Methods

The MIRACLE project is composed of two phases. In the first phase we have designed a learning trajectory with a rich amount of physical and digital representations in an effort to bring pre-visit, museum visit, and post-visit activities closer together in science education. All partners in the project and reference groups of teachers and students have played a central role in this work while bringing in their different disciplinary qualifications. During this design and development phase, we have arranged for one lab test in the fall of 2011 and one pre-test of the design experiment in the autumn 2012. Different types of data has be collected (videodata, observational notes, different types of log-data, talks and interviews, and documentation such as students’ work and products). Data from the lab test has partly been used to improve the system design and the design of the learning trajectory but has also constituted the basis for some presentations and publications. The pre-test of the design experiment has also feed back into further system design, informed the coordination of the mixed realities, and added to our knowledge about learning and instruction in these kinds of realities. These data has also been analyzed and used for the purpose of presentations and publications.

The second phase aims to examine how the mixed reality set up comes into play during students' interactions and problem solving activities in and across school and museum settings. The MIRACLE project arranged for a full-scale design experiment in the beginning of 2013 where different types of data were collected (videodata, observational notes, different types of log-data, talks and interviews, documentation like students’ work and products, and pre- and posttests). However, videodata will have a unique position because of its rich possibilities as a basis for interaction analysis. The research group at the University of Oslo are responsible for analyzing the data.