I agree with the arguments made by this chapter that prior knowledge has a lot to do with how learners in informal settings process new information. In a lot of ways, prior knowledge is how novice learners become motivated as well. For example, we saw that with the boy who visited the physics exhibit on the first page. He says that he expected the air stream to die down and the weight to overcome the air pressure. He knows beforehand that air is not a solid, and that oftentimes movement streams decay over time. Because he had that knowledge of air, he was able to commit to memory the fact that the air didn’t do what he expected, and the reasons why. In that way, as well as others, prior knowledge can serve as an important tool in informal science learning.

I think interactive exhibits are the most conducive to learning, especially for people who prefer hands-on methods of study. I think the Citizen Science project I construct is going to have to be as hands-on as possible in order to keep people interested. That being said, the textbook makes a good point in saying that too many interactive features can overwhelm the participant. Ergo, instead of adding more and more features, it’d likely make more sense to provide the participant with responsibilities. I’d have to immerse the participant fully in the investigation, possibly by making them solely responsible for the administration of the experiment and the collection of its data. The more one trusts a participant with responsibility for an activity, and the more directly hands-on one makes the activity, the more fun it’ll likely be for the participant.

Furthermore, perhaps adding an element of competitiveness is important to motivating, engaging, and interesting participants. When discussing the Downhill Race project, I was surprised that the text didn’t address that. The level of intrigue that comes from studying the physics of the rolling disks can’t go ignored, but it’s the competitive element that will most likely draw in children. If we were to create a Citizen Science project that were oriented towards children, competition might be a useful tool to use.