Spark

This study examines the design of an augmented circuit exhibit to facilitate learning about basic concepts of electrical circuits, such as current and resistance. The exhibit combines a circuit building environment with a simulation of electrons flowing through the circuit. The primary goal of this research is to enhance learners’ understanding of electrical current and resistance by enabling them to develop meaningful connections between the two representations.

I took the lead in conceptualizing, designing, and developing the exhibit and drove a comparative usability study with 200+ family visitors at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago to study visitors' learning and interaction with different versions of the exhibit.

Demo Videos

Publications

Beheshti, E., Kim, D., Ecanow, G., & Horn, M. (2017, June). Close the Circuit 'N Play the Electrons: Learning Electricity with an Augmented Circuit Exhibit. In Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children (pp. 675-678). ACM.
Beheshti, E., Kim, D., Ecanow, G., & Horn, M. S. (2017, May). Looking Inside the Wires: Understanding Museum Visitor Learning with an Augmented Circuit Exhibit. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1583-1594). ACM.
Beheshti, E., Obiorah, M., & Horn, M. S. (2015). Let’s Dive into It!: Learning Electricity with Multiple Representations. In Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (pp. 263-266). ACM.
Beheshti, E., Aljuhani, A., & Horn, M. S. (2014). Electrons to Light Bulbs: Understanding Electricity with a Multi-Level Simulation Environment. In Proceedings of Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2014 IEEE (pp. 1-8). IEEE.
Beheshti, E., Fitzpatrick, C., Hope, A., Piper, A.M., & Horn, M.S. (2013). Circuit in Pieces: Understanding Electricity from Electrons to Light Bulbs. In CHI'13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 691-696). ACM.

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