Palmyre Pierroux

Press

Aftenposten debattinnlegg, 'Manglende kommunikasjon bidro til publikums «sjokk', Birgitte Sauge & Palmyre Pierroux, 14. mars, 2019

NRK Radio, 'Ut i kulturen: Håndspåleggelse', December 11, 2016

Stavanger Aftenblad, 'Kom nærmere og kjenn på skulpturen', December 9, 2016

Uniforum, Nasjonalmuseet får gode råd frå studentar, June 14, 2016

Ballade, Rikskonsertene satser millioner på onlinespill, May 14, 2015

Kunstløftet, 'Digital Dannelse,' November 7, 2014

TUforskning (Teknisk Ukeblad), 'CONTACT – Munch selv var veldig opptatt av ny teknologi. Norske museer og vitensentre tar i bruk digital innovasjon,' June 9, 2014

Forskningsrådet, 'Teknologisk rom for tolkning,' June 2, 2014

Forskerprofilen, December 2011

Uniforum, 'Kunstmuseum jaktar på ungdomskoden', November 22, 2011

Forskningsrådet, 'Vil lokke unge til kunstmuseer', November 14, 2011

Aftenposten, 'Poserer som Munch', November 9, 2011

Uniforum, ‘Brukar arkitektur i ny læringsteknologi’, September 24, 2010

VG, Norsk Forskningsråd, ‘Forskningsdagene,’ September 22, 2010, p. 20

Forskning.no, 'Lettere å lære med ny teknologi?', September 30, 2008

• Schwan, Stephan; S., Bahnsen,; C., Eschenfelder,; B., Garsoffky,; P., Gerjets, & M., Gorman, [Show all 19 contributors for this article] (2026). Similar or Different? Configurations of Authenticity Across Museum Types. Curator: The Museum Journal. ISSN 0011-3069. doi: 10.1111/cura.70057. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Authenticity is traditionally regarded as playing a crucial role in museums, science centers, and memorials. However, there is currently no overarching understanding or definition of authenticity to facilitate shared communication. To address this, an international network (BILAD) comprising practitioners from diverse museums, along with museum education and learning researchers, has committed to exploring how authenticity can be conceptualized across various museum contexts. This article presents the results of intensive discussions within the network. In a first step, key theoretical approaches and research findings on authenticity are outlined and four core characteristics of authenticity are defined. Building on this foundation, it then examines configurations of authenticity in different types of museums and discusses these findings comprehensively. This cross-theoretical and cross-setting integration of different approaches and research findings is the first to present an integrated overall view of the topic of authenticity.

• Shaby, Neta; Dillon, Justin; Peleg, Ran; Assaraf, Orit Ben-Zvi; Pattison, Scott & Pierroux, Palmyre [Show all 16 contributors for this article] (2025). Telling tales: the use of narratives in informal STEM settings. Research in Science & Technological Education. ISSN 0263-5143. doi: 10.1080/02635143.2025.2469065. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background For decades, narrative has had a prominent place in educational studies, both as a focus of research and pedagogy. However, most research was done with school (or pre-school) students in formal settings. Purpose This paper emerged from a conference symposium that brought together five studies by researchers from across the world to discuss, debate and generate insights about the use of narrative in informal environments. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the findings to form design conjectures that can serve informal researchers and practitioners. Sample We examine the use of narrative in five informal STEM environments: a science museum, a zoo, a virtual exhibition, an escape room, and home-based engineering activities. Design and methods The five studies look at a variety of participants, including elementary and high school students, free-choice visitors, and preschool-aged children and their families. We describe the use of narrative in these learning environments and explore the ways narratives can potentially support and facilitate STEM teaching, engagement, and understanding. All studies use qualitative research approaches, utilizing interviews and observations, following interpretivist data analysis approaches. Results The findings from the five studies were synthesized to form five design conjectures of how narrative support learning in informal STEM environments. The significance of this collection of studies is to showcase the varied use of narratives in informal STEM learning environments.

• Pierroux, Palmyre (2024). Innovating visitor research within museums: Concepts, tools and practices. Multimodality & Society. ISSN 2634-9795. 0(0), p. 1-21–1-21. doi: 10.1177/26349795241265256. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Increasing demands on museums for visitor insights, theoretical shifts in the learning sciences, the embeddedness of multimodal media in museums and society, and advancements in data visualisation tools and web-based applications are all clear calls for innovating visitor research in museums. In this article, I describe how concepts from multimodal and sociocultural research help shift the analytical lens for understanding and studying connections between visitor behaviours, social interactions and engagement in exhibitions. The following question is explored: In which ways can multimodal theory and the learning sciences inform the design and use of new visitor research tools and methods that are relevant for museum practice? A case study from a university-museum research partnership illustrates how multimodal and sociocultural perspectives from the humanities and learning sciences, respectively, merged in the development of a new tool to enhance and innovate visitor research within museums.

• Stamatis, Kristina; Clarke, Sherice; Polman, Joseph; Gates, Zaynab; Lee, Ung-Sang & Van, Marcus [Show all 14 contributors for this article] (2023). Designing to Disrupt While Encountering Disruption: Engaging With the Unexpected in Educational Research and Practice. Proceedings (International Conference of the Learning Sciences). ISSN 1814-9316. doi: 10.22318/icls2023.101049. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This symposium brings together eleven projects across three continents to examine notions of disruption in educational research. Historically, notions of disruption have pointed to the ways research leverages innovation and transformative practice. However, amid global pandemic and intersecting unrest, the authors in this session recognize the need for deeper conversation across contexts to understand the ways that educational research in the learning sciences can leverage disruption toward transformational learning. To respond to this year’s call for building and sustaining knowledge in community, we seek to foster conversation about the ways that designed for and encountered disruptions act as opportunities for critical reflection and new kinds of engagement in educational research. Together, we examine various notions of disruption as they exist in our disparate work. We seek to provoke meaningful conversations about the ways educational research can embody the contemporary realities of learning with and toward disruption.

• Pierroux, Palmyre; Steier, Rolf & Ludvigsen, Sten Runar (2022). Group Creativity in Adolescence: Relational, Material and Institutional Dimensions of Creative Collaboration. The Journal of the Learning Sciences. ISSN 1050-8406. doi: 10.1080/10508406.2022.2025813. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background Studies of group creativity have focused on adults acting in professional settings, with less attention paid to how adolescents collaborate in groups in creative activities. Building on sociocultural perspectives on imagination as a complex capacity in adolescence, this study examines students’ creative-imagining processes and the role of peer influence in group collaboration. Methods The setting of the study is a two-day museum-led workshop on the topic of architecture, which was produced for a national touring program for middle schools. Video data of students’ collaborative interactions comprise the primary data for the analysis. Findings The study identifies material, institutional and relational aspects of group creativity in adolescence. A key finding is how creative influence is socially negotiated when merit-based knowledge and authority in an art domain are not valued. The study also finds that students’ interactions in creative activity may be viewed as evidence of learning processes even without consensus in the group. Contributions This research contributes new understandings of adolescents’ creative-imagining processes and creative influence in arts-based learning activities in middle school. Principles for arts-based learning designs are presented:the appropriateness of materials; designing for knowledge dependency in open-ended tasks; and facilitating productive forms of creative influence.

• Oswald, Emily Christine; Esborg, Line & Pierroux, Palmyre (2022). Memes, youth and memory institutions. Information, Communication & Society. ISSN 1369-118X. 26(15), p. 2999–3016. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2022.2131363. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Through the collection of digital media and engagement with underrepresented groups, memory institutions aspire to preserve and interpret a range of contemporary perspectives on culture and identity. These institutions simultaneously seek to provide experiences that foster civic identities and cultural citizenship. This article explores the potential of collecting internet memes, a specific form of digital media, to further these institutional aims. Through an empirical study of a youth engagement program at a Norwegian folklore archive, we conclude that collecting and contextualizing image macros in collaboration with young people is an institutionally viable and inclusionary approach to documenting new expressions of culture and everyday life. The project further created a context in which young people could exercise competencies related to the development of a civic identity. These findings are relevant for cultural heritage institutions which aim to diversify the forms of digital media, knowledge practices and perspectives represented in their collections, and for cultural heritage professionals who aim to engage youth or marginalized communities. Extending recent research on internet memes as resources for meaning-making the study also underscores the value of participatory research methodologies which deliberately invite individuals’ interpretations of digital culture and analytical approaches that account for the richness of internet memes and image macros as semiotic resources for narrating identity.

• Pierroux, Palmyre; Knutson, Karen & Crowley, Kevin (2021). Informal Learning in Museums. In Sawyer, Keith (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences. Cambridge University Press. ISSN 9781108840989. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Sauge, Birgitte & Steier, Rolf (2021). Exhibitions as a Collaborative Research Space for University-Museum Partnerships. In Achiam, Marianne; Haldrup, Michael & Drotner, Kirsten (Ed.), Experimental Museology. Institutions, Representations, Users.. Routledge. ISSN 9780367406776. p. 149–166. Full text in Research Archive
• Skåland, Gro; Arnseth, Hans Christian & Pierroux, Palmyre (2020). Doing Inventing in the Library. Analyzing the Narrative Framing of Making in a Public Library Context. Education Sciences. 10(6). doi: 10.3390/educsci10060158. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this article, we examine how creative making is framed in a public library setting. We pursue this topic by focusing on the trajectory of a group participating in “The Inventor Course” during a school trip to a library. Video recordings of the maker activity comprise the primary data for analysis, supplemented by ethnographic notes. Analysis of the group’s interactions shows how different frames for inventing are acted out and intersect during the activity. We describe these frames as inventing as invention, inventing as exploration and inventing as narrative. Findings indicate that a narrative frame is a fruitful approach to making in a library setting and that narratives performed in dialogue with children help them to make sense of their explorations.

• Pierroux, Palmyre; Bäckström, Mattias; Brenna, Brita; Gowlland, Geoffrey & Ween, Gro Birgit (2020). Museums as Sites of Participatory Democracy and Design. In Hetland, Per; Pierroux, Palmyre & Esborg, Line (Ed.), A History of Participation in Museums and Archives. Traversing Citizen Science and Citizen Humanities. Routledge. ISSN 9780367186715. p. 27–45. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Traversing disciplines, A History of Participation in Museums and Archives provides a framework for understanding how participatory modes in natural, cultural and scientific heritage institutions intersect with practices in Citizen Science and Citizen Humanities. Drawing on perspectives in cultural history, science and technology studies, and media and communication theory, the book explores how museums and archives make science and cultural heritage relevant to people’s everyday lives, while soliciting their assistance and participation in research and citizen projects. More specifically, the book critically examines how different forms of engagement are constructed, how concepts of democratization are framed and enacted, and how epistemic practices in science and the humanities are transformed through socio-technological infrastructures. Tracking these central themes across disciplines and research from Europe, Canada, Australia and the USA, the book simultaneously considers their relevance for museum and heritage studies.

• Pierroux, Palmyre (2020). Citizen Science, Citizen Humanities: Relevance for Museum Research and Practice. In Hetland, Per; Pierroux, Palmyre & Esborg, Line (Ed.), A History of Participation in Museums and Archives. Traversing Citizen Science and Citizen Humanities. Routledge. ISSN 9780367186715. p. 281–296. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Traversing disciplines, A History of Participation in Museums and Archives provides a framework for understanding how participatory modes in natural, cultural and scientific heritage institutions intersect with practices in Citizen Science and Citizen Humanities. Drawing on perspectives in cultural history, science and technology studies, and media and communication theory, the book explores how museums and archives make science and cultural heritage relevant to people’s everyday lives, while soliciting their assistance and participation in research and citizen projects. More specifically, the book critically examines how different forms of engagement are constructed, how concepts of democratization are framed and enacted, and how epistemic practices in science and the humanities are transformed through socio-technological infrastructures. Tracking these central themes across disciplines and research from Europe, Canada, Australia and the USA, the book simultaneously considers their relevance for museum and heritage studies.

• Pierroux, Palmyre; Hetland, Per & Esborg, Line (2020). Traversing Citizen Science and Citizen Humanities: Tacking stitches. In Hetland, Per; Pierroux, Palmyre & Esborg, Line (Ed.), A History of Participation in Museums and Archives. Traversing Citizen Science and Citizen Humanities. Routledge. ISSN 9780367186715. p. 3–23. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Traversing disciplines, A History of Participation in Museums and Archives provides a framework for understanding how participatory modes in natural, cultural and scientific heritage institutions intersect with practices in Citizen Science and Citizen Humanities. Drawing on perspectives in cultural history, science and technology studies, and media and communication theory, the book explores how museums and archives make science and cultural heritage relevant to people’s everyday lives, while soliciting their assistance and participation in research and citizen projects. More specifically, the book critically examines how different forms of engagement are constructed, how concepts of democratization are framed and enacted, and how epistemic practices in science and the humanities are transformed through socio-technological infrastructures. Tracking these central themes across disciplines and research from Europe, Canada, Australia and the USA, the book simultaneously considers their relevance for museum and heritage studies.

• Pierroux, Palmyre & Rudi, Jøran (2020). Teaching Composition with Digital Tools: A Domain-Specific Perspective. In Knutson, Karen; Okada, Takeshi & Crowley, Kevin (Ed.), Multidisciplinary Approaches to Art Learning and Creativity Fostering Artistic Exploration in Formal and Informal Settings. Routledge. ISSN 9780815361886. p. 124–145. doi: 10.4324/9781351114035. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This chapter explores the role of software used for composition in music education in two different musical domains, described as interval-based and sound-based music, respectively. Affordances and constraints of digital composition tools and how these relate to models of creative processes are examined. Three questions frame the investigation: How do perspectives on creativity and learning in music education differ in relation to interval-based (pop) and sound-based (electroacoustic) music? What are the affordances and constraints of digital tools when teaching composition in the different musical domains? How may principles for supporting creativity and learning be applied in teaching and assessment in sound-based music education? To exemplify the latter, we draw on data collected from a Norwegian composition workshop in sound-based music.

• Pierroux, Palmyre & Qvale, Anne (2019). Wall Texts in Collection Exhibitions: Bastions of enlightenment and interfaces for experience. Nordisk Museologi. ISSN 1103-8152. p. 39–50. doi: 10.5617/nm.6954. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Taking the wall text in art museums as point of departure, this article investigates developments in museum media and communication practices in the exhibition room. We first present findings from a recent study of types and functions of wall texts used in permanent collection exhibitions in twelve Norwegian art museums, including a national museum of art. We then examine the types and functions of wall texts being planned and designed for the collection exhibitions in a new building for this national art museum, which will open in 2020. In our analytical focus on the wall text, we unpack how perspectives on enlightenment and experience become institutionally embedded in the interface of interpretive media. The study showed small but significant changes in a national art museum’s organization, a new blended approach to digital interpretive media, and expanded types of wall texts, illustrating the premise that discursive and practical tensions between enlightenment and experience are at the core of new practices emerging in museums.

• Steier, Rolf; Shapiro, Ben; Christidou, Dimitra; Pierroux, Palmyre; Davidsen, Jacob & Hall, Rogers (2019). Tools and Methods for ‘4E Analysis’: New Lenses for Analyzing Interaction in CSCL, A Wide Lens: Combining Embodied, Enactive, Extended, and Embedded Learning in Collaborative Settings. 13th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) 2019, Volume 2.. International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS). ISSN 9781732467248. p. 759–766. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This symposium aims to expand the use of and perspectives on Interaction Analysis (IA) and related methods in CSCL, and to explore new ways of collecting, editing, visualizing and sharing research data, including video and location-based data. We bring the development and use of novel digital tools and IA methods to the foreground and invite participants to join us in reflecting on and designing the next phase of IA in CSCL, which in keeping with the theme of the conference is coined 4E Analysis. During the session, we will share, compare and contrast four different digital tools and new approaches to studying collaborative learning that have been recently developed by CSCL researchers from across three different countries and four universities.

• Pierroux, Palmyre; Steier, Rolf & Sauge, Birgitte (2019). Imagining, Designing and Exhibiting Architecture in the Digital Landscape. In Makitalo, Åsa; Nicewong, Todd E. & Elam, Mark (Ed.), Designs for Experimentation and Inquiry. Approaching Learning and Knowing in Digital Transformation. Routledge. ISSN 9781138592711. doi: 10.4324/9780429489839-6. Full text in Research Archive
• Krange, Ingeborg; Silseth, Kenneth & Pierroux, Palmyre (2019). Peers, teachers and guides: A study of three conditions for scaffolding conceptual learning in science centers. Cultural Studies of Science Education. ISSN 1871-1502. doi: 10.1007/s11422-018-9905-x. Full text in Research Archive
• Sousa, Filipa de; Rasmussen, Ingvill & Pierroux, Palmyre (2018). Zombies and ethical theories: Exploring transformational play as a framework for teaching with videogames. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction. ISSN 2210-6561. 19, p. 40–50. doi: 10.1016/j.lcsi.2018.04.011. Full text in Research Archive
• Sousa, Filipa De; Rasmussen, Ingvill & Pierroux, Palmyre (2018). Zombies and ethical theories: Exploring transformational play as a framework for teaching with videogames. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction. ISSN 2210-6561. doi: 10.1016/j.lcsi.2018.04.011. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Videogames are included among the wide array of digital resources available to teachers to foster student engagement and teach domain-specific content. In this study, we analyze how two teachers in two countries used the commercial videogame The Walking Dead™ to teach ethical theories in upper secondary citizenship education. In both cases, students collaborated in playing the videogame, and teachers led whole-class and small-group discussions to relate the game narrative to the curriculum. However, the analysis identified two different instructional designs and dialogic approaches to integrating the videogame with other educational resources. Extending the concept of transformational play, the analysis showed how the respective teaching approaches supported student learning and engagement by facilitating different types of positioning work.

• Christidou, Dimitra & Pierroux, Palmyre (2018). Art, touch and meaning making: an analysis of multisensory interpretation in the museum. Museum Management and Curatorship. ISSN 0964-7775. 34(1), p. 96–115. doi: 10.1080/09647775.2018.1516561. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2018). Learning and Engagement in Museum Mediascapes. In Drotner, Kirsten; Dziekan, Vincent; Parry, Ross & Schrøder, Kim Christian (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Media and Communication. Routledge. ISSN 9781138676305. p. 128–142. doi: 10.4324/9781315560168-11. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Steier, Rolf (2016). Making it Real: Transforming a University and Museum Research Collaboration into a Design Product. In Svihla, Vanessa & Reeve, Richard (Ed.), Design as Scholarship. Case Studies from the Learning Sciences. Routledge. ISSN 9781138891654. p. 115–129. Full text in Research Archive
• Bakken, Sven Magne & Pierroux, Palmyre (2015). Framing a topic: Mobile video tasks in museum learning. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction. ISSN 2210-6561. 5, p. 54–65. doi: 10.1016/j.lcsi.2014.12.001. Full text in Research Archive
• Steier, Rolf; Pierroux, Palmyre & Krange, Ingeborg (2015). Embodied Interpretation: Gesture, Social Interaction and Meaning Making in a National Art Museum. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction. ISSN 2210-6561. 7, p. 28–42. doi: 10.1016/j.lcsi.2015.05.002. Full text in Research Archive
• Crowley, Kevin; Pierroux, Palmyre & Knutson, Karen (2014). Informal Learning in Museums. In Sawyer, Keith (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences. Cambridge University Press. ISSN 9781107626577. p. 461–478. doi: 10.1017/cbo9781139519526.028. Full text in Research Archive
• Bauer, Daniela & Pierroux, Palmyre (2014). Expert and Adolescent Interpretive Approaches in a National Art Museum. Museum Management and Curatorship. ISSN 0964-7775. 29(3), p. 260–279. doi: 10.1080/09647775.2014.919162. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Bauer, Daniela (2014). Integrating Physical and Social Contexts in an Information Processing Model of Art Interpretation. American Educational Research Association. Annual Meeting Program. ISSN 0163-9676. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Ludvigsen, Sten Runar (2013). Communication Interrupted: Textual Practices and Digital Interactives in Art Museums. In Drotner, Kirsten & Schrøder, Kim Christian (Ed.), The Connected Museum: Social Media and Museum Communication. Routledge. ISSN 9780415833189. p. 153–176. Full text in Research Archive
• Andreassen, Ingvild Solberg & Pierroux, Palmyre (2013). "How do you know that?" A study of narrative and mediation at an archaeological excavation site. Nordisk Museologi. ISSN 1103-8152. p. 67–85. doi: 10.5617/nm.3092. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2012). Real Life Meaning in Second Life Art. In Østerud, Svein; Gentikow, Barbara & Skogseth, Egil G. (Ed.), Literacy practices in late modernity: Mastering technological and cultural convergences. Hampton Press. ISSN 9781612890678. p. 177–198. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Skjulstad, Synne (2011). Composing a Public Image Online: Art Museums and Narratives of Architecture in Web Mediation. Computers and Composition. ISSN 8755-4615. 28(3), p. 205–214. doi: 10.1016/j.compcom.2011.07.005. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Kluge, Anders (2011). Bridging the Extended Classroom: Social, Technological and Institutional Challenges. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy. 6(3), p. 115–121. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Krange, Ingeborg & Sem, Idunn (2011). Bridging Contexts and Interpretations: Mobile Blogging on Art Museum Field Trips. Mediekultur. ISSN 0900-9671. 50, p. 25–44. doi: 10.7146/mediekultur.v27i50.2997. Full text in Research Archive
• Steier, Rolf & Pierroux, Palmyre (2011). "What is 'the concept'?" Sites of conceptual formation in a touring architecture workshop. Digital kompetanse. ISSN 0809-6724. p. 139–156. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2010). Guiding Meaning on Guided Tours: Narratives of Art and Learning in Museums. In Morrison, Andrew (Eds.), Inside Multimodal Composition. Hampton Press. ISSN 9781572739581. p. 417–450. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2009). Framing learning perspectives in computer music education. In Dean, Roger (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Computer Music. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780195331615. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2009). Newbies and Design Research: Approaches to Designing a Learning Environment using Mobile and Social Technologies. In Vavoula, Giasemi; Pachler, Norbert & Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes (Ed.), Researching Mobile Learning Frameworks, tools and research designs. Peter Lang Publishing Group. ISSN 9783039118328. p. 289–316. Full text in Research Archive

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• Hetland, Per; Pierroux, Palmyre & Esborg, Line (2020). A History of Participation in Museums and Archives. Traversing Citizen Science and Citizen Humanities. Routledge. ISBN 9780367186715. 302 p. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Traversing disciplines, A History of Participation in Museums and Archives provides a framework for understanding how participatory modes in natural, cultural and scientific heritage institutions intersect with practices in Citizen Science and Citizen Humanities. Drawing on perspectives in cultural history, science and technology studies, and media and communication theory, the book explores how museums and archives make science and cultural heritage relevant to people’s everyday lives, while soliciting their assistance and participation in research and citizen projects. More specifically, the book critically examines how different forms of engagement are constructed, how concepts of democratization are framed and enacted, and how epistemic practices in science and the humanities are transformed through socio-technological infrastructures. Tracking these central themes across disciplines and research from Europe, Canada, Australia and the USA, the book simultaneously considers their relevance for museum and heritage studies.

View all works in NVA

• Bøjer, Bodil H.; Mäkelä, Tiina-Maria; Pierroux, Palmyre; Stavem, Siv Marit; Hjartarson, Torfi & Lang, Markku [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2026). Impact of Learning Environment Design on Teaching, Learning, and Wellbeing – A Nordic Perspective. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Impact of Learning Environment Design on Teaching, Learning, and Wellbeing – A Nordic Perspective What do we actually know about how physical learning environments shape teaching, learning, and wellbeing – and where are the blind spots? Despite growing investment in school design and increasing expectations of what learning environments should deliver, the research base remains dispersed across disciplines, countries, and methodological traditions. This paper presents a synthesis from the completed LED Nordic project, which set out to map and critically examine research across the five Nordic countries. The study consolidates a large body of research from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden to explore how learning environments are conceptualised and investigated, and how their impact on educational practices and student experiences is understood. Rather than adding another case study, the project takes a step back, asking: What patterns emerge across the Nordic field – and what is still missing? Methodologically, the study draws on a structured cross-national research mapping and comparative analysis. National corpora were identified and analysed using shared criteria, enabling insights into both common trajectories and significant differences in research focus, scale, and methodological approach. The analysis confirms that learning environments are consistently linked to teaching practices, student engagement, and wellbeing. Across contexts, spatial organisation, flexibility, and environmental conditions appear as recurring themes. At the same time, the mapping raises critical questions about the strength and scope of existing evidence. Rather than presenting a definitive account, this paper opens up a discussion about the current state of knowledge: What kinds of claims can we reasonably make about the impact of learning environments? What remains underexplored? And what kinds of research designs are needed to move the field forward? By making both the contours and the gaps of Nordic research visible, the paper contributes to a more critical and consolidated understanding of learning environments as a field of study. It invites dialogue on how to strengthen research foundations and develop more robust, comparable, and design-sensitive approaches to studying the role of space in education.

• Pierroux, Palmyre (2026). Nordic Research on Learning Environments. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  How do school environments draw on and promote educational values such as equity, inclusion and sustainability, as well as support innovative pedagogies, well-being and learning? In this question, we see the broad, cross-sectoral context for international research on learning environment design. To explore this question in a Nordic context, our network has focused on the past 15 years. The aims of the study were to 1) analyze and clarify cross-sector interests and approaches; 2) identify Nordic research strengths, gaps and future directions, and 3) situate Nordic LED research in the international landscape.

• Mäkelä, Tiina; Bøjer, Bodil; Pierroux, Palmyre & Hjartarson, Torfi (2026). Open, Enclosed, and Flexible Learning Spaces in Nordic Schools: Potential Affordances for Teaching, Learning, and Wellbeing. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study investigates the potential affordances (Young & Cleveland, 2022) of open, enclosed, and flexible spaces for teaching, learning, and wellbeing in Nordic schools. Educational and architectural researchers, together with municipal representatives and private consultants, purposefully selected one case study school for an on-site visit in each Nordic country, representing either recent construction or renovation, except for Denmark, where a school built in 2001 was chosen as an early exemplar of open-plan design.

• Pierroux, Palmyre; Launey, Sarah de; Gjerløff, Anne Katrine; Land-Zandstra, Anne & Schwan, Stephan (2025). (Can’t) touch this! Benefits and challenges of visitor engagement with authentic objects and specimens. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2025). Architects designing architecture exhibitions: Case studies of digital representations in concepts, processes and outcomes. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2025). New Voices in the Archives: Memes, Youth and Memory Institutions. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Tjønn, Henrik (2024). Elevtilbakemeldingsverktøy (ET): Pedagogiske prinsipper for design. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2024). Innovating Visitor Research in Museums. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2024). Making Museums Relevant for the Public. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2024). Designing student-centred hybrid learning spaces. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2023). Expert and non-expert narratives in a hybrid reality architecture exhibition. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2023). Det digitale i kunstformidling og kunstformidlerens praksis. Full text in Research Archive
• Oswald, Emily; Esborg, Line & Pierroux, Palmyre (2023). Memes in memory institutions: Youth interests and literacies as encountered disruption in design-based cultural heritage work. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Steier, Rolf Erik Jorgenson (2023). Experts and novice narratives in a virtual architecture exhibition. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Domanchin, Morgane Barbara (2023). Design for student-centered learning spaces in Higher Education. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2022). The Role of Authenticity in Museum Learning. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2021). Museum. A Platform for Knowledge and Learning in the Digital Age. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2021). Sharing Experience in a Virtual/Physical Exhibition. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In museums today, screen-based interactions with curated content are increasingly part of the rich semiotic environments that mediate visitors’ meaning making. One result of this development is the introduction into gallery spaces of new modalities that engage multiple senses and invite new types of movement, gesture, discourse, and social interaction. How may studies of interactions in new museum ‘mediascapes’ contribute to multisensory and embodied perspectives on meaning making? In this talk, I reflect on how this question has been addressed in a recent design-based study of an immersive exhibition in a national architecture museum. This study explored how senses may be enhanced in virtual environments to “make sense” of architecture, and how visitors interacted to create joint attention and co-presence as they bodily moved through parallel realities (virtual/physical). The exhibition experiment was the outcome of an interdisciplinary university–museum research collaboration, involving partners with similar interests in how VR technologies may foster real multisensory, visuospatial experiences of architecture in a museum setting.

• Pierroux, Palmyre (2021). Citizen Science, Citizen Humanities: Fostering Cultural Citizenship in Museums. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Museums are increasingly understood as part of the ecosystems in which people participate and learn, a role arguably expanded by new types of museum partnerships with community organizations and universities. In parallel with this development, research in citizen science and citizen humanities has highlighted the relevance of museums as institutions that foster cultural citizenship. This talk considers participatory practices in the museum sector in light of trends in citizen science and citizen humanities, presenting cases from my recent research.

• Oswald, Emily Christine & Pierroux, Palmyre (2020). Memes and Critical Thinking: From cultural heritage research to classroom learning. Full text in Research Archive
• Oswald, Emily Christine & Pierroux, Palmyre (2020). Democratization in Cultural Heritage Research. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2020). Meaning Making in Museum Mediascapes. A sociocultural approach to the study of museum discourse. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In their aim to stay relevant for the communities and citizens they serve, museums are increasingly focused on creating greater opportunities for inclusion, participation, and meaning making. In this talk, I explore how such opportunities are constructed in museum 'mediascapes,' understood as the digital extension of a long tradition of experimentation with display and communication materials in museums.

• Pierroux, Palmyre (2020). Making sense(s) in virtual environments: Multisensory and embodied museum experiences. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In museums today, screen-based interactions with curated content are increasingly part of the rich semiotic environments that mediate visitors’ meaning making. One result of this development is the introduction into gallery spaces of new modalities that engage multiple senses and invite new types of movement, gesture, discourse, and social interaction. How may studies of interactions in new museum ‘mediascapes’ contribute to multisensory and embodied perspectives on meaning making? In this talk, I reflect on how this question has been addressed through our research in the past decade, focusing on a recent design-based study of an immersive exhibition in a national architecture museum. This study explored how senses may be enhanced in virtual environments to “make sense” of architecture. The exhibition experiment was the outcome of an interdisciplinary university–museum research collaboration, involving partners with similar interests in how VR technologies may foster real multisensory, visuospatial experiences of architecture in a museum setting.

• Oswald, Emily & Pierroux, Palmyre (2019). Constructing Reciprocity and Negotiating Collaboration in Citizen Science Projects. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Studies of participation in citizen science projects have shown the need to design tasks that provide meaningful connections to volunteers’ previous knowledge and interests to foster motivation and engagement. This challenge is explored in greater depth in a pilot study in which a natural history museum recruited members of a botanical society to contribute to an online citizen science project. The qualitative study followed the museum staff and botanists as they negotiated the terms for collaboration on this boundary object. Through analysis of in-person and online interactions, the study identifies specific challenges and opportunities for fostering reciprocity.

• Pierroux, Palmyre; Steier, Rolf; Liu, Thomas; Qvale, Anne; Sauge, Birgitte & Rudi, Jøran [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2019). Virtual Reality Architecture Exhibitions: Means for Experimenting with Future Objects in Anticipation Studies. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Steier, Rolf & Qvale, Anne (2019). Studying Visitors' Exhibition Experiences in a Virtual Reality Environment. Full text in Research Archive
• Christidou, Dimitra & Pierroux, Palmyre (2019). A Study of Touch as a Way of Knowing in an Art Exhibition. Full text in Research Archive
• Steier, Rolf & Pierroux, Palmyre (2019). Mapping Mediated Interaction in Museums: VisiTracker tool for ethnographic observations of visitor groups. Full text in Research Archive
• Sauge, Birgitte & Pierroux, Palmyre (2019). Manglende kommunikasjon bidro til publikums "sjokk". p. 44–44. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Steier, Rolf; Sauge, Birgitte; Grefsgård, Ulf & Qvale, Anne (2018). Arkitekturutstilling eksperimenterer med VR- teknologi og lyd. [Internet]. UiO nettsider. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Sauge, Birgitte; Steier, Rolf & Henriksen, Arve (2018). Slik blir fremtidens museumstur. Et fireårig forskningsprosjekt på bruken av blant annet VR-teknologi skal på sikt gi publikum en helt ny museumsopplevelse. [Journal]. Aftenposten. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Svåsand, Maria Pile (2018). Digitaliseum. [Journal]. Museumsnytt. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Skogvold, Ida (2018). Norske museer burde ha kommet lenger i arbeidet med tilgjengelighet. [Journal]. Periskop. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2018). Users and Infrastructures in Citizen Projects. Full text in Research Archive
• Christidou, Dimitra & Pierroux, Palmyre (2018). Visitors’ Hands-on Encounters with Art: The role of touch in meaning making. Full text in Research Archive
• Sauge, Birgitte; Pierroux, Palmyre & Steier, Rolf (2018). Skogen i huset. Utforskning av parallelle virkeligheter. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Steier, Rolf (2018). Group Creativity in Early Adolescence: Relational and Material Aspects of Collaborative Interactions. Full text in Research Archive
• Christidou, Dimitra; Qvale, Anne & Pierroux, Palmyre (2017). Visitracker: A Tool for Visitor Studies. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Christidou, Dimitra & Qvale, Anne (2017). Hva ønsker vi å vite om publikum? Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Hetland, Per & Christidou, Dimitra (2017). Cultural Heritage Mediascapes. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2017). Citizen Science/Citizen Humanities. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2017). Analyzing Embodied Interpretation and Touch in a Sculpture Gallery: Multisensory Digital Curatorship as Experimental Practice. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2016). Group creativity in adolescence: Relational, cognitive, and material aspects of collaborative interactions. Full text in Research Archive
• Krange, Ingeborg; Silseth, Kenneth & Pierroux, Palmyre (2016). Facilitating Students’ Conceptual Learning on Science Center Fieldtrips. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Steier, Rolf & Sauge, Birgitte (2016). Digital curation and expert practices in museums: A case study of archiving and exhibiting architectural design. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Qvale, Anne (2016). Studying Group Interactions with Visitracker: A Design-Based Research-Practice Partnership. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this poster, we present 1) perspectives on value creation in the design-based researchpractice partnership, 2) the theoretical and methodological framework for the Visitracker design, 3) initial findings from studies of group interactions using Visitracker, and 4) reflections on the insights interactional data may offer when triangulated with results from tracking and timing data analysis (Moussouri & Roussos, 2015; Yalowitz & Bronnenkant, 2009).

• Pierroux, Palmyre (2016). Creativity and Collaboration in Architectural Modeling. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2016). Visitracker: Et nytt verktøy til kvalitetssikring i museumspraksis. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2016). Cultural Heritage Mediascapes: Forskningsdesign. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2016). Ut i kulturen: Håndspåleggelse. [Radio]. Jostein Gjertsen, NRK Radio. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2016). Nasjonalmuseet får gode råd frå studentar. [Journal]. UNIFORUM. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2016). Kom nærmere og kjenn på skulpturen. [Journal]. Stavanger Aftenblad. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2016). Commercial Innovation - Building Collaborative Organizations and Partnerships. Full text in Research Archive
• Sousa, Filipa de; Rasmussen, Ingvill & Pierroux, Palmyre (2015). Teaching Ethics and Moral Reasoning Using Commercial Video Games in School. Full text in Research Archive
• Pinto, Sylvia Raquel & Pierroux, Palmyre (2015). Developing an interactive tabletop application for ‘creative interpretation’ in art museums. Full text in Research Archive
• Sanchez, Eric & Pierroux, Palmyre (2015). Gamifying the Museum: A Case for Teaching for Games Based Learning. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2015). Museums, Meaning Making and Mediascapes. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2015). Digitale formidlingsmedier og fremtidens museumspublikum. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Qvale, Anne; Steier, Rolf & Sauge, Birgitte (2014). Posing with Art: Researching and Designing for Performative Acts of Interpretation. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2014). Digital innovasjon i kultursektoren. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Steier, Rolf (2014). Embodied Interpretation: Gesture, Social Interaction and Meaning Making. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2014). Museer som læringsarenaer: IKT og innovasjon i formidlingspraksis. Full text in Research Archive
• Smørdal, Ole; Nesnass, Richard; Pierroux, Palmyre & Sem, Idunn (2014). Snøkult: Designing a multitouch table for co-composition in an educational setting. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Multi-touch tabletops have noteworthy and promising affordances for co-composition as an activity in co-located and collaborative learning. In this paper we describe the use of co-composition as a guide in design of a multi-touch application for a museum’s touring two-day workshop on architecture. The goal of the application is to support groups of students (12-13 year olds) when they are creating, selecting, organizing, and presenting digital representations (co-composition) for an architectural workshop project. The goals of the application are discussed in relation to specific features in the user interface that we designed to take advantage of a multi touch approach. We ask how these features relate to co-composition and the pedagogical aims we had for the touring workshop. The features we envisioned would benefit from more well known standards for gestures and user interface components for multi-touch tables.

• Pierroux, Palmyre (2014). Museer som læringsarenaer. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Krange, Ingeborg; Silseth, Kenneth; Jornet, Alfredo & Arnseth, Hans Christian (2014). Field Trips to Science Museums: A Study of Students’ Sense-Making when Interacting with Exhibits. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2014). Formidling til fremtidens museumspublikum:Hvordan ser det ut og hva skal vi ta med? Full text in Research Archive
• Steier, Rolf & Pierroux, Palmyre (2013). Social Media and Interaction Design in Art Museums. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2013). Meaning Making and Art Gallery Interactives. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2013). Posing with Art: Researching and Designing for Performative Acts of Interpretation. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2013). Integrating Social Media in Interpretive Activities in Art Museums. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2013). Learning in Art Museums. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2013). Research and Transforming Practices. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2013). Formidling som forskningsfelt fra museologiske og pedagogiske perspektiver. Kunst og Kultur. ISSN 0023-5415. p. 116–117. Full text in Research Archive
• Qvale, Anne & Pierroux, Palmyre (2012). Kunstmuseet som multimodal læringsarena. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2012). Digital Media and Meaning Making in Contexts of Art and Cultural Heritage. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2012). Museum Learning Research and Design at InterMedia, UiO. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2012). Communication Interrupted: Textual Practices and Digital Interactives in Art Museums. Full text in Research Archive
• Andreassen, Ingvild Solberg & Pierroux, Palmyre (2012). "How do you know that?" A study of dialogues and communication practices at an archaeological excavation site. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2011). Forskerprofilen: Palmyre Pierroux. [Internet]. UiO nettsider. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2011). Poserer som Munch. [Internet]. Afenposten TV. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2011). Applying sociocultural perspectives in pedagogical design. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2011). Kunstmuseum jaktar på ungdomskoden. [Internet]. Uniforum. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Smørdal, Ole & Birkeland, Anne (2011). Designing Learning Technologies for ‘The Budding Researcher’ in a Geological Exhibition. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2011). Learning to Teach with Museums. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2011). Munch and Multimodality. The use of analogue and digital text in exhibitions of Edvard Munch’s art. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2011). Nyere metoder innen publikumsstudier. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2011). Vil lokke unge til kunstmuseer. [Internet]. Forskningsrådet. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2011). Munch and Multimodality: A Research Collaboration between University and Museum. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2011). Digital technologies and archaeological practices: A dialogical perspective. Full text in Research Archive
• Andreassen, Ingvild Solberg & Pierroux, Palmyre (2010). Archaeology and Learning Relocated: Designs Bridging Fieldwork and Classwork. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2010). Learning Trajectories with Interactive Tabletops: A Traveling Architecture Exhibition. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2010). Communication Interrupted: A study of designed interventions in a national art museum. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre & Smørdal, Ole (2010). Designing Learning Trajectories with Interactive Tabletops. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2010). Research on Learning in Art Museums. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2010). Forskning på bruk av sosiale medier i formidlingspraksis. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2010). IKT, læring og museumsbesøk. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2009). Mening, læring og teknologibruk i kunstformidling. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Stuedahl, Dagny & Andreassen, Ingvild Solberg (2009). CONTACT: Communicating Organizations in Networks of Art and Cultural Heritage Technologies. Full text in Research Archive
• Smørdal, Ole; Pierroux, Palmyre & Perritano, Anthony John (2009). Multi-touch tables across contexts. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2009). Museums and Change: Perspectives on the transformative role of ICTs in museum practice. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2009). Social Technologies, Virtual Environments,and Knowledge Practices in Museums. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2009). The Role of Representations and Knowledge Practices in Museum Learning. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2009). Forskning på digitale formidlingsverktøy i kunstmuseer. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2009). The logic of participation in museum learning designs. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2008). Identity and Learning across Classroom and Museum Ecologies. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre; Rasmussen, Ingvill; Lund, Andreas & Smørdal, Ole (2008). Supporting and Tracking Collective Cognition in Wikis (Symposium). Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2008). Multimodality and Learning Encounters with Art. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierroux, Palmyre (2008). Sosiale programvarer, design og læring. Full text in Research Archive
• Biuso, Elena & Pierroux, Palmyre (2020). Rom, sted og tilstedeværelse i en virtuell arkitekturutstilling. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
• Leister, Wolfgang; Tjøstheim, Ingvar; Joryd, Göran; Brisis, Michel de; Bagle, Eyvind & Norseng, Per G [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2017). VisitorEngagement: Final Project Report. Norsk Regnesentral. Full text in Research Archive
• Kittelsen, Siri & Pierroux, Palmyre (2015). Det er gøy, men du skal lære noe også! En kvalitativ studie om læring og engasjement i et vitensenter. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Museer har blitt en sentral del av kultur- og fritidsaktiviteter i et informasjons-sentrert samfunn, og det reiser spørsmål om hva en museumsopplevelse skal inneholde (Leinhardt & Knutson, 2004). Ofte besøker skoler vitensentre for å lære om naturvitenskapelige fenomener (Gutwill & Allen, 2012). Et vitensenter er et populærvitenskapelig opplevelses – og læringssenter hvor barn og voksne kan utforske fenomener knyttet til natur, miljø, helse og teknologi gjennom egen aktivitet og i samarbeid med andre (ref. www.vitensenter.no). Min studie vil finne sted i et interaktivt opplevelsessenter, som viser historien til olje & gass-eventyret i Norge. Senteret inneholder blant annet 37 interaktive installasjoner og viser naturfaglige fenomener ser ut i praksis. Senteret kan plasseres i kategorien vitensenter, men til forskjell fra vitensentre fokuserer opplevelsessenteret på et spesifikt område. Senteret er anonymisert, og har fått et fiktivt navn; «Engineering Science and Technology» (EST). Nylig har designeren av utstillingen laget en mobilapplikasjon som skal brukes i opplevelsessenteret. Mobilapplikasjonen er designet for å gi mer informasjon om de ulike installasjonene, og kan fungere som en guide for besøkende i tillegg til å inneha et innslag av konkurranse. Min problemstilling vil dreie seg om hva som skal til for at de besøkende opplever engasjement og at de lærer gjennom interaksjon med installasjoner og med hverandre? Jeg ønsker også å undersøke hvordan interaksjon foregår mellom individer og interaktive installasjoner. For å undersøke dette, stiller jeg forskningsspørsmålene: Hva er det som skaper engasjement når en gruppe ungdommer besøker en utstilling? Og hvilke aspekter av besøket har betydning for læring? I tillegg vil jeg undersøke på hvilke måter de finner mobilapplikasjonen nyttig og engasjerende, og om elevene samarbeider for å løse oppgaver underveis i utstillingen. Jeg ønsker å se på hvorvidt og hvordan mobilapplikasjonen kan støtte engasjement og hvordan den støtter læring. Jeg stiller derfor forskningsspørsmålene: Hvordan kan bruk av mobilapplikasjon være med på å engasjere og aktivere de besøkende? og På hvilken måte kan bruk av verktøy fremme læring? Jeg har et sosiokulturelt utgangspunkt for min oppgave, som ser på menneskelig interaksjon som situert og mediert av verktøy og språk, i kulturelle, historiske og institusjonelle settinger (Vygotsky, 1978, ref. i Wertsch, 1991). I sosiokulturelt perspektiv kan man ikke se individet isolert fra omgivelsene, da individets utvikling påvirkes av samfunn og kultur. Når mennesket handler, kommer det i kontakt med – og utvikler både sine omgivelser og seg selv (Wertsch, 1991). Det har blitt gjort en del forskning innen hvordan læring og interaksjon foregår på museer, men denne forskningen er som regel satt i en skolekontekst. Ofte er museumsbesøk en del av et skoleopplegg som innebærer for- og etterarbeid. Forskning innen feltet viser at tidligere erfaring, veiledning, grad av utforskning og struktur for besøket er med på å påvirke læringsutbyttet til de besøkende (DeWitt & Storksdieck, 2008). Min studie er ikke gjennomført i forhold til skolebesøk og innebærer ikke før- og etterarbeid i forbindelse med museumsbesøket, men det er likevel mange funn som er relevante for min studie. Jeg vil se hvordan og i hvilken grad læring og engasjement forekommer ved museumsbesøk. Jeg fokuserer på bruk av digitale medier som en ressurs i museumskontekst (Pierroux, Krange & Sem, 2011). Jeg vil se på hvordan design av installasjoner påvirker interaksjon, og jeg støtter meg derfor på forskning som omhandler integrering av IKT (Pujol-Tost, 2011), utforskende læring (Gutwill & Allen, 2011) og interaksjon mellom design og besøkende (Heath & vom Lehn, 2002). Mine informanter er fire jenter fra førsteklasse på videregående skole. Datamaterialet består av etnografisk observasjon, videoobservasjon av besøket og intervju med de rekrutterte, samt lydopptak av intervjuer med designer og leder for utstillingen. Videoopptak skal analyseres for å kunne gå i dybden på hvordan elevene interagerer med og forstår utstillingene, og hvordan mobilapplikasjonen støttet læring og engasjement. Videoopptak av observasjonen vil analyseres gjennom interaksjonsanalyse. I analysekapittelet beskriver jeg besøkets forløp, analyserer to sekvenser («Vannkraft» og «Equiz») ved hjelp av interaksjonsanalyse, og jeg ser nærmere på bruk av mobilapplikasjon i utstillingen. Jeg har kommet frem til tre hovedfunn som påvirker læring og engasjement i et vitensenter, og funnene er tid, sosial kontekst og installasjonstyper. Videopptak og intervjuet med jentene viser at tiden ikke nødvendigvis er en indikasjon på engasjement og læring, men det er hva som skjer innenfor den tiden som er vesentlig. Mitt andre funn er at sosial kontekst er en viktig faktor for læring. Jeg ser at læring skjer i tilfeller hvor jentene tar i bruk tidligere kunnskap og ressurser som er tilgjengelige i omgivelsene de befinner seg i, forklarer, stiller spørsmål og beskriver det de observerer, og ved utdypende samtale kommer frem til en felles forståelse av hva de opplever. Den sosiale interaksjonen som foregår på museum kan være en faktor for hvordan studenter opplever museumsbesøket (Falk & Dierking, 1992, 2000; Dierking, 2002; Price & Hein, 1991; ref i Dewitt & Storksdieck, 2008). Jeg så at alle måtte ta del i samarbeidet og at rollefordeling har en veldig stor betydning for gruppearbeid (Gutwill & Allen, 2012). Jeg så også at gester var en viktig del av interaksjonen mellom jentene. Identitet, tidligere erfaring og kunnskap påvirker hvordan samtalen mellom de besøkende foregår og hvordan de bruker tidligere erfaring og kunnskap for å forstå en utstilling og dele denne innsikten med andre (Leinhardt & Knutson 2004). Mitt tredje funn var installasjonstyper. Ulike installasjonstyper påvirket jentenes grad av aktivitet og deltagelse. Jeg så at konkurranseelementer og ulik form for formidling av informasjon var viktige faktorer for læring og engasjement. Interaksjonen mellom jentene påvirkes av hvordan utstillingen er designet, og på hvilken måte installasjoner rammer inn aktiviteten og oppmuntrer til å forstå og utforske konseptet som ligger til grunn for aktiviteten de utfører (Leinhardt & Knutson, 2004). Pujol-Tost (2011) påpeker at IKT finnes i mange varianter og kommunikasjonsformålet varierer, og dette vil påvirke utformingen av grensesnittet i det teknologiske verktøyet. I min studie har jeg sett hvordan læring og engasjement ser ut i en type vitensenter, med spesielt fokus på hvordan ulike installasjonstyper påvirker interaksjon. Jeg har funnet at det er en sterkt kobling mellom sosial kontekst, design, informasjon, materiell utforming, engasjement og læring. Mine funn vil være en del av et forskningsprosjekt kalt «Visitor Engagement».

• Leister, Wolfgang; Tjøstheim, Ingvar; Joryd, Göran Kurt; Larssen, Andreas; Bagle, Eyvind & Norseng, Per G [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2014). VisitorEngagement D7.1: Description of Installations and Indicators. Norsk Regnesentral. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This research note is Deliverable VISITORENGAGEMENT D7.1, entitled “Science Centre Requirements Specification”. This note describes visitor studies at the science centres participating in the project, installations that are candidates to be used for research, criteria for classifying installations and visitors. This note also presents the VISITOR ENGAGEMENT Installation (VEI) profile that has been developed.

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