Brochure – Move2Learn: Engaging Preschool Scientists through Embodiment and Technology

This brochure provides overview of work accomplished during the one-year planning grant period, and includes a proposed research agenda related to whole body interaction. The Move2Learn planning effort was a collaboration between museum practitioners and researchers in the United States and the United Kingdom, who represented the spectrum of science education, embodied learning, interactive exhibit designers and technology specialists. The overall goal was to begin the process of identifying relevant research questions related to the design of physical and digital exhibits for young children, examining the role of bodily engagement in informal science learning settings. The project tested a new model of collaboration to bridge theory and practice. Project outcomes included: (1) Increasing the capacity of informal science institutions to be more intentional in the application of insights from embodied learning and technology research to the design of exhibits and programs. (2) Raising awareness of the need for the research community to work with practitioners to articulate exploratory and experimental designs that involve full body interaction exhibits in informal learning spaces. (3) Sharing promising strategies and practices that practitioners and researchers can and are using to better understand the role of body movement and action in learning. (4) Beginning to establish a network of research/practice teams interested in investigating the role of whole body interactive exhibits in the development of young children’s STEM concepts across different contexts and perspectives.