Abstract
Science museums have demonstrated over time, and through various academic researches, to be a favorable environment to awaken the desire to learn more about scientific content, bringing visitors closer to artifacts and concepts in a different way than any other media can offer. In this research, we investigate how the public interacts with the exhibition in one of the three interactive rooms at Museo Galileo. This study was divided into two parts: the first is a non-participative observational phase, analyzing the visitors’ participation with the exhibition’s models. In this step, we collected data from 208 people. From these data, it was possible to understand the need to study further two teaching models that did not allow interaction: the models that presented Eudoxus’ System and Ptolemy’s System. The second phase was constituted of interviews involving 22 visitors, analyzing the models’ understanding and proposing an improvement in light of ergonomic interaction design. This study serves as a reflection for those who intend to develop scientific models or contemplate designing exhibitions.
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Notes
To understand the complexity of Eudoxus system, see the paper On the Homocentric Spheres of Eudoxus from Yavetz (1998).
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We authors appreciate the Museo Galileo for welcoming us and allowing our research.
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This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001.
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MCDN is the supervisor in DATM PhD’s work. All authors reviewed the final manuscript.
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Mello, D.A.T., Neves, M.C.D., Mello, A.J.T.S. et al. A Model-Based Analysis of the Museo Galileo Interactive Area. Sci & Educ 32, 1197–1219 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-022-00360-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-022-00360-0