A Chapter from Phoebe’s Field

Using narrative and design to communicate “how to think science”

Abstract

Phoebe’s Field is a collaborative project involving university students, faculty and practitioners from design, science, technology and education. It is both a children’s book and a proposal for an autonomous travelling science exhibition. The story is set amongst agricultural fields, which provide metaphors to connect Phoebe and “her pack” to the powerful concept of fields as used in science. Air, sound, temperature, water, earth, birds and bees become conduits to understanding fields as a type of invisible “glue” holding the universe together. The exhibit focuses on electromagnetic fields because of electromagnetism’s close tie to the communication-centric technologies of contemporary culture.

Phoebe’s Field responds to two problems in science education. The first is readying the student’s “creative imagination” to meet the demands of science practice and, specifically, to harness creativity’s role in discovery. The second is the declining population of students deciding to pursue careers in science and technology, and in particular, the longstanding dearth of young women opting for this path. We suspect a link between these two dilemmas. In response to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) solicitation for new ways to teach science, we propose to teach kids how to “think science” like Einstein by leveraging design studio pedagogy to build upon proven research on informal science learning.

This paper examines how a team of twelve architecture undergraduates participating in the Planning Grant engaged a complex task combining science learning with design. The team’s role was to design a science education exhibit in which architecture was more than just the walls and vitrines to contain the exhibit: architecture was, as an “extra-spatial” environment, to be the actual exhibit. This task required that the undergraduates develop an operational understanding of science principles and learning frameworks. The team achieved this through comparing multiple and iterative design approaches together in studio, thereby developing an understanding of the limits and strengths of each. In this way the learning framework of parallel models became a model for active science learning for the design team and for the proposed visitor experience to Phoebe’s Field. Of particular interest was the use of narrative in the project, both as it communicated the aspirations of Phoebe’s Field to team members and influenced the architecture of the proposed visitor experience.

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More about Phoebe’s Field
A Chapter from Phoebe’s Field: Using Narrative and Design to Communicate “How to Think Science” [PDF]