Learning with an educational mathematical game at a science center

Abstract

Science centers are used as a way of creating easily relatable and authentic learning settings. The science center of Universeum in Gothenburg has developed their new mathematical exhibition Mathrix with the purpose of lowering visitor thresholds to mathematics. This study investigates one of the exhibits of Mathrix, the exhibit named Voronoi, which is designed as a collaborative and exploratory educational game based on the mathematical model describing the formation of Voronoi diagrams. The questions investigated are: What types of embodied conversations emerge when visitors are interacting with the exhibit? What learning opportunities can be identified during these conversations? And, do the identified learning opportunities align with the intentions of the exhibit designers? The results show that 73,0% of the utterances made by the studied visitors are connected to learning talk, either to explicit mathematical talk or to talk concerning the mechanics of the game. 11,8% of the utterances are connected to different kinds of problems in relation to the exhibit system, and 15,2% are connected to affective talk. The study concludes that the exhibit nurtured fruitful conversations and learning processes where the participants were given the opportunities to practice and assimilate the knowledge and the skills that the game was designed to foster. The study also concludes that the results align with the intentions of the exhibit designers, where the aim was to create a successful educational game where the mathematical content was well integrated into the game without interrupting the fun.