, and the University of Rochester has designed exhibits and conducted research about how to support the emotional experience of productive struggle. This project defines productive struggle as having three parts: first, someone encounters something disruptive that causes them to struggle, feeling emotions like confusion or frustration. Second, the exhibit supports them to persist through that struggle. Third, the person feels a sense of productivity that can be connected with resolving the struggle or having an overall sense of achievement.
Through this project, the project team built three museum exhibits that fostered productive struggle. The first was a physical challenge where people try to move slowly enough to sneak up on a virtual bird. The second exhibit involves using a screen-based interface to answer questions about skulls to try to figure out what they are. At the third exhibit, visitors manipulate air with fans and vacuums to move ping pong balls through various puzzles. The team developed these exhibits iteratively--testing our prototypes along the way and trying different strategies for supporting productive struggle. Researchers and museum professionals documented their learning in a framework that lists the effective approaches museums can use to encourage visitors to encounter productive struggle.
Once the team had finalized its exhibits, the researchers led a final study about productive struggle. First, the group wanted to know whether they had actually been successful in making exhibits that led to emotional outcomes, and they found that they were; out of 105 participants in our study, 96% reported that they struggled and persisted, and 99% felt like they had been productive. The research also explored the outcomes of productive struggle. The project found that people who experienced productive struggle stayed longer at the exhibits, tried more attempts at the exhibits, and were more likely to describe learning that was aligned with the exhibit's content goals. In follow-up interviews, participants also shared that they valued having these difficult but satisfying experiences. For example, one shared, "My definition of a valuable experience is me trying, failing, but in the end succeeding, and I did that multiple times...I think something is valuable if it means something, if it's easy it doesn't mean anything, and if it's too hard it doesn't really mean anything either, but if it's just right it means a lot."
To help share the lessons learned from this project, the team has delivered numerous conference sessions, written a book chapter, submitted two journal articles, written a guide about designing museum exhibits that support productive struggle, and led professional development workshops for museum professionals. The team hopes to continue expanding on what it learned about the importance of emotions as essential aspects of museum (and broader) learning experiences that support engagement, deepen learning, provide valuable experiences. Furthermore, the team believes that attention to emotion and intentional design around learners' diverse emotional needs can support accessibility for a wider range of learners.
Last Modified: 11/30/2021
Modified by: Elizabeth Kunz Kollmann
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