Frames and games in the science museum: a lens for understanding visitor behavior

Abstract

Collins and Ferguson (1993) introduced the idea of epistemic games and forms to interpret repeatable patterns of expert behavior in the sciences. This framework has been extended by educational researchers to understand student activity in science classrooms (Tuminaro and Redish, 2005), in computer games (Shaffer, 2005) and informal science education (Shaffer, 2004). This work suggests productive ways that epistemic forms may be exploited in exhibit design in science museums to encourage stronger scientific conversations. However, much of the conversation at a science museum exhibit is not related to an epistemic frame---despite the intentions of exhibit designers. What other frames do parents and children use at science exhibits? Under what conditions do they enter an epistemic frame, and what are the epistemic forms suggested by exhibits? Using video, transcripts and observations of visitors at a science museum, I interpret family conversations in terms of different epistemic frames and contrast epistemic frames from other forms of interaction.

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