How Does the Narrative Voice Contribute to
Meaning Making in Immersive Museum
Environments?
By Jessica Lambert
Photos authors own and (Visit Blaenavon 2013)
Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of MA in Museum Studies of University College
London in 2013
UCL INSITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Abstract
Immersive environments are becoming increasingly popular in many forms
of leisure activity. From restaurant dining to shopping, theme-parks to museums,
immersion is seen as a key way to engage consumers and visitors. In museums,
immersive environments can aid meaning-making through creating experiences
and allowing the construction of the visitors own narrative.
This thesis focuses on how the narrative voice contributes to meaningmaking in immersive museum environments. As part of this study, ten
schoolchildren were taken to three case study museums: the SS Great Britain, the
Roman Baths and the Big Pit. Through collecting and analysing data derived from
personal meaning mapping, on-site observation and a group discussion, it was
possible to evaluate the different ways in which these case studies presented the
narrative voice. It was found that the narrative voice contributes by promoting
different forms of engagement through its verbal, textual and physical
presentations. Different forms of engagement allow the children to create their
own meaning and the narrative provides structure for this process. However, it is
important for them to control how and what they learn and have the opportunity
to interact with and receive feedback from interactives, displays and most
importantly other human beings.
Contents
List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... 3
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................... 5
Chapter 2: Literature Review ......................................................................................... 7
Immersion: the ‘you-are-there’ experience ...................................................................... 7
Narrative: Structuring the Illusion ................................................................................................. 9
Meaning-Making .................................................................................................................................12
Chapter 3: Research Methods ...................................................................................... 15
Methodology ..............................................................................................................................................15
Methods .......................................................................................................................................................16
Sample .........................................................................................................................................................20
Research Ethics ........................................................................................................................................20
Chapter 4: Presentation of Case Studies ................................................................... 21
The SS Great Britain ...............................................................................................................................21
The Roman Baths.....................................................................................................................................22
The Big Pit ..................................................................................................................................................23
Chapter 5: Summary of Findings (for full findings see appendix 2) ............... 25
Personal Meaning Mapping .................................................................................................................25
The Lives of Historic People ...........................................................................................................25
Specialist/Technical Language versus the Wider Subject Area .......................................25
Natural Resources and Animals ....................................................................................................25
Further Categories .............................................................................................................................26
Onsite Observation .................................................................................................................................26
Aspects of the Museum .....................................................................................................................26
Interaction with Technology and Interactives ........................................................................27
1
Interaction with People Outside of Group ................................................................................28
Role Play .................................................................................................................................................28
Outside References ............................................................................................................................29
Group Interview .......................................................................................................................................29
Technology and Guides ....................................................................................................................29
Museum Set-up and Experience....................................................................................................30
“It was how people lived” ................................................................................................................30
Narrative and Themes ......................................................................................................................31
Chapter 6: Discussion ..................................................................................................... 32
Presentation of the Narrative Voice and Meaning-Making .....................................................32
Engagements Encouraged By Narrative Voice.............................................................................34
Technology and the Visitor Experience ..........................................................................................35
Chapter 7: Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 38
Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 40
Appendix 1: Figures 3- 20 .............................................................................................. 43
Appendix 2: Presentation of Findings ....................................................................... 54
Meaning Making Table ..........................................................................................................................54
Transcript of Group Discussion .........................................................................................................55
Full Findings ..............................................................................................................................................72
Personal Meaning Mapping ............................................................................................................72
Onsite Observation.............................................................................................................................76
Group Interview ..................................................................................................................................82
Appendix 3: Glossary......................................................................................................86
2
List of Figures
All figures, except figures 1 and 2, are found in Appendix 1.
Figure 1: Table showing the alignment between research questions and methods....16
Figure 2: Diagram showing the categories the data is organised into...............................17
Figure 3: Photo of the SS Great Britain from website...............................................................43
Figure 4: Map of interior of the SS Great Britain from guide book......................................44
Figure 5: Photo of luggage piled outside SS Great Britain.......................................................45
Figure 6: Photo of the poster explaining the SS Great Britain audio-guides...................45
Figure 7: Map of the Roman Baths from guide book..................................................................46
Figure 8: Photos showing banners at entrance of Roman Baths..........................................47
Figure 9: Photo of costumed actor at the Roman Baths...........................................................47
Figure 10: Photo of the projected characters at the Roman Baths......................................48
Figure 11: Photo of the reconstructed Roman Baths shown on screen............................48
Figure 12: Map of the Big Pit site from leaflet..............................................................................49
Figure 13: Photo of the virtual mining gallery.............................................................................50
Figure 14: Photo of the virtual mining gallery and virtual miner........................................50
Figure 15: Graph showing mentions of people on meaning maps......................................51
Figure 16: Graph showing use of specialist/technical language on meaning maps.....51
Figure 17: Graph showing references to wider subject knowledge on meaning map.............52
Figure 18: Photos showing handsets used at SS Great Britain and Roman Baths........52
Figure 19: Photo showing the ship simulator at the SS Great Britain...............................53
Figure 20: Photo showing pulley interactive at Roman Baths.............................................53
3
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following people for all their help and support during
this project:
The Parents, Pupils and Teachers of St Josephs RC Primary School and St Mary’s RC High
School
The Staff and Volunteers at the SS Great Britain, Roman Baths and Big Pit National Coal
Museum
Dr Theano Moussouri
Dr Paul Basu
David Francis
Mr and Mrs Lambert
4
Introduction
Immersion is not a new concept. Since the earliest times humans have utilised
literary and artistic devices to engross and awe others to such an extent that they seem
to leave reality (Lorentz-2006). Today we find this escapism in novels, theatre, cinema,
television and even in our own thoughts. Businesses are also using this idea of
immersion to chase profit, offering experiences that differ from normal life and can
completely absorb the customer (Pine and Gilmore-2011-ix). Theme parks such as
Disneyworld allow the visitor to become part of a different world, part of their own fairy
tale populated by fictional characters brought to life. Even some museums and heritage
sites have taken up the gauntlet. Houses owned by the National Trust often offer a
glimpse into the past allowing the visitor to waft through Georgian dining rooms and
parade in Medieval courts. Some museums go further, offering a reconstructed
environment in which the visitor is not only presented with a scene from the past but
with an environment they can interact with, participate in and be absorbed by. This type
of immersive museum environment is the focus for this dissertation.
This dissertation aims to examine how children aged between 9 and 12 years
construct meaning within immersive environments. In particular I will focus on the
narrative voice as I feel that it is the story which drives the immersive environment.
Using three case studies: the SS Great Britain, The Big Pit and the Roman Baths, I aim to
discover whether the presentation of the story through human actors or technology has
an effect on children’s meaning making and experience within the space. Will a human
actor allow the children to engage more emotionally with the story than a recorded
voice on a handset? Does the presence of technology cut down the amount of social
interaction between group members? Through onsite-observation, personal meaning
mapping and group discussion, I hope to provide at least partial answers to these
questions.
This paper will begin with a literature review in which literature from the
disciplines of museum studies, heritage and cultural studies, narrative theory, design
and economics will be consulted to define the key terms of immersion, narrative and
meaning-making. This part will form the theoretical basis for the rest of this research
project. The research that was carried out as part of this project will then be explained
5
and the data that was collected in relation to three research questions discussed. I will
conclude with what can be summarised from the results and whether this reinforces our
original theories and any other significant implications.
6
Literature Review
Immersion:
Immersion: the ‘youyou-areare-there’
there’ experience
The beginning of this dissertation mentioned immersion as the feeling of
transcending reality. The dictionary definition reiterates this, defining immersion as “to
engage deeply, to engross… deep absorption or involvement” (Brookes I-2006-744).
Bitgood (1990-283) explains that in relation to an exhibition, “the term [immersion]
might be described as the experience of feeling engrossed, absorbed or deeply
involved… to make the visitor feel transposed to a particular time and place”. This
transposition is emphasised by Griffiths (2008-2), who describes immersion as “the
sensation of entering a space that immediately identifies itself as somehow separate
from the world and that… [allows] a more bodily participation in the experience”, and by
Heim (1998-17) who simply states “immersion is the you-are-there experience”.
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett goes further describing immersion “in a world other than one’s
own [as] a form of transport” (1998-132). She holds that museums have, since their
inception, “served as surrogates for travel” allowing visitors to gaze upon times and
places otherwise out of reach. Also Lorentz (2006), Griffiths (2008) and Henning (2006)
among others comment that immersive techniques have been used to produce this
feeling of travel within museums from the 19th century, most notably in the use of
natural history and ethnographic dioramas. The use of reconstructed environments can
therefore be seen as a natural progression in display design.
Bitgood (1990-284) is able to split immersive experiences into five types that
may appear in a museum exhibition; interactive immersion that usually relates to
computers and provides feedback to the user, media immersion which entails becoming
deeply absorbed in an audio-visual experience such as a 3-D film but does not provide
feedback, aesthetic immersion which involves being engrossed in artwork or beauty,
dramatic immersion such as becoming involved in a play or other theatrical experience
and lastly simulated immersion where an illusion of time and place is attempted through
reconstruction. This last type of immersive experience is what we will be dealing with in
this paper as it is deliberately constructed by the museum to bring the past back to life
in a way that can be explored physically.
7
Lorentz (2006-6, 45), in her thesis, brings together the work of Bitgood (1990)
and Biocca and Delaney (1995) and provides us with a useful set of principles with
which we can identify a simulated immersive environment. They are formed of three
premises (in bold) and five ‘desirable settings’ (which do not all have to be present):
1. An immersive environment is a multi-sensory experience that combines
with the physical space to create a feeling of being transported.
2. The visitor can receive environmental feedback from interactive
activities related to the space.
3. Information is provided or delivered to the visitor in several ways i.e.
textual, visual, audio etc.
4. Participants are chosen selectively for admission.
5. There is a threshold experience that creates a bridge between the outside and
simulated world that the visitor must pass through.
6. Structure is provided by narrative content or thematic presentation. This
structure will help stimulate the imagination.
7. Added components do not necessarily have to be realistic but do need to
support the narrative. They do not need to involve ‘high technology’.
8. The experience is “finite”, letting the visitor return to reality.
Lorentz’s characteristics show some similarities to Bitgood’s yet provide a more detailed
way to identify an immersive environment from a non-immersive museum display. We
will look for these features within the case studies (see chapter 4).
But why even bother with immersive environments at all? In his paper entitled
‘There is Nothing Virtual about Immersion’, Brooke’s (n.d.-15) states; “we are always
immersed in something, whether it is a narrative, a form of media or just our own
thought process”. In other words, if it focuses your attention you are essentially
immersed. Therefore, if viewing a piece of art or our own imaginations can immerse us
why go through all the trouble and expense of creating a simulated environment? The
economists Pine and Gilmore would argue that creating immersive environments in
which people can have an ‘experience’ (which for them means to “connect in a personal,
memorable” and engaging way) will “foster economic growth” (2011-ix, 5). At this time
of funding cuts and increased pressure on the sector, environments that create an
8
experience could allow museums to compete with other leisure activities that vie for the
public’s time and money. Kirshenblatt–Gimblett (1998-138) also holds that a shift
towards experience shows a museums shift towards its visitors, and as experience
becomes more prolific in other sectors, museums must keep up. However, ‘experience’ is
notoriously “ephemeral” (Heim-1998-19; Hein, H-2000-85). It is subjective which makes
it hard to judge and it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what the visitor enjoyed. It can also
be argued that museums of all types, involving an immersive environment or not,
produce experiences which are just as valuable. But perhaps experiences produced in an
immersive environment are valuable in a different way from other museum displays?
They allow “holistic engagement” with the display rather than “distanced
contemplation” (Hein, H,-2000-80). Through reconstruction they allow the ‘process of
looking’ to become interesting again through the ability to interact (Spalding-2006-65).
In a romantic sense they allow the past to live again.
Yet there are also issues here. Through ‘bringing history back to life”, the
museum is attempting to present the display as a “slice of life, lifted from the everyday
worlds and inserted in the museum” (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett-1998-20). It presents the
museum as neutral and neglects to reveal historical process, instead presenting a
“reality effect” (Lumley-1988-12; Kirshenblatt-Gimblett-1998-4). Cultures are presented
as “coherent wholes” which may not be entirely true. To produce this ‘illusion of
coherence”, parts of the display must be filled in to produce the feeling of being really
back in time (Henning-2006-44). In essence, the ‘history’ a museum creates is a lie,
presented as fact. In trying to emulate the success of theme parks, museums may turn
away from education in favour of entertainment (Spalding-2006-63). Theme parks are
there to entertain. They can create fictional characters and displays but museums must
always have some grounding in fact (Hein, H-2000-83).
Narrative: Structuring the Illusion
In Lorentz’s characteristics narrative structure is considered a desirable factor
(2006-45) but I propose that narrative should be a premise of immersive museum
environments. All museums tell a story even if it is not always obvious. Most tell more
than one. An immersive environment is no different. In fact, narrative may be more
important to an immersive environment as it produces the ‘illusion of coherence’
9
previously mentioned. In order to fill the gaps left in the historical record, a narrative is
formed which structures the environment, bringing together the space and material in a
coherent manner so that the audience understands the story presented to them.
But what does the term narrative actually mean? At its simplest narrative can be
described as a “form of sequential structuring”; a story described in the order in which
events occur (Skolnick-2012-105; Lorentz-2006-95). Although simple, this definition
succinctly describes the fundamental characteristic of narrative which Brooks (1984314) terms “temporal inter-relation”. Narrative, at its root, is an organisational structure
which helps us recognise patterns and consequences and come to “terms with time,
process, and change” (Herman-2007-3; Brooks-1984). In other words it is an
organisational structure that helps us understand and create meaning. Narrative works
as a “real construct to order… thoughts, memories and sensory responses to a space,
event and daily life” and fit them into the perceptions we hold of ourselves and the
world around us (Lorentz-2006-96; Macleod-2012-xxi). We use it to create a “coherent
story of our lives and our history” and thus construct our identity (Austin-2012-107;
Roberts-1997-132).
Within a museum, several different narratives will be presented and considered.
First is the story that the museum wants to tell, the event(s) that the institution wants to
focus on. This is what Hooper Greenhill refers to as the “master narrative”and will
usually be presented through the omniscient narrator. Secondly are the narratives that
the objects can tell. Here the museum must decide what to emphasise to create a
coherent master narrative. Lastly are the narratives that people bring to the museum
whether they are the historical people, curators, designers or visitors (Falk and Dierking
(2000-108) term the visitors narrative as the entrance narrative). Within an exhibition
all these narratives will interact and produce meaning for the audience. We can
therefore describe a museum as a “narrative environment” (Macleod-2012). This entails
that narrative is presented and enacted within a three-dimensional space which in turn
requires the narrative to have a “potentially free-flowing temporal sequence” (Macleod2012-xxi). Unlike the linear narrative of a book, visitors to a museum can be selective as
they physically move through the exhibition, being drawn to some displays and ignoring
others (Lorentz-2006-102). The master narrative must still make sense to each visitor
even if they do not take in every display. Consequently the museum will deliver the
10
narrative in several ways; textual, visual and, more recently, verbal (Lorentz-2006-102;
Hourston-Hanks-2012-21). Textual and verbal delivery is usually more direct,
communicating specific content whereas visual delivery will support the narrative and
guide the visitor through “spatial dimensions and sightlines,… forms, colour, light,
material” and other aspects of the physical space. Verbal delivery, such as through
guides or audio, is often presented as a personality that guides the visitor through the
exhibition. It may be a single omniscient narrator , utilising the master narrative, or a
collection of voices giving different points of view and explaining different events.
However it is presented, the use of voice to present the narrative makes the content
more immediate, accessible and fits into an aural tradition which we, as humans, are
familiar and comfortable with (Lorentz-2006-104; Brooks-1984-3). The delivery of the
narrative in our specific examples will be examined later.
Lorentz (2006-108-9) provides a framework to identify the use of narrative
within the design of an immersive environment. She identifies three primary
structural/ambient devices that provide the exhibition with a beginning, middle and an
end:
1. The threshold experience: a “transitional space through which to enter…
[that will] provide a visual cue to the expected experience” (Lorentz-2006108).
2. Counter point or climax: the visitor “experiences an ambient or
environmental change, which is not the same as the experience before or
after it” (Lorentz-2006-108). This will be subliminal rather than overt.
3. Resolution or natural conclusion
Hourston Hanks (2012-27) describes this as a ‘performance sequence’ as the museum
experience should unfold in a similar way to a drama. Further attributes of narrative
that should be presented in an immersive museum environment are identified by
Brookes (n.d). While Lorentz framework focuses on the spaces design, Brookes’
attributes are story-telling devices (n.d.-5-7):
1. Time: This may be the real time in which the visit happens or narrative
time which is how time unfolds within the narrative
11
2. Context and Space: this is the space in which the story happens both in
reality and in the narrative. For our case studies, these are the same.
3. Participation: the best stories will encourage physical and mental
participation and recognises the connection between teller and audience
These six factors from Lorentz (2006) and Brookes (n.d.) show how the narrative can be
identified in both the space design and content. Most are covered by the characteristics
of an immersive environment and thus will be applied to the case studies in chapter 4.
It has become apparent in the discussion so far that narrative is a “human
construct” (Macleod-2012; Herman-2007-3). As a ‘human construct’, it is often
subjective and open to “bias and distortion” (Macleod-2012-xxiii). To combat this,
museums must move away from imposing a single macro narrative, an over-arching topdown approach and integrate micro narratives that give different accounts and views
about the same events, allowing audiences to come into contact with a variety of
opinions from a variety of people (Macleod-2012; Hourston Hanks-2012; Roberts1997). Furthermore the subjectiveness of narrative brings in similar criticisms that can
be leveled at the idea of experience. Each individual narrative will be different. How then
can we evaluate “one world against another” (Roberts-1997-133)? What if the narrative
that is created by the visitor is not in accord with “those being projected and actualised
by the institution” (Kidd-2012-81)? These criticisms should be resolved through the
application of constructivism as explained in the next section.
Meaning-Making
The last term that needs clarification within this literature review is ‘meaningmaking’. In the late 1990’s there was a shift from seeing audiences as passive receivers
of knowledge from the museum to seeing visitors as constructing their own personal
meaning influenced by prior knowledge, their social groups and communities and their
individual experiences, attitudes, knowledge, ideas and values (Hooper-Greenhill-199911). In other words, education in museums became less about teaching visitors and
more about “visitors using museums in ways that are personally significant to them”
(Roberts-1997-132). The theory that underpins this view is known as constructivism
12
which also states that the learner must be an active participant in their learning and that
the “conclusions reached by the visitor” do not need to be validated against any external
truths (Hein, G-1998-34). The term meaning making was introduced (as opposed to the
term learning) to recognise that all people construct knowledge differently and can
learn different things in the same space (Roberts-1997). It is the personal process of
“explaining and interpreting the world to ourselves and others” (Hooper-Greenhill1999-12). However, as the term learning is still widely recognised it will still be used in
this essay but to refer to the individual process of meaning making.
In recognising that each visitor will construct their own meaning, the role of
museums has begun to change to that of the ‘facilitator’ for the meaning-making process
(Silverman-2013). Immersive environments could be considered as part of this change
as they allow the active engagement prioritised by constructivism, focus on visitor
experience and allow the visitor to pursue their own interests. In addition they allow
social interaction between visitors which is a primary way that we make meaning and
consolidate knowledge; “what is talked about is remembered and what is remembered
is learnt” (Perry-2012-17). Narrative also aids the process of meaning-making by
allowing the visitor to create memory, structure knowledge and organise, interpret and
predict the world (Falk-and-Dierking-2000-49). Furthermore it is an important way in
which sociocultural information is shared and meaning and significance is given to
events (Falk-and-Dierking-2000-49). It has been demonstrated by cognitive research
that “people can mentally organise information effectively if it is recounted to them in a
story (Falk-and-Dierking-2000-107). Therefore, narrative is a mechanism for meaning
making.
Constructivism is an educational theory and describes one view about how
knowledge is constructed (other theories include discovery learning, didactic learning
and stimulus response) (Hein, G 1998). But though it describes how we make meaning,
we have not yet looked at how we can evaluate this in a museum context. Due to the
subjectivity of meaning making, the main way to explore the success of an exhibition is
by seeing what the visitors have to say about it. This may be through interviews,
listening to conversations that take place within the space or through personal meaning
mapping. By the “aggregation of individual learning experiences” through the MLA
13
generic learning outcomes, we can get an idea of the overall impact of an exhibition
(Hooper Greenhill). These are methods that are used in this essay and will be described
in more detail later.
14
Research Methods
Methodology
This research project will use a qualitative research approach as opposed to a
quantitative one. Qualitative research allows a better understanding of particular
phenomena within a particular group of people (Diamond et al. 2009) and is well suited
to this project. It dictates that the majority of questions are open-ended and allow a
more narrative and in-depth response so that a few visitor perspectives can be
understood very well. However, the small sample of a qualitative approach leaves this
approach open to criticism. Is it legitimate to draw broader conclusions from a few
people’s opinions? Perhaps not but if the sample is carefully and fairly selected and
several studies are carried out, qualitative research provides a deeper understanding of
what the visitor thinks, feels and how they construct meaning from an exhibition.
The qualitative data for this project will be generated through a case study
approach. This is where a small number of cases are studied in detail using appropriate
methods (Silverman-2013-142). An effort must be made to maintain the ‘integrity’ of the
case which is being studied (Silverman-2013-142). Again, there is a focus on a small
example to the exclusion of others and as such is only useful to that institution. However,
through cross-referencing several cases, it can be broadly concluded what will work
with particular visitors.
Coupled with the case study approach, the methodology for this project will be
grounded theory, a general and flexible methodology for “developing theory that is
grounded in data systematically gathered and analysed” (Strauss-and-Corbin-1994-273;
Silverman 2011). Grounded theory, also known as the constant comparison method,
allows theory to be developed in tandem with data through constant comparisons and
systematically coding data into related categories (Strauss-and-Corbin-1994), helping
researchers link the data they have collected (Silverman 2011; Strauss and Corbin1994). But due to its flexible approach it can mean that people with the same data may
generate different conclusions due to their own personal approach (Chamaz 2006; Kelle
2007). This can be partly negated if the researcher stringently outlines their research
questions and methods but it must be remembered that no research will be completely
15
free from the subjectivity of the researcher as it is through their interests that the
project is driven.
Methods
The first part and perhaps most important part of this research project was
putting together three key research questions which would drive this study and limit the
area of research. These can be seen in the first column on table 1. Once these research
questions were in place, tools had to be designed that would collect relevant data. It was
decided that the best methods would be observation within the space, personal meaning
mapping and group interview. Observation and personal meaning mapping allow an
insight into personal meaning-making and the group interview allows the children to
self-report about what they have learnt and gives the opportunity to more deeply
understand what was written in the personal meaning mapping and observed in the
space and combat the subjectivity of the observation (Adler-and-Adler-1994-381).
Once ethical approval was obtained for this study a group of ten children from
two schools were taken on two day trips to three museums. The first day trip was to the
SS Great Britain in Bristol and the Roman Baths in Bath. At the beginning of each visit
the children were given a piece of paper with one word on it relevant to the case study,
i.e. ships, Romans and mining. They were asked to write down what the word meant to
them and what it made them think about. The sheets were collected and then redistributed at the end of the visit. To ensure that each child received their sheet back,
each was given a code number so that their names would not appear on the sheets. The
children were again asked what the word meant to them to see if the visit had generated
more meanings for them. During the visits themselves the children’s behaviour was
observed. A key principle of observation is non-interventionism and as such I witnessed
the children’s behaviour but did not interact with them (Adler-and-Adler-1994-378).
The categories of observation can also be seen in table 1. The group was usually quite
cohesive but when they did split into smaller groups, I chose one with two or three
members to focus on. On the second day was the visit to the Big Pit and then the group
returned to the school and took part in a filmed group discussion. It was decided to
interview the children together to save time but also to allow them to drive the
conversation. This did mean that the children may be more likely to conform to eachother’s ideas but it did create interesting conversation.
16
Once collected, the data was analysed. After a first attempt at coding the data as a
whole, it was decided to code it within the method collected as the categories seemed to
lose meaning if done as a whole. The categories can be seen in figure 2. As can be seen,
there are several key themes such as museum experience, technology and people’s lives
which are present in all data sets. Once coded, all information could be cross-referenced
to bring out the major themes and answers to the research questions. These are
discussed in chapter 6.
17
Figure 1: Alignment Table for Research Questions and Tools.
Research Questions
Tools (Bold text
1. How does the presentation
of the narrative voice in
immersive
environments
contribute/facilitate meaningmaking for school aged
children?
shows principle
method)
Personal
Meaning
Mapping
Observation
Group Interview
2. What types of engagement
are encouraged by the
presentation of the narrative
voice?
Personal Meaning
Mapping
Observation
Group Interview
3. How does the use of
technology in immersive
environments
affect
the
visitor experience?
Personal Meaning
Mapping
Observation
Group Interview
Interview Questions
Observation Categories
• Did you think there was a story being told? Can Interaction with environment and
you explain it to me? Do you think there was a others in space
beginning, middle, end, characters etc.?
• Do the visitors use other senses
• Who tells the story? What part did you play?
besides seeing?
What do you think it would be like to be on a • Do the visitors take participate
ship/down a mine/a Roman?
in the environment?
• What did you like most/least about this • How do the visitors react to the
museum?
space?
• Did you talk to the characters and were they Interaction with environment and
helpful? Which characters did you like best?
others in the space
• What did you have a go at? What else?
• Do the visitors talk to each other
or museum workers?
Do the museum workers prompt
use of other things in the space?
• Does interaction with other
visitors encourage use of space?
Interaction
with technology
• What did you think about the handsets? Did
you like them? Why/why not?
• Does the virtual tour/real-life
• Which character showed you round the SS
tour
hold
the
children’s
Great Britain? Did they help you with the
attention?
subject?
• When the visitors use audio
• Ask to compare real-life and virtual tour at Big
guides do they still interact with
Pit.
each
other
and
the
• What was your favourite character at the
environment?
Roman Baths? What did you think of having • Do the audio guides hold
more than one character?
attention?
18
Figure 2: Diagram showing the categories to code the data. Dashed lines indicate links across the types of data collected.
19
Sample
Due to the qualitative approach, the sample for this research project
consisted of ten children between the ages of 9 and 13 years. The group was
selected by the head teacher and was divided between five girls and five boys
and five primary and five secondary school pupils. Only one child had visited
one of the museums before. No additional data was collected about the
children’s backgrounds as this was felt to be not directly relevant to this project.
Research Ethics
As the project involved working with children it was necessary to apply
to the UCL Research Ethics Committee for permission to carry out this project
and to submit a Risk Assessment form.
As part of the Ethics Committee approval, permission was needed from
the institutions that were taking part (both the schools and the museums) and
consent had to be sought from the children and their parents. On several
occasions their right to withdraw from the project at any time was emphasised
and the data collected and exhibited within this project was sent out for
approval to the families. All children took part voluntarily and were fully
informed about the project and research methods before the study took place.
The children’s real names were not used within the study or this document to
preserve anonymity.
This project conforms in all ways with UCL Research Ethics and obtained
committee consent.
20
Presentation of Case Studies
Each case study was chosen as they demonstrate the different ways
narrative voice may be presented within an immersive environment. I will now
describe these three case studies, focussing on what makes them immersive and
how the narrative voice is presented in each of them.
The SS Great Britain
Brunel’s SS Great Britain is situated on the Dockside in Bristol.
Throughout her life she took on many guises from a luxury ocean liner, to an
emigrant steam clipper, to a cargo ship before being salvaged and transformed
into the accredited museum you see today (SS-Great-Britain-Trust-2006). She
rests in a dry dock and has been restored to how she would have looked in 1845
(see figure 3 and 4). Visitors have access to three decks and the exterior of the
ship in the dry dock (in which she was built), can learn about how she was
preserved and explore the museum which takes the visitor back in time and
through the ships many incarnations.
Through its advertisements the visitor is encouraged to “experience the
sights, sounds and smells” and “step back in time through scenes so life-like you
will feel like you are intruding” (SS Great Britain Trust 2012). Already we can
identify the first of Lorentz’ premises for an immersive environment, i.e. ‘a
multi-sensory experience’ combined with a physical space. As well as walking
through the reconstructed Victorian ship, different rooms are imbued with
smells from baking bread to vomit. Rooms have their own soundtrack whether
it’s the music of the first class dining rooms, the musings of the chef or the irate
man who keeps having his toilet session interrupted and is populated by models
of people throughout. The audio guides encourage visitors to look and listen.
The second premise is fulfilled by the ability to touch the displays on the boat
and within the dockside museum through the interactives. The third premise is
fulfilled through labels in the museum and audio-guides on the boat itself. The
SS Great Britain also adheres to all five desirable settings as admission is
ticketed and the experience is finite. A threshold experience is produced
21
through the dockside museum which begins with the most recent history of the
ship and leads the visitor back in time before leading them on deck.
Furthermore, the way the dock is presented may constitute a threshold
experience as it is set up as if one was boarding the ship ready for a luxury
cruise with the food and luggage waiting to be loaded (see figure 5). This is also
an added component that supports the narrative presented onboard.
The narrative here, as mentioned, is mainly presented through the audio
guides. Once the visitor has passed through the dockside museum and onto the
deck of the ship they are able to choose a character to guide them round the
ship through a handheld ‘audio-companion’ (see figure 6). The characters are a
first class passenger, a third class passenger, Sinbad the ship’s cat (primarily for
children) and a maritime archaeologist. This use of audio companions was the
primary reason that this example was chosen as a case study. The ship is
presented as frozen in time with models in the process of various activities and
the voice of your chosen character explaining different aspects of the ship and
life on-board. The different recordings are triggered by simply walking around
the ship. This provides a strong narrative throughout the experience and allows
members of the same group to access different narratives from each other. Will
this encourage or prevent conversation? How do the children react to the
reconstruction and models? This we shall discover later.
The Roman Baths
In the centre of Bath we find the Roman Baths (see figure 7). Entering
through the Georgian facade (Bird and Cunliffe 2006) the visitor is immediately
greeted with signs inviting them to meet the Romans (see figure 8). After
wandering through the museum which exhibits artefacts that have been found
in the area and reconstructs certain elements of the bath as they would have
been with projected characters wandering around the walls, the visitor gets to
explore the actual Roman remains of Aquae Sulis.
The Roman Baths adhere to all the premises and characteristics
prescribed by Lorentz (2006). The threshold experience is again created
through a museum which also provides reconstructions of the space. Admission
is ticketed, the experience finite and information is provided to the visitor
22
through text and audio-guides. How it differs is that the Baths themselves are
not reconstructed but remain how the archaeologists found them. Rather than
models of people, there are costumed characters who wander around the Baths
and interact with the visitors (see figure 9). Museum workers also wander
around with objects for visitors to handle. As well as the audio-guides, the
multisensory dimension is provided through being able to smell and taste the
bath water and perfumes that would have been used. Added components
include projections of characters and video reconstructions of what different
rooms would have looked like (see figures 10 and 11). Environmental feedback
is provided through quizzes, interactive touch-screens and less ‘high tech’
interactives.
The narrative is again mainly presented through the handheld audioguides which work by putting in numbers displayed around the museum. Three
types of commentary were available; an adult guide, a child’s guide and a guide
from the travel writer Bill Bryson. The children’s guide includes a narrator and
Roman characters such as a boy who works at the Baths and a slave girl who
serves a high class lady.
This case study was chosen because it uses audio guides to bring the
Baths to life but does not use the reconstructed element that the SS Great
Britain does and includes actors who visitors can interact with.
The Big Pit
The Big Pit: National Coal Museum (see figure 12) tells the history of the
Welsh coal fields and what life was like as part of a mining community. It was
opened as a museum in 1983 after it was closed down as a production coalmine
in 1980 (Ford et al 2005). The museum is spread over a hill side and includes
several buildings that house exhibitions on coal and the life of the miners, the
mining galleries which give a simulated impression of what it would have been
like working down a mine with a virtual miner guide (see figures 13 and 14), the
pit head baths which were the actual showers used by the miners when they
emerged from the pit and lastly the pit itself through which underground tours
are run by ex-miners throughout the day.
23
The museum was the only free museum out of the case studies though
one did have to book to go down the mine itself adding a form of selection.
Going down into the actual pit created the multi-sensory experience as you
could feel what it would have been like for miners. The virtual guide in the
miner’s gallery provided a sound aspect with machinery noises and explosions.
Within the museum space children could interact with screens and other
interactions such as experimenting with different lights to see which was most
efficient down a mine. Added components and threshold experience are
provided by the preserved associated buildings. The experience is finite and
information is provided by text and tour guides.
The Big Pit was chosen as it provides a good comparison case study to
the SS Great Britain and the Roman Baths as rather than the audio-guide it has
opted for real-life tour guides and a virtual miner who is presented on video
screens. How does this compare to having an audio-guide? How does the
simulated environment compare to the real one? Hopefully the results will
provide some answers.
24
Summary of Findings (for full findings see appendix 2)
Personal Meaning Mapping
The data presented here is from a total of 28 meaning maps as one child
was absent on one trip day. When analysed it was found the data fitted into
eight broad categories which are used to organise the data here.
The Lives of Historic People
People, their lives and jobs was quite a popular topic on the meaning
maps, especially after the visits as figure 15 shows. Before the visits up to four
children mentioned something in this category i.e. ‘pirates’, ‘clever’, ‘dangerous’
work conditions. After the SS Great Britain and Big Pit trips, the amount of
children referencing this category increased with mentions of jobs, class
differentiation and experience on board and down the mine. After the Bath trip
there was a decrease.
Specialist/Technical Language versus the Wider Subject Area
Although mentions of people are made most consistently by the children,
the most singular reference from each mind-map is concerned with
specialist/technical language. Figure 16 shows that after the visits, more
children were using this kind of language by referring to different types of ship,
parts of and equipment on a boat or down a mine, aspects of the Bath and
architectural features.
However, figure 17 shows that references to the wider subject decrease,
apart from at the Big Pit. This is especially true of the Baths where the military,
battles and Roman emperors are mentioned before but not after.
Natural Resources and Animals
Natural resources were only mentioned in Romans and Mining. For the
Baths it is after the trip that children mention them whereas there is a balance
before and after for the Big Pit (this is connected to the game Minecraft which is
mentioned by all but one child).
25
Animals were popular especially after the Big Pit visit, one child
mentioning horses three separate times. The SS Great Britain also created a link
to animals whereas the Romans only have one mention of elephants before the
visit.
Further Categories
Predictably, references to the museum experience are only made after
the visits and range widely from mentions of an activity, the museum
environment to ice-cream.
As previously mentioned, most outside references at the Big Pit centred
on Minecraft with one mention of a sinking ship game in relation to shipping.
Most personal judgements were made at the Roman Baths by giving the
Romans the traits (i.e. sophisticated, clever, posh) though one judged ships as
boring after their visit.
Onsite Observation
The behaviour and conversation that took place in the three museums
can broadly be separated into the five categories below. All interactions, unless
otherwise stated, are between children in the group. The names used in this
section are not the children’s real names to maintain anonymity.
Aspects of the Museum
Much of the conversation in the museums unsurprisingly focussed on the
museums environment and the contents, and most were simple observational
statements i.e. “it’s a massive ship”, “it’s cold” and “he just fell in”. Occasionally
these become small conversations or discussions such as what does SS mean. On
the SS Great Britain, where most discussion took place, a lot of the questions
were directed to the teachers such as “Which way do the propellers go?” and
“Why is it cooler on the lower decks”. When not on the tour, questions were also
asked of the teachers at the Big Pit such as “Is that coal?” and “If I die, how much
paperwork do you fill in?”
Some of the talk on the SS Great Britain also revolved around immersive
factors such as the ‘scary’ mannequins and laughter at the cow mooing. Smell
26
was noticed with several protests of “eww gross” and “it’s stinky”. Opening the
toilet door and getting a cross response was a favourite activity though not
being able to play with the chess set was considered “lame”.
Other interactions in the spaces included lots of photography and
touching walls and objects, such as the exterior of the ship or coal seams in the
mine. Others included stating intentions or instructions i.e. “let’s go to the lower
decks” and reactions and opinions to the spaces as “nice”, “lovely” and “scary”.
Interaction with Technology and Interactives
Technology was a major talking point within the SS Great Britain and
Roman Baths due to the audio guides (see figure 18). When presented with the
handsets at both museums, the children immediately started using them and
noticeably quietened. Any talk was focussed on the handsets such as “which bit
are you on?” and “mine’s not working”. While walking around the museums the
children would usually stop to listen and look around the rooms picking out the
key elements from the audio guides.
At the SS Great Britain, some children got agitated by not being able to
follow the number order and having to listen to the same clips again. Eventually
they started using them less and talked to each other more. At the Roman Baths,
the children listened to the handsets more and interacted less. Conversation
was usually about clip numbers i.e. “Have you done 105?” and “Go to 26, its well
good”. There were also quizzes on the handsets which generated some
competition. However there was some annoyance expressed at not being able to
listen to all the audio: “we’re missing so many” and some children decided it
would be more fun to try and change the languages.
Other interactives varied in effectiveness. The ship simulator at the SS
Great Britain (see figure 19) was successful with the children working together
to find the sunset on the video screen for five minutes. Touch screens at the
Roman Baths and Big Pit were fiddled with but disregarded if there was no quiz.
Videos held attention better, the virtual miner even receiving a round of
applause. The less ‘high tech’ interactives, such as the Roman Baths pulley
27
system (see figure 20), the Big Pits ‘Let there be Light’ and the SS Great Britain’s
bell were particular favourites.
Interaction with People Outside of Group
The children never interacted with the other visitors in the museum
space. Interaction with people outside of the group only happened when there
was museum staff or to engage with. At the Big Pit this was in the form of guides
all of whom were ex-miners. The most interaction was with the underground
tour guide who the children listened to and asked questions of including “have
any of the roofs collapsed?” Eventually the children ended up sharing jokes with
him.
The Roman Baths supplied two encounters with staff. The first was with
an education officer with mosaic tiles to handle, where they were asked “what
do you think these are”. The entire group crowded round and were attentive.
The second was with a costumed character who explained Roman make-up and
perfume and offered vials round to smell and identify.
Role Play
The most interesting behaviour was role-play and took place at the SS
Great Britain and Big Pit. First came the dress-up in the dockside museum
where the children posed for photos with talk such as “I’m the captain”. Later in
the dining room, no longer in fancy dress, a group assumed their 1st class
passenger characters and pretended to have dinner, telling other group
members “you’re not first class, get out of here “ and offering the fake pig head
up for consumption to which the reply was “no, I think I will have the vegetarian
option”. In the kitchen, Michael also pretended to eat the fake bread.
At the Big Pit, the children used the text in the Pithead Baths to assume
characters and read about their lives. This was particularly effective, the
children noticeably quieting and Fiona saying “they had sad tragic lives. I
wouldn’t want to be a miner. A more light-hearted moment came when they
found a tunnel to crawl through which had audio playing to simulate a mine.
Fifteen minutes was spent here, the children roaring and sneaking up on each
other and Alice exclaiming “we’re going mining” before disappearing.
28
Outside References
In some instances the children made connections with things from their
lives including Minecraft at the Big Pit and once at the SS Great Britain. On the
SS Great Britain, Elizabeth proclaimed “I’m Harry Potter, I’m under the stairs”,
Michael asked “can we go in all the rooms now – like a SWAT team in America”
and Fiona was asked if she played the Violin.
At the Baths, Daniel joked that the male priest was “Mother Teresa” and
Elizabeth pretended to levitate the boxes on the pulley interactive with a Harry
Potter spell.
Group Interview
The group interview was carried out after the Big Pit visit and can be
grouped into the main categories below. Again, the names used in this section
are not the children’s real names.
Technology and Guides
There was a lot the children had to say about the audio guides, both
negative and positive. On the positive side, the technology was ‘cool’ and the
audio was ‘very good’. The quizzes on the Bath handset were also liked.
However, at the SS Great Britain the audio could be “really long and it was
annoying to hold [the handset] to your ear for that long.” Also you could end up
listening to “random plays”, missing “a load” when it came on unexpectedly and
hearing one “you had already been to”.
There were mixed responses to the characters. The younger children
liked the Roman Baths characters whereas Elizabeth found it too “jokey” and
not as many facts as the adult one. The children’s ones were also thought
“cheesy”. The SS Great Britain characters were not mentioned in great detail
apart from not being able to find Sinbad the cat due to the handset issues and
the posh lady being “boring”.
For the Big Pit, the children were asked to compare the virtual and real
tour. The real tour was preferred as “he was joking around” and “you can ask
29
him questions”. The virtual tour they found “scarier” and gave them a false
impression of what the real mine would be like though the virtual miner was
“useful”, after all “a funny Welsh guy, he’s always useful.”
Museum Set-up and Experience
It was aspects of the museum, i.e. it being “scary and dark” and “going
down in the lift” that made the Big Pit the favourite museum. The word
“experience” is also used by the children several times and how it was what the
miners would have done.
What seemed to hinder the ‘experience’ in other museums were
restrictions. Fiona mentions that “in the Baths you couldn’t actually go in” and
Michael found the Crew Only doors confusing. When prompted, Daniel
expressed annoyance at not being able to use the chess set, Michael thinking
they do it “because they think someone’s actually going to take it”.
Being able to touch the environment and objects was important. It was
remarked that it was fun at the Big Pit as you could touch everything though
they understood it was because it was “basically load of dirt and rock and stuff”.
It was also commented that “it’s always hands on that creates the best
impression”. This is reflected in the make-up sessions and water drinking being
chosen as a favourite part of the Bath visit. In addition, it was important to
receive environmental feedback i.e. by opening the toilet door on the SS Great
Britain and being told it was engaged.
When asked about the models at the SS Great Britain, Daniel said he
found them “creepy and scary” and Michael kept getting a fright when he
mistook them for visitors.
“It was how people lived”
The older children, in particular, were struck by what the Big Pit told
them about people: “the most interesting part of the Big Pit for me was, the, how
it affected the lives of so many people”. Getting the ‘experience’ of “how a
Roman would have actually lived” and physically do[ing] something they would
have done was very important to them.
30
Through the SS Great Britain dressing up and Roman Bath’s make-up
session, the children got an idea of the “kind of normal stuff” and were able to
relate it to their own lives whereas the Big Pit “shocks you” by how different it
was.
Furthermore an emotional connection was important as is seen through
the pity for the pit ponies and their conditions: “I felt sorry for the horse”.
Narrative and Themes
When asked if they felt there was a story only Alice identified the boy
character on the Bath handsets: “he was kinda talking ‘bout what he did and
things”. It was decided there was a story in the children’s audio but not the adult
though Fiona did feel “it was ordered quite well” though was not sure if that
constitutes a story.
All the children did agree that these three museums all “focused on one
thing” and were not “jumbled up”. In other words, there was a strong theme.
31
Discussion
In the previous chapter the results from three methods of data collection
were presented. Here, the results will be drawn together and we will see to
what extent our research questions can be answered.
Presentation of the Narrative Voice and Meaning-Making
Immediately we can see from the personal meaning mapping that new
connections were made from the visits but how does this relate to the
presentation of the narrative voice? Firstly, much of the content at the three
museums was provided through a narrative voice, usually verbal (i.e. audio
guides) but also textual. We can therefore surmise that the meaning making that
took place within each museum was as a direct result of the narrative voice. For
example, the references to make-up were a direct result from talking to a
costumed character in the Roman Baths and the mentions of canaries, horses
and Davy lamps could only have come from the guided tour at the Big Pit. Figure
16 shows that after the visits, more children exhibited use of specialist or
technical language, which must have been picked-up principally from the verbal
presentation. The Big Pit and Roman Bath visits prompted an increase of more
than half the children using this language. This could be due to more familiarity
with shipping terms which after all is more widely used. Alternatively it could
be connected to the verbal presentation as both the Big Pit and the Roman Baths
used real people. The interview shows that the miner guide was very popular as
the children could interact with him, “ask him questions” and he was “someone
who did mining” and actually had the experience to share with visitors. The
costumed character at the Roman Baths was chosen as a favourite aspect. At the
SS Great Britain, where there were no museum workers to talk to, observation
shows the children discussing and asking questions of their teachers which
hardly happens in the other two museums. The preferred presentation of the
narrative, for the children, would therefore seem to be from another person and
not a disembodied audio voice.
32
However the audio guides do seem to have contributed to meaning
making more than the text (which, according to observation, was not paid much
attention to when it was there). Daniel gives the reason for this, describing the
technology as “cool” and more fun and accessible to use. When the children
were not having issues with the audio guides they did seem to quite enjoy them,
listening intently at the SS Great Britain and Roman Baths. What was important
to them was having the control over what they were hearing and when. The
Roman Bath audio was preferred over the SS Great Britain’s precisely for this
reason; they could choose what was interesting, whether they wanted the
children or adult version and could see the length of the clip. With the human
guide they were able to control their learning by asking questions. The impact of
the technology will be discussed more later, but in relation to meaning making it
was important for the children to control what they would learn just as they
would in any other museum environment by choosing the labels to read.
Although with the SS Great Britain audio guides you could just get up and go, not
knowing when the audio would begin meant the narrative could easily become
disjointed and segmented through missing sections. This would make it more
difficult for the children to construct their own continuous narrative, hampering
their meaning making ability.
Another factor of narrative that contributed to meaning making was
how it was used within the environment. When asked why the Big Pit was their
favourite museum, the children said it was because it was “hands-on”. Being
able to touch and interact with the surroundings is something that also seemed
important from the observation and interview. This would not seem to be
directly relevant to narrative however, interacting with the environment allows
visitors to become part of the narrative, a character in the story with smells and
ambient sound transporting the visitor into the story. Being ‘hands-on’ further
emphasises this transportation into the narrative as one is no longer simply
looking and listening.
But although we appear to see the children deriving meaning from the
narratives various presentations, when asked if they thought there was a story
the answer was negative. Only through one of the characters at the Roman
Baths did one child find a story. The use of characters as a narrative construct
33
was not always helpful for the group either, the older children in particular
considering them “cheesy” and too “jokey”. But perhaps this was just a matter of
age, as the younger children found the adult content full of “hard words” and not
very relevant to them, especially the “posh lady” on the first class SS Great
Britain audio guide. After some consideration, Fiona did think that the Roman
Baths, though she wasn’t sure “if it was a story or not”, was ordered well having
a beginning, a middle and an end so some aspects of narrative were noticed. But
although the narratives in the museums were not consciously noticed they do
seem to have facilitated meaning-making through verbal, textual, visual and
even sensual presentation.
Engagements Encouraged By Narrative Voice
Meaning is not only constructed through the presentation of audio,
sound, smell and physical reconstruction. It is also made through engagement
with the content and the environment. This section will look particularly at the
types of engagement encouraged by the presentation of the narrative voice.
Mainly the narrative was presented through verbal guides. These
encouraged sensory engagement through looking (especially Sinbad the cat on
the SS Great Britain who the visitor had to try and find) as this can be seen by
the number of observational statements made by the children in the space. The
other main sense that was encouraged was touch (although this was also
encouraged by open display). At the Big Pit the children were encouraged to
touch the rocks and coal seams, and sometimes it was a necessity to steady
oneself. The Roman Baths had a museum worker carrying around mosaic tiles
to handle and the costumed character encouraged the group to smell the
different perfumes. Smell was also encouraged on the SS Great Britain through
the characters and set-up of the museum. Intellectual engagement was
encouraged by the audio-guides asking questions or providing quizzes.
Activities and interactives provided active engagement and it is “handson that creates the best impression” according to Gregory. This type of
engagement was encouraged through the textual narrative but these were not
really read by any of the group. From observation, it was mainly the set-up of
the environment that revealed a certain activity, as with the SS Great Britain
34
ship simulator, Roman Bath’s pulley game or Big Pit tunnel. Other active
engagement that was encouraged by the environment was role-play which we
see at the SS Great Britain and the Big Pit. This was particularly interesting as it
shows real engagement with the narrative and the environment to such an
extent that they fleetingly become part of it. This is especially true of the SS
Great Britain when some of the children assumed their audio-guide characters,
telling others that they are not allowed in the space (which shows something
was learnt about class differentiation) and acting out eating a meal at the table.
The textual narrative at the Big Pit did encourage an emotional
engagement with the past people who had worked in and around the mine.
When the children decided to take on characters from the people presented in
the Pithead bath locker-room, the atmosphere in the room became noticeably
more solemn with Fiona voicing how the miners “had such sad, tragic lives”. It
could also be suggested that the different mentions of people’s lives on the
meaning mapping represents a form of emotional connection.
Occasionally it was visitors in the space who actually prompted an
engagement in an activity or audio track. Usually it was someone in the group
encouraging their friend, instructing them to “go to 26, its good” or “come here”.
Visitors not in the group only affected engagement if something was too busy to
get to. However, the fun that our group had on the SS Great Britain ship
simulator did seem to encourage others to have a go afterwards. But overall it is
the visual, audio and textual presentation that encouraged active, intellectual,
emotional and sensory engagement.
Technology and the Visitor Experience
Technology was a large topic of conversation both within the group
interview and while on the visits. In fact, while on the SS Great Britain and at the
Roman Baths it was the most talked about subject. This already suggests that
technology had a major affect on the visitor experience, and not always a
positive one.
From the data we can generally see that when the handsets worked they
were enjoyed. The audio itself was considered “good” and “actually quite useful”
and the children would have liked to have stayed longer to listen to all the
35
content, especially at the Roman Baths; “We’re missing so many. I want to listen
to all the bits”. We can see in the observation that the children would stop and
listen to what was playing, although some parts were considered “long-winded”.
It was actually using the handsets that seemed to cause the most issues. From
both the observation and interview we find anxiety about following the
numbers - “We need to find number three” - and other children being ahead;
“everyone was ahead of me and I was like oh”. At the SS Great Britain, as already
mentioned, the children disliked the lack of control over what audio they were
listening too as you could end up listening to the same clips again and missing
new ones and they would “keep coming on” and sections would be missed. It
was suggested that some sort of signal would improve this. Also Daniel did not
like having to hold the quite large device to his ear for a long time. Therefore,
the audio guides did affect the visitor experience, the audio itself positively but
the utility of the handsets negatively.
The Big Pit did not utilise handheld guides but instead had a real life
guide down the actual mine and a virtual miner in the reconstructed miner
galleries. Although the children preferred the real guide they also liked the
virtual miner, perhaps as he was not just a voice but also a face allowing the
children to relate to him more. What was interesting about the Big Pit visit is
that the children found the reconstructed galleries “scary” and “cold”. It led
them to expect “explosions” and working machinery down the mines
themselves and made them slightly apprehensive about going on the tour itself.
Usually the tour of the actual mine comes first but due to our time slot we did it
the other way round and this seems to have had an unexpected impact on the
visitor experience, leading to negative expectations which luckily were not
fulfilled.
Other technology in the space came mainly in the form of interactives,
from a ship simulation to a pulley and rope system. Within the space, it was
observed that the children were more likely to be engaged with the interactive if
it was not just more text and if it was an activity they could participate in as a
group. The ship simulator was therefore very popular and a lot of time was
spent with it whereas the touch screen in the Big Pit’s exhibition was quickly
disregarded. Quizzes were popular and used well at the Roman Baths both on
36
the handsets and on a touch screen. Alice and Clare even chose this as their
favourite thing about the Baths. Here technology affected the visitor experience
by encouraging or at least enabling social engagement and the ability to work
together and see a result whether it be a successful quiz score or a block
hanging in the air. It seems that it was the less ‘high tech’ interactives and guides
that were preferred. Having a real person guide you round was preferred to a
virtual miner or audio guide, crawling around in a tunnel enjoyed more than a
touch screen and assuming the characters on board ship more fun than listening
to them speak. Even the ship simulator, which did integrate a TV screen, was
originally played on because you got to turn a wheel. Of course the audio-guides
and technological interactives attracted and held attention but the interactives
that involved pushing, pulling and a bit of imagination were just as enjoyed.
Technology is important to the visitor experience. The audio
presentation of narrative did seem to be preferred over a purely textual display
which you would simply “skip and walk past”. The use of technology to
stimulate the senses through noise and smell and augment the environment
creates an experience and can help the visitor understand archaeological ruins
which would otherwise be unfathomable. But it does not have to be state of the
art to have an effect on the visitor experience. It seems far better to have a ‘low
tech’ alternative that allows group engagement and encourages social
interaction.
37
Conclusion
We began this essay by exploring the key terms of narrative, meaningmaking and immersion before looking at this particular study; how it would be
carried out, who the sample was and the institutions that would form the case
studies. The data collected from these case studies was then presented and
discussed. It was found that the narrative voice can be presented in different
ways and thus contribute in different ways. The narrative puts content in a
digestible format, making the content accessible so that the visitor can create
their own meaning. The narrative environment can even allow the visitor to
become part of the story itself as we saw through role-play within the space.
The narrative voice provides a recognisable structure to the space that can
guide us through the unfamiliar and provoke different forms of engagement. As
well as intellectual and emotional engagement through the content, the
environment encourages active and sensory engagement. These different forms
of engagement generate new meanings and associations for the visitor, creating
a more vivid and memorable experience. The technology integrated into the
environment and thus the narrative also promotes active engagement and social
engagement between members of the same group.
But, just as in any museum, the visitor needs to control his or her
meaning-making and this means control in how they access the narrative and
which elements they access. There is so much potential for the construction of
meaning in an immersive environment and the feeling of freedom and control
should not be overlooked. In this idea of control we see the ideas of
constructivism reinforced.
Constructivism is not the only theory reinforced by this project. Within
the case studies, we can see Lorentz’ definition (2006) of immersive
environments in action. We can also see that narrative forms an important part
on providing a supporting structure to the whole experience. This idea of
‘having an experience’ is also proved to be an important aspect of these
museums and is a major contributor to meaning making.
38
Of course there were limiting factors to this study. First of all it was
qualitative; the data was from a small sample. The constraints of this project
would not fit a wider study but perhaps it can provide a jumping off point for
further work. The time in which to collect the data was limited. This may have
affected the results especially for the SS Great Britain and Roman Baths as a
whole day could not be spent at each, something the children would have liked
to have done. The weather was particularly warm on both trip days and the trek
into Bath to reach the museum after spending a number of hours on the SS Great
Britain probably affected the children. More time with the children would also
have meant that separate interviews could have been carried out and more
diverse opinion possibly obtained. This study only took place at three museums
and so is restricted in what it can tell us. But again, this could be addressed by
further research into this subject.
All studies are affected by limiting factors and this does not negate their
usefulness. As mentioned there is scope for future research using different
museums and different sized samples. Narrative is such a large topic, as is
meaning making in an immersive environment that the potential is not really
limited. Of particular interest may be the function of role play in immersive
environments and how this aids meaning making as well as how the narrative
voice could further promote active engagement. There is also scope for looking
at the role of high and low technology in these kind of spaces, how they can be
further integrated into the narrative and what other opportunities for
engagement can be offered through them, perhaps by being able to
communicate through them i.e. sending e-mails with links to content. This study
was by no means exhaustive but it does hint at the possibilities for immersive
environments in a world and economy which is becoming more experience
driven. Through the narrative presented in an immersive setting, the visitor can
become closer to the people, understand their experiences and create new
meaning through their stories.
39
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42
Appendices
Appendix 1: Figures 3- 20
All photos, unless otherwise stated, are authors own.
Figure 3: Picture of SS Great Britain in its dry dock. The dock to the right of the
picture is made to look as if the ship is in the process of being loaded. The ‘water’
on which the boat sits is actually glass. Underneath, visitors have access to the
bottom of the ship and can see how it was powered, its size and how it is
preserved. (After BBC 2013). Referenced on page 21
43
Figure 4: Site plan showing the interior of the SS Great Britain and the activities that are
available on site. Notice how the dockyard museum acts as an entrance to the ship. (SS
Great Britain Trust 2012) Referenced on page 21
44
Figure 5: Luggage piled up on dockside of the SS Great Britain creating a
threshold experience. Referenced on page 22
Figure 6: Poster explaining the different audio ‘companions’ that can be
chosen at the SS Great Britain. Referenced on page 22
45
Figure 7: Plan of the interior of the Roman Baths. Number 5 through to 7
acted as ‘traditional’ exhibition space through which you entered the Roman
ruins (After Roman Bath 2013.) Referenced on page 22.
46
Figure 8: Banners that hang in the entrance of the Roman Baths inviting
visitors into the immersive environment. Referenced on page 22
Figure 9: Costumed character at the Roman Baths. She was acting a high born
lady and explaining Roman make-up and perfume. Referenced on page 23
47
Figure 10: Two of the projected
characters encountered at the
Roman Baths. Others included a
priest and blacksmith. The
seated character was paralleled
by the costumed character in
figure 13 Referenced on page
23
Figure 11: Reconstruction of what the Baths may have looked like in the
Roman times. Shown on a screen above the archaeological remains.
Referenced on page 23
48
Figure 12: Site Plan of the Big Pit National Coal Museum. This plan shows how
the set up of the site is used to create a threshold experience. (After National
Museum of Wales 2013). Referenced on page 23
49
Figure 13: Photo of the virtual mining gallery showing the reconstructed mine
with machine coming through the wall that children described as scary.
Referenced on page 23
Figure 14: Photo of the virtual mining gallery showing the reconstructed mine
and the virtual miner on the screen (red outline). Referenced on page 23
50
Figure 15: Graph Showing Number of Children Who
Mention People Before and After the Visit
9
Number of Children
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Ships Before
Ships After
Romans
Romans After Mining Before Mining After
Before
Meaning Map
Figure 15: This graph shows the number of children who mentioned people, their
jobs, working or living conditions or attributes on their meaning maps. It is
referenced on page 25
Figure 16: Graph Showing Number of Children Who Use
Specialist/Technical Language
9
Number of Children
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Ships Before
Ships After
Romans
Romans After Mining Before Mining After
Before
Meaning Map
Figure 16: This graph shows the number of children who used specialist or
technical language on their meaning maps. It is referenced on page 25
51
Figure 17: Graph Showing the Number of Children Who
Make Reference to the Wider Subject Area
9
Number of Children
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Ships Before
Ships After
Romans
Romans After Mining Before Mining After
Before
Meaning Mapping
Figure 17: This graph shows the number of children who made reference to the
wider subject matter on their meaning maps. It is referenced on page 25
Figure 18: Photos of the handsets. On the left is the one used at the SS Great
Britain. This handset could be worn around the neck. On the Right is the one
from the Roman Baths. The characters you can see on the Baths handset are
from the children’s guide. The adult guide would show photos of the site.
Referenced on page 27
52
Figure 19: This photo
shows the ship simulator
at the SS Great Britain. The
screen responded to the
wheel (outlined in red)
being turned. Referenced
on page 27
Figure 20: This photo shows the pulley system at the Roman Baths where
different blocks had slightly different configurations making it easier or harder
to lift the blocks. Referenced on page 27
53
Appendix 2: Presentation of Findings
Meaning Making Table
The numbers in this table refer to the number of children that used each
category on their meaning map. It is from this table that figures 15, 16 and 17
were generated.
Category
Meaning Map
People including their jobs,
experiences and work
conditions
Natural Resources
Animals
Personal
Judgement/Opinion
Specialist/Technical
Knowledge/Language
Wider reference to same
subject
Reference to museum
experience
Other reference i.e.
Popular culture
Ships
Before
Ships
After
Romans Romans
Before
After
Mining
Before
Mining
After
4
8
4
3
4
5
0
0
0
3
0
1
3
0
7
0
7
8
0
1
4
3
0
0
6
8
0
5
4
8
8
1
8
3
0
0
0
3
0
6
0
3
1
0
0
0
6
2
54
Transcript of Group Discussion
Interviewer
OK, well, which do you think was your favourite museum? Out of the
three? Right we will go round. Alice.
Alice
Coal Mine
Interviewer
The Big Pit, ok.
Ben
Same with me, the Big Pit
Interviewer
Ok… I’ve just put pig pit
Laughter
Clare
[Big Pit ]
Alice
[Are you going to do] a tally chart?
Interviewer
Yeah. Big Pit?
Clare
Nods
Daniel
Yep, Big Pit
Interviewer
Big Pit
Elizabeth
Big Pit
Interviewer
Big Pit
Fiona
Big Pit
Interviewer
Big Pit
Alice
Everyone likes the Big Pit!
Gregory
To be honest it was probably the Roman Baths because I’ve already
been to the Big Pit, although I’m more interested in modern history so
if it was my first time going it definitely would have been Big Pit. Yeah.
Interviewer
Ok, I’ll put, I’ll put the Roman Baths for something different
Hannah
Probably the Big Pit
Interviewer
Big Pit
Michael
And Big Pit
Interviewer
And Big Pit
Laughter
55
Interviewer
So what was it about the Big Pit that you all liked so much?
Indistinguishable Sound
Ben
Umm, it was scary and dark
Interviewer
Scary and dark, [it was scary and dark]
Clare
[Going down in the big lift]
Interviewer
You like the lift
Clare
Yeah
Ben
[Getting the factories]
Alice
[Getting my hand muddy]
Interviewer
Getting your hand muddy. [Fair Enough. Good.]
Michael
[Nearly dying. We didn’t]
Fiona
Learning about stuff you didn’t really [think of before] and it was quite
a new experience really
Michael
[Couldn’t breathe]
Interviewer
Yeah
Michael
[Couldn’t breathe]
Clare
[My favourite part] was when Mr Teacher hit his head
Laughter from group
Alice
[I can’t believe he did that though, he was holding my hand and hit his
head ]
Gregory
[The most interesting part of Big Pit for me] was, the, how it affected
the lives of so many people because of this huge great revolution that
umm how you know it drove all these people to these horrible jobs and
everything
Interviewer
So both you and Fiona felt it told you more about the actual people
Gregory
Yeah
Fiona
Yeah
Daniel
It was interactive and you were where they would have been
Interviewer
Umm hmm, yeah.
56
Hannah
Yeah, it made you learn about the history of it and how horrible life
was for the small children and the person who stopped it
Interviewer
How did it make you think, how did it make you think about it more
than the others? Was there something about the museum that made
you think more about it?
Several yes’s and nods
Fiona
I think the thing was that you actually got to do what they would
exactly do
Interviewer
Yeah
Fiona
Like you would be allowed in all the places they would
Hannah
That they actually went in
Fiona
Yeah. Like in the Baths you couldn’t actually go in the Baths so you
couldn’t feel what it would be like
Interviewer
Yeah
Alice
The reason I liked the Big Pit mmm no no I’ve completely forgotten
Interviewer
You’ve forgotten
Alice
Yeah, come back to me
Interviewer
Yes I’ll come back to you
Ben
Well the Big Pit it just shocks you and that’s actually how the miners
lived, they lived in those conditions also the horses, they lived there 50
weeks virtually, it would have been horrible.
Interviewer
Umm hmm
Hannah
Then they got chopped up [if they died]
Gregory
[I think all the museums] their own, you know, thing to it cos the, the
umm, Brunel’s SS Great Britain, that was a huge advance in technology
and it was it showed how people lived at the time. Same with the big
pit but it also gave you an idea of how things were powered and stuff
and umm the Baths well that’s a completely different thing altogether
because it was, it showed, their umm their capability of using natural
things to make incredible… laughter due to distraction from other
children
Interviewer
So you think that the, the baths told you more about how they used
things whereas the SS Great Britain and Big Pit told you more about the
people and what they had invented
Gregory
Yeah
57
Interviewer
Yeah
Gregory
And a lot of cheese thrown in
Hannah
It was really very cheesy
Clare
I felt sorry for the horses because when they come out they be blind
and they can’t see anything for an hour, 2 hours
Michael
But they can’t come out anyway. They kill them.
Laughter
Interviewer
Its only if they are dead that [they chop them up]
Gregory
[That’s the affect of the revolution]
Michael
Yeah but that was, no they said, they said that if they can’t get them out
they have to kill them
Interviewer
So what, at the Big Pit did you prefer, what did, did, what did you think
of the virtual, virtual tour compared to like the real life tour?
Daniel
It was scarier
Interviewer
Was it scary the virtual tour?
Clare
Yeah
Daniel
It had like explosions. It made me think it was going to be really scary
in the caves
Interviewer
But it wasn’t
Clare
I think that we should have gone to the cave thing first because then we
were, because like for the other thing we thought that that’s what it
would be like in the cave
Alice
Because you supposed to go there first
Interviewer
Yeah, yeah you do usually do it the other way round but because we
had the appointment for the [underground later]
Alice
[We got there early]
Michael
Yeah, I think the gallery was scarier than the actual mine cos it cos it
has all the explosions and sound effects and all that make you think it’s
going to be down there in the mine
Interviewer
Yeah
Michael
Cos I cos I thought the actual machinery and all that was going to scare
you when you were down there
58
Interviewer
Ok
Gregory
I thought they were both pretty good the different ways they displayed
it. Obviously when you had the actual real life tour guide he was joking
around a bit and making wise cracks
Interviewer
Which, which do you felt, felt like told you more about what it was like
to be there? Like the virtual tour or the real one
Daniel
The real one
General agreement with Daniel
Fiona
Definitely the real one
Gregory
Oh yeah cos your doing it, your, its hands on and its always hands on
that creates the best impression
Fiona
And because the person on the real life tour is actually like a real
person obviously and you can ask him questions if your cu-curious but
you can’t ask the person on the screen questions so
Hannah
Yeah
Alice
He kept on saying come here and I got confused why he said that
Interviewer
Sticking on the same theme of technology, what did you think about the
handsets in the other two museums?
Alice
Oh I didn’t like them
Interviewer
Didn’t like them
Clare
For the SS Great Britain one, I didn’t like it as much because like if you
walked past one like one you had already been to it would start playing
and like if you tried to get it off it wouldn’t work you could only pause
it so the you tried walking past
Gregory
No you pressed the stop button
Clare
Oh
Laughter
Clare
Then you tried, then you tried walking past if its playing and you try
walking past a different one it just doesn’t go to the different one
Daniel
The speeches on the thing were really long and it was quite annoying
to hold it to your ear for that long
General agreement
Alice
Yeah, everyone was ahead of me and I was like oh
59
Daniel
You walked past two in the time the first on was still playing
Interviewer
Cos quite a lot of you a lot of you were trying to follow the numbers
round, was that a bit annoying that you couldn’t
General agreement
Alice
Yeah because when they were ahead of you and I was like oh
Michael
Yeah, three wasn’t even there. [We couldn’t find number three].
Gregory
[To be honest]
Michael
[We were just wandering round listening to random plays]
Alice
[We should have asked the person where the number three was.]
Gregory
To be honest, I thought the that the radio things were very good but
yeah they were a bit, some of them were a bit long winded and err
Fiona
I really liked them at the baths, I thought cos it told you all the things
and maybe without them it wouldn’t be as affective because if I was
just walking round the baths without the audio headsets
Interviewer
Do you think they were better than having labels? If you had do think it
was more better than having
Gregory
[Yeah because you don’t take it in as much]
Fiona
[Yeah cos cos sometimes yeah like when you]
Michael
You just read a load of stuff sometimes
Daniel
Yeah, children would are like technology it’s so cool I’ll listen to it but if
it’s a label they will just skip it and walk past
Interviewer
What did you think of because the did you listen the children’s, some of
the children’s ones
Clare
Yeah, I like them
Interviewer
Did you like the characters?
Clare
Yeah and I also liked it because when they had the quizzes like if you
got it wrong then it wouldn’t say ha-ha you failed.
Alice
It would just have an upset smiley face
Interviewer
What were you going to say Ben?
Ben
Probably the same kind of. But the children’s ones were actually really
good for children like children really enjoy coming there cos usually
when you think about stuff like Stonehenge you think like
archaeologists and like those adults and people going there but with
60
the audio, the children’s bit as well, the children’s the children can now
enjoy it as well.
Elizabeth
I preferred the adult one at the Roman Baths cos it told you more about
the history where the children’s one it was all just joking around with
characters and stuff
Interviewer
Ok, so you preferred more like the factual information rather than
Elizabeth
Nods
Michael
Yeah but the jokey kind of thing is for the kids mainly because they cos
on the um the adult one there’s more hard words to understand
Interviewer
Did you think, did you think there was a story they were trying to get
across in any of them?
Alice
I know they were trying to get across with the umm with the Welsh
person
Interviewer
In the Big Pit there was a story, you felt there was a story there that
they were trying to tell?
Alice
Oh I thought we were talking about the Roman Baths
Interviewer
Oh the Roman Baths, [what yeah?]
Alice
[Yeah the] the Welsh guy cos he was kinda talking bout how what he
did and things and I also liked the person the
Interviewer
He was one of the characters wasn’t he? He was the person who
worked, the slave boy wasn’t he?
Alice
Yeah, and I also liked the wealthy woman
Interviewer
And the wealthy woman?
Clare
Yeah the wealthy woman was saying how the people wore make up
and everything
Elizabeth
She was an actor
Gregory
What you’ve got to remember is your saying its appealing to kids but
we are kids so does it appeal to you that’s the thing? Do the jokes and
stuff
Clare
It was a bit cheesy
Interviewer
It was a little bit cheesy but did you in so you didn’t feel so you felt in
the Roman Baths there was a bit of a story especially from the kid’s
characters?
Daniel
[Not from the adult one ]
61
Gregory
[No I I only heard the adult one cos]
Ben
[You heard the Google translate one]
Elizabeth
Yeah
Daniel
I was only listening to the adult one because I was supposed to listen to
it
Fiona
I’m not sure if it was a story or such but I thought it was ordered quite
well so you started off by learning the people who ran it and then you
get deeper into the baths and all the bubbles and stuff
Interviewer
So in a way there was a beginning, a middle and an end
Fiona
Yeah but not necessarily like a story
Interviewer
Not once upon a time there was
Fiona
Yeah yeah
Michael
Once upon a time there was a green mouse that…
Interviewer
So ok so what different characters did you have around the SS Great
Britain?
Thinking noises
Ben
I had first class
Interviewer
You had first class, who else had first class?
Alice
Me
Clare
I had Sinbad the sailor’s kitten
Interviewer
[You had the cat]
Gregory
[Guess what I had?]
Interviewer
You had the archaeologist
Daniel
I thought archaeologist was for the adult technician
Interviewer
Did any of you swap handsets or listen to any of the other characters
Alice
No
Daniel
No
Head shaking from rest of group
Interviewer
So you stuck with your character?
62
Hannah
With the cat one it was kind of like umm it kind of told you about it but
your aim was to find the cat and we didn’t really find the cat
Fiona
No
Hannah
Apparently there was like a cat somewhere but we never found it I
don’t think
Fiona
We tried to find it
Hannah
But it [wasn’t very clear]
Fiona
[No]
Hannah
Because it kept coming on and you didn’t know it was on so you missed
a load
Fiona
Yeah and there wasn’t like a signal to say because in
Interviewer
Would it have been better if it was always on your head?
General agreement
Fiona
Yeah, well in the Roman Baths you knew it was coming on because you
had to type in the number but sometimes in the SS Great Britain it
would just randomly come on and then you would put it to your ear
and it would be half way through and then you wouldn’t quite catch
what they were saying and then the whole thing [wouldn’t make
sense.]
Michael
[Yeah on the um] on the Roman Baths you can actually rewind and get
it back and it says if it’s gone halfway through or not
Interviewer
Ok so you can start that one again then listen to it so you know you are
listening to it
Michael
Yeah but on the other one you don’t know which number it is so your
just scanning through all of them to find the right picture
Interviewer
And hope they end up in the right place
Michael
Yeah
Ben
On the SS Great Britain in the first class thing I got a bit bored cos every
time the audio it would come up with this posh lady trying to speak to
you or the next second a man trying to tell you how he spilt his tea over
himself or something so
Interviewer
So you didn’t find the characters very helpful
Ben
No
Alice
No, on the SS Great Britain he was just talking about how many cows
and sheep and pigs
63
Michael
Yeah and in the kitchen in the kitchen he kept on going like two turnips
and three sugars and I was like
Alice
Doing an impression Two turnips, three sugars and there’s
Gregory
Well, well that’s the thing you chose you chose the characters with
their perspectives so that’s why
Interviewer
Yours was a bit different wasn’t it cos yours was the archaeologist one
Gregory
Mine was mine was the actual making of the ship and stuff
Interviewer
So what was that like?
Gregory
That was going into Brunel’s actual design and amazing ideas and all
that
Alice
The bit I liked in the boat was probably the bit where you, you open the
door in the toilet and he was like “Get out of here there’s someone in
here”, “This toilet is occupied”
Interviewer
Why did you like that? Because it was
Alice
It was funny
Michael
Funny (laughs)
Alice
And then me and Michael, we, he, Michael was forcing the door open
but it wasn’t working and we were like and then when the doors were
open as far they wouldn’t talk and then when we put it back he
wouldn’t talk
Interviewer
Did anyone else have a favourite bit from the SS Great Britain? What’s
your favourite?
Clare
Mine was like when you went into the rooms and there was those
people sitting there. Sometimes you might look away and look back
and think its like your friend sitting there
Interviewer
What did you think about all the fake people and all the fake food?
General chatter
Daniel
They were creepy and scary
Alice
They were scary
Michael
I’ve got something to say about the people.
Interviewer
Go on then
Michael
Umm there was, you know real people, yeah, they were sat there and I
thought it was actually a statue and I was like oh.
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Hannah
Oops
Michael
Then they moved their head and I was like is it moving? But it was
actually a real human
Fiona
Umm one of the things I did find useful from the audio things, I know
this is going back a bit on the SS Great Britain, was that we did pick up
that they’d stay there for a long periods of time while their father was
away and things and one of the bits I caught was actually quite useful
Hannah
If only you had caught the whole thing
Michael
And on the SS Great Britain on the Roman Baths you could literally go
anywhere you want but on the um on the SS Great Britain most of the
doors are locked and there’s um I forgot what it was again
Interviewer
That’s alright
Michael
Something to do with doors
Interviewer
Gregory
Gregory
Uh, with the SS Great Britain I thought it was amazing how you could
walk round the boat to get the size and then inside you get the rooms
and you can see what it was like and then there was one bit where you
were where it was completely empty and you could see the colossal
size of it
Interviewer
Do you think the SS Great Britain gave you a good idea of what it would
have been like?
General agreement and yes’s
Ben
Like Titanic but an older version
Interviewer
Because someone wrote on their meaning map that it would be a bit
boring if you were there for however long the journey was, to America
Gregory
No it wouldn’t, they’ve got a lot of stuff on there for the time
Alice
But it hasn’t got any playing things so you would be a bit bored
Conversation continues but inaudible
Michael
You know how I said at the Roman Baths you can go literally anywhere,
yeah but on the on the SS Great Britain most things just says crew only
and you can’t go there at all it just says crew only
Interviewer
So that’s a bit annoying
Michael
Yeah, because you can’t go there at all. Just stuck unless someone says
I’m a crew and snips the thing and goes up
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Gregory
But it’s the same private staff only
Michael
But none of them actually said you could be them so
Interviewer
Did anyone have favourite thing about the Roman Baths?
Alice
Yes
Clare
The Gift Shop
Laughter
Interviewer
Anyone have a favourite bit that wasn’t the gift shop? Ben?
Ben
Ok it was probably when we got to the lower level when we saw all the
bath at the bottom cos
Interviewer
So the actual Roman bit you liked?
Ben
Yeah
Clare
I have two. One of them was when we had to do the quizzes and the
other was when we drank the water
Alice
Oh it was disgusting
Daniel
I was going to say when we drank the water
Interviewer
When you drank the water, you quite enjoyed that bit even though you
didn’t like the water
Gregory
It was the un-necessary amount of stages you had to do for the bath.
Get yourself heated, get yourself heated again, go in a really hot pool,
go in the medium pool, go into the cold pools, put oil on
Interviewer
One of you said you actually would have preferred it if you could have
had a bath
Fiona
Yeah
Alice
It actually would have been a lot better
Interviewer
Why would it have been better if you could have actually experienced it
Fiona
[Umm because you get the feelings and you get the feeling of how a
Roman would have actually lived]
Gregory
[It would be more like the mine where you could you now hands on]
Fiona
Yeah because today we got the feeling of how a miner would have
actually been and what its actually like but you don’t know that
Interviewer
Do you think that helps, if you were learning about it in school do you
think if you were doing mining at school do you think actually going to
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the Big Pit would have been really helpful?
General nods of agreement
Fiona
Yeah, like the our tour guide was actually someone who did mining so
that was, he had experiences that maybe the teacher wouldn’t have
Michael
Yeah the teachers the teachers would probably just get the information
from what they’d seen on the internet or something they heard of but
miners actually have the experience of what they have actually done
Interviewer
What did you think about at the Roman Baths when you had the lady
who was dressed up as a Roman because obviously that’s slightly
different again because she’s pretending to be a
Clare
I thought it was cool what she made her make-up out of , she made her
perfume out of rose buds
Daniel
And geraniums
Michael
Yeah they’re good making cos you could have literally anything to do
make up but they used it so that it looks nice on them they don’t get
random stuff and put it on their lips to see if it looks good
Hannah
Yeah, I think that if you do go somewhere like the Roman Baths or the
SS Great Britain, its better when you actually physically do something
that they would have done so like at the mines you went down because
you remember it more than like just being told by a TV or from a
virtual thing
Interviewer
So it’s not enough to sort of like be in there, you want to be able to
actually do something
Hannah
Yeah, yeah
Interviewer
So because quite a lot of you were annoyed when at the SS Great
Britain, I think it was you Daniel when you went in and the chess set
was stuck down
Daniel
Yeah
Interviewer
And you found that really irritating because you wanted to play with it.
Some of the food as well and the bread so it would have been more fun
if you could actually have some food or…
Gregory
But they’d have to manage it and all sorts
Interviewer
Yeah but they can sort that
Michael
I’ve got a question, on the movie I think it said that when they didn’t
have that big thing they actually pulled the people up in a basket with
all the coal in. That would be like loads of people would have to do it or
was it just one?
67
Interviewer
Or they might have used a horse
Michael
No they didn’t cos I saw the man pulling it up
Teacher
They would have known elementary mechanics in those days and
pulley systems because pulley systems have been around they call
them block and tackle then pull them up
Gregory
Yeah they had them in the Roman thing
Teacher
So pulleys would have been around which made it easier because if you
use two pulleys that halves the amount of force you have to use. I’m
doing Physical science with you next term so you’ll learn that
Interviewer
So at the Roman, at the Big Pit you found the person guiding you round
useful? Yeah? The virtual guy as well?
Gregory
He was a funny Welsh guy he’s always useful
Daniel
Its more, its better if you actually have the person to speak to you
Interviewer
[Yeah an actual real person]
Ben
[I nearly made a bet with them]
Interviewer
Yes you nearly did didn’t you
Michael
He kept on, he kept on saying to Gregory you didn’t listen!
Gregory
I’ve got a terrible memory, sorry! It rang bells when he told me what it
was. A Davy lamp.
Teacher
Well you went on a different route the previous visits didn’t you
Gregory
Oh yeah, umm apparently he told us outside that um that next if we
come again tell the tour guide to go on the old route umm which is the
one they normally do, I think they’ve only opened it up because this
time they focused more kinda like 1950 onwards the modern
machinery whereas times before I’ve been going they’ve focussed on
the proper gritty miner work when you’re on your side and hammering
it out. We didn’t get to see much of that.
Interviewer
If you had to pick one to visit again which one would you pick?
Murmurings of the Big Pit
Michael
The only thing that spooked me cos well scare me
Alice
You thought the roof was going to fall down
Michael
Well that was one of them but when the lift went up it went quite fast a
bit well it felt like it, then at the end it was going really slow and I
thought it was because of the weight it was going to drop down
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Interviewer
What did you think, cos there were quite a lot of people especially at
the Roman Baths, there wasn’t today at the Big Pit, do you think that
had an impact on you and at the SS Great Britain there was quite a few
people too, do you think that had an impact on what you felt about the
museum?
Hannah
Well people were crowding around the bigger attractions like the
mosaic and that kind of thing so if you wanted to see that you would
have to wait for a while and that’s like the main things to learn about
Alice
The one thing I liked about the Roman Baths was probably when the
lady came round when she had little bits of the mosaic
Interviewer
Because you could touch them
Chatter
Alice
Yeah
Michael
I liked the dress up and the little clip movie
Interviewer
In the SS Great Britain
Michael
Yeah the thing with how they brung it in and the dress up thing cos
they actually have kind of like normal stuff like you have
Interviewer
Did dressing up tell you something about what it would have been like?
Michael
Yeah kind of cos it tells you what kind of clothes they kind of wear cos
there was one like velvety big fluffy red cloak thing and I thought it was
for the queen or princess
Interviewer
Were some of them quite awkward to put on as well?
General agreement
Alice
Yes, that robe was really hard
Gregory
Essentially they are all just different ways to get things across to people
so something’s more helpful for kids or helpful for adults and now I’m
sounding really cheesy
Laughter
Interviewer
I know all these museums were kind of similar like, have you all been
to Hereford museum at some point?
Children shake heads and say no
Interviewer
Or the British museum, or another museum
Daniel
I’ve been to the Natural History Museum
Gregory
I’ve been to the Science museum and the Natural History Museum
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Interviewer
Do you think these were different to them? How do you think they
were different?
Alice
The Big Pit you were actually like, most museums were like artefacts
and things you don’t get to actually get to touch them you don’t like get
to know how they feel
Interviewer
You liked being able to touch things
Alice
Yes, like you’ve got to [touch the wall and things]
Michael
[I’ve got something. Umm, can I say the differences?] Kind of
Interviewer
Yeah, of course
Michael
Well umm one was cos umm in the umm in the SS Great Britain they
don’t want you to may take the stuff because they think someone’s
actually going to take it so you can’t really touch it or try and play with
it umm the Roman Baths its focused on the Bath but you can’t really
touch it or anything like that you just listen to the audio guide but in
the mine you can touch stuff because it’s basically rock and
Hannah
Coal
Michael
Yeah coal
Teacher
Or hit your head on the roof any number of times
Laughter
Elizabeth
Yeah I hit it once
Teacher
[Four times ]
Michael
[I kind of get it] though cos you don’t want to steal the stuff and the
mine is basically loads of dirt and rock and stuff but it’s more fun
Interviewer
You like being able to interact with things
Gregory
I think compared to an average museum like the Science Museum or
Natural History Museum in London umm they’ve got loads of things
jumbled up in one space but in the err the in the Big Pit it was the one
main thing focussed on They did have the bath bit and the jumbly
museum bit which I was less able to take in but
Interviewer
Did you did you was it less able to take in because you were rushed
round it a bit or just because you preferred the way that it was done
Gregory
Yeah, especially in the baths
Michael
Oh yeah, with suburban museums like he said it’s kind of jumbled up
but they have like one section is loads of bones of dinosaurs and
different museums and then like the other the other side is way
70
different to the thing
Interviewer
Did these museums make more sense then?
Michael
Yeah because they like the whole place you’ve been to, the whole thing
you’ve been to is based on the same thing [but in different] museums
you just have bits of stuff everywhere
Interviewer
[More of a theme ]
Gregory
Yeah, and there’s a lot more to take in but the Science museum is good
I’d recommend going there
Interviewer
Did you find it easier to take in because it was organised as a sort of
theme?
Gregory
Yeah, I think yeah
Daniel
Yeah
Alice
Yep
Clare
Yeah
Fiona
I think it was good because you go there to look at one thing
individually and you learn a lot about that thing instead of lots of
different time periods
Michael
Yeah, oh err umm because like in other museums like I said people
would go on to one thing, if you want to ask a question about that they
might not hear you and just move straight on to the next thing and then
you, you don’t have time to ask and if it was like, cos some things are
linked to each other you can ask the same question if you’re in one of
the museums like we went to
Ben
Well you like spend more time looking and thinking about the objects
you’re looking at the these big museums about one subject cos if you
like at the history museums or stuff like that there’s loads of them and
you’re like oo lets look at this and then 2 seconds later you’re off
looking at something else
Interviewer
Yeah, so did you feel like at this, at the museums you went to, the three
museums, that you kind of got a sense more of what it had been like,
more of an idea, was it more helpful?
General agreement
Michael
Yeah, umm in the Roman Baths you know you have numbers to type in,
yeah, I don’t think it’s the museums fault really but the bit we, the bit
we were walking too fast so I didn’t get time to really listen [to most of
them]
Gregory
[But that’s because we] were running out of time
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Michael
Cos I had one of them and was listening to artefacts and then it went on
to loads of rocks cos I went to a different number and that’s kind of the
same for the SS Great Britain, the numbers go really fast when you
were trying to go to something else. You were in the kitchen and then
you just turn to the dining room or something like that
Alice
I didn’t really like the Roman Baths or SS Great Britain because like
everything was so interesting you just wanted to go to all of it but you
just didn’t have enough time to
Interviewer
So you would have preferred if you had had a whole day there
Alice
Yeah, so you could go round and actually see everything
Interviewer
Cos it was quite hot as well wasn’t it
Michael
Yeah I like it in the mine because even though it was really cold, you
could if you had a like jacket or trousers something like that then you
would be have normal temperature so it was kind of ok down there but
if we were up here then it would be really hot because that’s why
museums that’s why I didn’t really want to go outside and do activities
because that would go that would go really hot
Interviewer
Anything else anyone wants to say about any of this? No, okay, brilliant
thanks guys.
Full Findings
Personal Meaning Mapping
Each child filled out three meaning maps over the course of this project,
one for each museum. They were filled in before and after the visit with the
exception of the Roman map which was completed on the second day of visits.
Out of the data, eight broad categories were found that could be used to sort the
data from the meaning maps. These were references to people and their lives
which included jobs, working conditions and experiences, mentions of natural
resources, mentions of animals, when a child expressed an opinion or
judgement, specialist or technical knowledge or language (such as mentioning a
tool, part of a ship or other term specifically related to the subject of the
museum), wider reference to the same subject of the museum, reference to the
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museum experience (i.e. something they did or saw during the day) and other
references such as from popular culture.
The Lives of Historic People
People, their lives and jobs was quite a popular topic on the meaning
maps, especially after the visits as figure 15 shows. Before the visits, up to four
children mentioned something in this category. For the ships, all four of the
children made mention of ‘pirates’ and two also mentioned ‘sailors’. For the
Romans they were more likely to mention a trait such as ‘clever’, ‘sophisticated’,
‘hygienic’ and ‘posh’ whereas for mining the children referenced their working
conditions such as ‘cold’, ‘dark’ and ‘dangerous’.
After the visits, this category was mentioned more for two of the sites.
For the SS Great Britain there were mentions of jobs from simply there were
“lots of jobs” to mentions of particular roles such as “doctor” or “doctors did
surgery”. The experience of people onboard was also mentioned, one child being
particularly struck by passengers having “no entertainment”. Nearly all the
children mentioned class distinctions or “different types of people” and that
they had “different cabins for different people” and a “1st class dining room”.
After the Big Pit visit, the working conditions seemed to have had the biggest
impact on the children, the meaning maps containing statements about what
they did; “to start with it was just people working at a rock face” to it being
“dangerous”, “hard work” and the miners having “bad pay” and lives being lost.
But one child also mentions “friends” and “memories” alongside the mentions of
danger and death giving a more rounded impression of life as a miner. There is
also mentions of “miner” and “workers of all ages”.
Only after the Roman Baths trip are people mentioned less than prior to
the visit. Different children mention the same traits that are mentioned before
such as “civilised” and “posh” but there were also mentions of “rich” and
“luxury”. Interestingly, although two children mention hygiene before the visit
there are no mentions afterwards although there are mentions of the Romans
being “powerful”.
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Specialist and Technical Language versus the Wider Subject Area
Although mentions of people are made most consistently by the children,
the most singular reference from each mind-map is concerned with specialist or
technical language. Figure 16 shows that specialist or technical language was
used by more children after their visit. At the SS Great Britain, more than half
the children were familiar with the specialist or technical language before the
visit making references to different types of ship i.e. “ferry”, “yacht”, “lifeboat”
and even “spaceship” and to parts of and equipment on a boat such as “anchor”,
“life” jacket”, “masts” and “propeller”. After the visit eight children used
technical language (including two who did not did use technical language before
the visit) such as “deck”, “engine”, “paddles”, “propellers”, “sails”, “cabins” and
“streamlined”. You will notice that these words are related to parts of boats and
ships rather than different types of ship. For the Romans no technical language
related directly to the subject of the museum is used (although there are
mentions of “auxiliary” and “Colosseum” which have been classified as wider
knowledge). After the visit we have mentions of “bath” and “overflow” and
architectural features such as “mosaic”, “statues” and “altar”. For the Big Pit the
amount of children using technical language doubles. Before there are mentions
of some tools i.e. “pick axe”, “head lamp” (which are a reference to the game
Minecraft – see later). After the trip there are mentions of “Davey lamp”
“conveyor belt”, “chainsaw”, “machinery”, “explosives” and “gas masks”. There
are also mentions of the materials that can be mined, the data for which is
presented under natural resources.
Whereas the amount of specialist/technical language increases after the
visit, references to the wider subject area decrease (apart from at the Big Pit
where no mentions are made before or after) as can be seen in figure 17. Before
the visit to the SS Great Britain there are references to the Titanic, “pirates”,
uses of ships as “transport” and “the sea”. For the Roman Baths six children
mention “military” and “battles”, as well as Roman emperors including “Julius
Caesar” and “Caligula”, to the Roman Empire; “The Romans conquered some of
South Africa, Asia and Europe” and to historical facts such as they “killed
Christians” and “invaded Britain”.
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Natural Resources and Animals
Natural resources were only mentioned in relation to the Romans and
Mining. Three children mentioned natural resources after the Roman Bath trip.
There were mentions of “hot springs” and “water” and how the Romans “took
advantage” of these. For mining, seven children mentioned natural resources
before and after the trip. Before the trip many of the resources mentioned such
as “red-stone”, “diamonds”, “iron” and “gold” are references to a popular game
called Minecraft which is mentioned by all but one child on their meaning maps.
After the trip mentions are instead made of “coal”, “coal dust” and “carbon
dioxide”.
Animals were also a popular subject especially after the Big Pit where
most of the children mentioned “canaries” and/or “horses”. One child was
particularly struck by the fate of the horses mentioning them three separate
times on her sheet. One child mentions elephants in relation to the Romans
before their visit. This was in connection to many references of the Roman
military and battles. On the SS Great Britain there is one mention of rats and
animals generally being kept on board after the visit.
Further Categories
Predictably, references to the museum experience are only made after
the visits. These ranged widely from mentions to the “audio” by one child at the
SS Great Britain, to the preservation of the ships and mentions of “rust” and
“needing dry air to stop rust”. On the Roman Bath sheets were mentions of
“make-up” at the Roman Baths (referencing the discussion with the costumed
character). On the Big Pit meaning map, there were mentions of “muddy”, the
“cage lift” and “long tunnels” of the mine and even one reference to the lollipops
and ice-cream that were bought afterwards.
As previously mentioned, the other references mainly centred on
Minecraft in conjunction with the Big Pit visit though there was one mention of
a sinking ship game in relation to the ‘ships’ meaning map.
Most personal judgements were made at the Roman Baths through
giving the Romans the traits already mentioned (sophisticated, clever, posh)
though one judged ships as boring after their visit.
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Onsite Observation
The behaviour and conversation that took place in the three museums
can broadly be separated into the five categories below. All interactions, unless
otherwise stated, are between children in the group. The names used in this
section are not the children’s real names to maintain anonymity.
Aspects of the Museum
Much of the conversation in the museums unsurprisingly focussed on the
environment and contents. More conversation took place at the SS Great Britain
and Big Pit than at the Roman Baths. This may be due to the attention that was
paid to the audio guides or because it was the second visit of the day and the
children were quite tired. Much of what was said was simple stand alone
observational statements such as “Air is coming out”, “those kids are loud”, “it’s
a massive ship”, “this is the captain’s cabin”, “he just fell in”, “it’s freezing”, “it’s
cold”, “She’s called Janet” etc. In some instances, these observations did turn
into small conversations such as that between Ben, Joseph and Michael when
they noticed a gun in one of the cabins on the SS Great Britain:
“Ah, there’s a gun in here!”
“Nice”
“A gun?”
Also on the SS Great Britain, a lot of discussion took place. Mainly the questions
were directed at the teachers and included what does SS mean (possible
answers included “super sexy” and “secret service”), whether the propellers go
clockwise or not, why it is cooler on the lower decks and how coal is formed.
Other questions included was there was any treasure at the SS Great Britain,
“What if the propeller started?”, “it’s not original, is it?”, “can we go in here?”, “is
that coal?”, “what does that mean?”, “are we actually going down a mine?” and
“if I die, how much paperwork do you have to fill in?”
Some of the talk on the SS Great Britain revolved around the immersive
factors. The mannequins were described as “scary” by three different children
one of whom was slightly worried as “He’s staring at me!” Several times the
children did not realise there was a mannequin there and exclaimed upon
turning round “Oh, I thought that was a real person!” But although they were
considered scary, it did not inhibit a photo opportunity. There were some
76
responses to the sounds used on board such as “I can hear shovelling” and
laughing at the fake cow mooing. The talking toilet was a particular hit and the
door was opened repetitively to get all the different responses. Smell was also
noticed with several protests of “It smells in there”, “Eww, gross” and “It’s
stinky” especially in relation to the vomit room, medical room and lower deck.
The smell of bread in the kitchen was enjoyed with Hannah and Fiona saying
“It smells nice in here.”
“I wish it was real bread.”
Attempts to open doors and play with the chess set that were stuck down were
considered “lame” by Daniel. But this did not impact too much on the overall
effect for Gregory who said “It’s so real, so so real.”
Other interactions with the space included a lot of photography by Clare
and all the children touching the outside of the ship. At the Big Pit the children
also interacted with the space itself by finding their names on the list of mines
that used to be active, touching the seams of coal while down the mine and
touching the plastic fire in the exhibition space:
“Oh it’s hot. Not.”
“You’re not meant to touch the fire! Is it hot?”
“It’s boiling...”
Michael touches the ‘fire’, “It’s not!”
Other speech that took place in the museums included the stating of
intentions or instructions, such as “Look at the propellers”, “I want to see the
cabin”, “Let’s go to the lower decks”, “Look at how it moves” and “Come on”.
There were also reactions and opinions to the different environments including
excitement when they saw the SS Great Britain for the first time, relief when
they reached the Baths after a small trek through the city and apprehension
about going down the mine. The 1st class dining room on the SS Great Britain
was described as “nice and snazzy”, the Roman Baths as “lovely” and the mining
galleries as “scary”.
Interaction with Technology and Interactives
All the museums provided interactives, usually ‘high tech’ forms such as
audio guides, TV screens, touch screens but also some of the ‘low tech’ variety.
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These types of interactives were a particular talking point at the museums with
audio guides (i.e. the SS Great Britain and the Roman Baths).
Once presented with the handsets on the deck of the SS Great Britain, the
children noticeably quietened with only some talk between them. This was
mostly centred on the handsets such as “Which bit are you on?”, “It’s too loud”,
“No don’t have to do it in order” and “Mine’s not working, what button do you
have to click?” Some of the children, especially Michael and Alice, got agitated
when the audio-guide brought up the audio clips in non-numerical order and at
different intervals would ask members of the group “Have you found number
three? We need to find number three.” There was also a bit of competition about
where each child was on the different audio tracks. When they first received the
handsets the children would stop and listen to them but as they got more
frustrated they used them less and talked to each-other more.
The handsets at the Roman Baths afforded more control to the visitor
and as such the children listened to those for longer. Again they would stand
and listen, interacting less with each other though there was conversation about
which numbers each of them was on, i.e. “What is it?” “Its 27”, “Have you done
105?”, “Go to 26, its well good” and “I listened to 260. It was about the bronze
bowl. It was found in the thing.” Again there was some competition but this was
mainly generated through the quizzes that you could do on the handsets.
Eventually though, some of the children got annoyed as there were a lot of
numbers and they could not listen to everything – “We’re missing so many. I
want to listen to all the bits”. A group of the children decided it would be more
fun to try and change the languages:
“Yes you can reset it.”
“I’m going to try Mandarin.”
“What’s that?”
“A Chinese Language”
“I learnt how to do it in Chinese”
“What have you done?”
“I’m confused now!”
“I want mine in Japanese.”
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The other interactives in the museums also varied in keeping the
attention of the group. The ship simulator was pretty successful with the whole
group working together at one point to find the sun on the video screen though
Gregory did ask “Do we really all need to have a go on the simulator?” Touch
screens at the Roman Baths and Big Pit were fiddled with quickly then
disregarded unless they had a quiz on. The videos were more successful, the
video reconstruction at the Roman Baths getting an “Oo, look at that!” and the
virtual miner at Big Pit getting a round of applause and one of the children
saying “Oh I love that man.” Some of the other less high tech interactives were
more successful. The pulley and ropes at the Roman Baths was played with for
five to ten minutes though none of the children read the explanation label. The
Let There Be Light interactive was enjoyed by Alice and Ben, with Alice playing
with it first then explaining the process and quizzing Ben for the right answers.
The bell at the SS Great Britain was also a particular favourite.
Interaction with People Outside of Group
The children never interacted with the other visitors in the museum
space. Interaction with people outside of the group only happened when there
were museum staff to engage with. At the Big Pit this was mostly in the form of
guides. Apart from those on the front desk, all the museum workers were
former miners. Before going in to the Mining Galleries, one of the guides
explained that they would be watching a film and then exploring a pretend
mine. The teacher took the opportunity to ask questions about what it was like
as a miner but most of the children were not paying attention. The underground
tour was conducted by another guide and while the children were quiet while
he spoke and shy for the first half of the tour, Michael and then Clare managed
to work up the courage to ask questions including “Have any of the roofs
collapsed?”, “When was the first horse brought down here?” and “How many
men have died?” Later Ben and Gregory joked with him while answering his
questions.
At the Roman Baths, the children had two encounters with staff. The first
was in the museum where an education officer was wandering around with
tesserae (small mosaic tiles) and asking the children what they were and letting
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them touch them. After the encounter, where they answered the questions
posed by the staff member such as “what do you think these are?” and “where
can you find them in this room?”, Hannah said to the teacher “I thought they
were sweets.” The second interaction was with a costumed character within the
Roman ruins. She called them over to look at the perfume table which had an
assortment of herbs and bottles on it. She then explained she was an actor
posing as a Roman and explained to them how Roman women did their hair and
make-up and what they used. She offered the vials for each of them to smell and
identify. Although the children did not ask any questions of her either, they
must have enjoyed the experience as four mentioned it on their meaning maps.
Role Play
Some interesting behaviour that took place at both the SS Great Britain
and the Big Pit was role-play. At the SS Great Britain there was the opportunity
to dress up and all the children had a go. There was also the opportunity to have
their photos taken against a painted backdrop as if they were just setting out on
a voyage. While dressing and posing the children really got into character with
Joseph saying “I’m the Captain”, Alice dressing and then acting like Queen
Elizabeth with a regal wave, Daniel finding a jacket that “Fits me perfectly” and
Fiona asking Hannah “Is this right? Not the right hat?” and Hannah replying “It
suits you”. Later on in the dining room all the children, no longer in fancy dress,
pretended to be at dinner assuming the characters on their handsets. This
involved Daniel, Ben and Alice telling the others that “We are first class”, “you’re
not first class, get out of here”, “you need to go you’re cats” and “do the washing
up, come on!”. Elizabeth and Clare also had a conversation around a fake pig
head:
“Do you want some?”
“No, I think I will have the Vegetarian option.”
At other times the children attempted to interact with the food and objects
within the cabins, such as the chess set but, because they were stuck down, were
unsuccessful. In the kitchen Michael did manage to find a pretend bread roll and
mimed eating it.
The Big Pit also provided opportunities for this type of engagement. In
the pithead shower reconstruction, the visitor could open the lockers and read
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information about a worker or family member from the area. They each decided
one character to be and read out the information in the first person. This did
particularly affect them with Fiona saying “They had sad, tragic lives. I wouldn’t
want to be a miner”. A more light-hearted moment was when the group found a
dark tunnel which you could crawl through and had sounds from the mine
playing through it to simulate what it would be like. Alice immediately marched
up to it saying “We’re going mining!” A full fifteen minutes was spent around
this exhibit with the children roaring at each-other while inside the tunnel and
sneaking in the other way to scare those coming through prompting shouts of
“Oh my gosh, they are coming through the exits”.
Outside References
In some instances the children made connections with things and ideas
from their lives. Four of the eight examples of this occurred on the SS Great
Britain and out of all comments three were about Minecraft. These were as
follows: while looking around the SS Great Britain Ben exclaimed “Don’t have
boats in Minecraft” which sparked a conversation about how to make boats
within the game. While walking up the hill at the Big Pit to reach the first gallery
Michael, Ben and Alice were discussing Minecraft while Fiona, Hannah, Gregory
and Daniel lamented this fact and while down the mine one of the children
shouted “Minecraft” in an effort to annoy Gregory.
The other outside references on the SS Great Britain included a reference
to popular culture from Elizabeth who sat under the stairs in the dining saloon
and said “I’m Harry Potter, I’m under the stairs”. Michael, while exploring the
interior of the ship, asked “Can we go in all the rooms now – like a SWAT team
in America”. There was also a reference to personal experience when Daniel
pointed at a violin and said to Fiona “I thought you played this” to which she
replied “No not the violin”.
At the Roman Baths, Daniel joked that the projection of the male priest
was “Mother Teresa, a man one” and while a group of the children were using
the pulley system interactive in the museum Elizabeth pretended to levitate the
boxes with a spell from Harry Potter.
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Group Interview
The group interview was carried out after the visit to the Big Pit and two
days after the visit to the SS Great Britain and Roman Baths. This may have
impacted on the conversation as the Big Pit was fresher in everyone’s minds.
The children also felt a bit rushed around the SS Great Britain and the Baths,
because they were the same day. This really impacted on Alice who “didn’t
really like the Roman Baths or SS Great Britain because like everything was so
interesting you just wanted to go to all of it but you just didn’t have time to”.
The discussion could be broadly grouped into four main headings as
shown below.
Technology and Guides
The children had a lot to say about the technology and particularly the
audio guides. Alice “didn’t like them”. The reasons given for this from Clare,
Daniel, Alice and Michael were that at the SS Great Britain “if you walked past
one like one you had already been to it would start playing and like if you tried
to get off it, it wouldn’t work”, the speeches “were really long and it was quite
annoying to hold it to your ear for that long”, the numbers couldn’t be followed
around and you would miss them and you would end up listening to “random
plays”. Hannah and Fiona found that the audio “kept coming on and you didn’t
know it was on so you missed a load”. They felt it would be better if there was
some kind of signal or like at the Roman Baths where you had to type the
number in. But there were some good points. Gregory thought they were “very
good” if long winded and Fiona “really liked them in the Baths” and thought the
exhibition “wouldn’t be as affective” without them. She also said that the audio
she caught on the SS Great Britain handsets was very good. Daniel felt that
children would find the technology “cool” so would use them whereas they
would just skip labels. Alice and Clare both liked the quizzes on the Bath
handset.
There were mixed responses to the characters. Clare, Alice and Ben
(three of the younger children) liked the characters at the Roman Baths and
thought they were enjoyable whereas Elizabeth preferred the adult audio as it
was more factual and less jokey. Gregory and Clare also felt that the children’s
audio could be cheesy. The characters on the SS Great Britain were mentioned
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but only when prompted and in no great detail. The children’s cat character was
explained slightly more by Hannah;
Hannah: With the cat one it was kind of like umm it kind of told you
about it but your aim was to find the cat and we didn’t really find the cat.
Fiona: No
Hannah: Apparently there was a cat somewhere but we never found it I
don’t think
This was mainly due to the problems with the handsets mentioned before. Ben
had the first class character and eventually got bored with “the posh lady trying
to speak to you”.
For the Big Pit, they were asked to compare the virtual and real tour. The
children decided that they preferred the real tour as “he was joking around” and
as a real person “you can ask him questions”. The virtual tour they found
“scarier” and gave them a false impression of what it would be like down the
mine due to all the “explosions and sound effects”. However the virtual miner
they thought was useful, as Gregory says “a funny Welsh guy, he’s always
useful”.
Museum Set-up and Experience
When asked why the Big Pit was their favourite museum out of the three,
the younger children all mentioned aspects of the museum experience, with Ben
liking the fact it was “scary and dark”, Clare being split between “going down in
the lift” and the teacher hitting his head and Alice picking “getting my hand
muddy”. Fiona described it all as “quite a new experience really”. This word
‘experience’ is used by the children several times especially in relation to the Big
Pit where they seemed to feel the experience was more authentic and what the
miners would actually have done.
What seemed to hinder the ‘experience’ in other museums were the
restrictions on what the group could do. Fiona mentions that “in the Baths you
couldn’t actually go in the Baths so you couldn’t feel what it would be like” and
later agrees that it would be improved if you could actually go in the Baths while
on the trip. Michael felt that his movement on the SS Great Britain was
restricted with signs that said “Crew only” and locked doors. Daniel, when
prompted, also expressed annoyance at not being able to really play with the
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chess set. Later Michael returns to this issue saying that “in the SS Great Britain
they don’t want you to may take the stuff because they think someone’s actually
going to take it so you can’t really touch it or try and play with it” whereas at the
mine you can touch things.
The ability to ‘touch things’ was quite important to the children and they
mentioned it as something that set these three museums apart from other
museums. Being able to touch and feel the rock at the Big Pit was quite
important for Alice and Michael though they understood that because the mine
was “basically loads of dirt and rock and stuff” they don’t mind you touching it
but it made it more fun that you could. For the other children it was important
to be “hands on... it’s always hands on that creates the best impression”. This is
reflected in the make-up session with the costumed character being a favourite
part of the Roman Baths as they got to smell the different scents. Clare
described it as “cool”. It was also something that related to modern experiences.
Alice liked “the lady [who] came round” with little bits of mosaic. Drinking the
water was another favourite activity at the Roman Baths even though they
didn’t actually like the “disgusting” taste. It also seemed important that they got
environmental feedback such as from opening the toilet door and a voice telling
them it was engaged.
When asked about the models at the SS Great Britain, Daniel said he
found them “creepy and scary”. Michael kept mistaking visitors for the statues
and getting a surprise when they moved.
“It was how people lived”
While the younger children found the experience the most exciting, the
older children were struck by what the Big Pit had told them about the people:
Gregory: The most interesting part of the Big Pit for me was, the, how it
affected the lives of so many people because of this huge great revolution
the umm how you know it drove all these people to these horrible jobs
and everything....
Daniel: It was interactive and you were where they would have been...
Hannah: Yeah, it made you learn about the history of it and how horrible
life was for the small children and the person who stopped it...
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Fiona: I think the thing was that you actually go to do what they would
exactly do
Fiona goes on to describe how in the Baths you could not actually go in them, so
you could not know what it was like and later, when prompted, goes on to
explain that if you had been able to experience it you would “get the feelings of
how a Roman would have actually lived”. Both she, Michael, Hannah and
Gregory felt that because at the Big Pit you got to “have the experience” that
they would have had and got to “physically do something they would have done”
you could remember it much more.
Michael also felt that at the SS Great Britain he got an idea of what it
would have been like from the dressing up and seeing that “they actually have
kind of normal stuff like you have”. He was able to compare with things he had
seen in his own life whereas Ben was shocked by how different life at the Big Pit
was from his own: “Well the Big Pit just shocks you and that’s actually how the
miners lived, they lived in those conditions... it would have been horrible”.
It would seem that an emotional connection was very important. This is
also seen through the pity that was felt for the horses and what their conditions
were like; “I felt sorry for the horses because when they come out they be blind
and they can’t see anything for an hour”.
Narrative and Themes
When asked if they felt there was a story only Alice felt that one of the
characters on the Baths handset was trying to get one across as “he was kinda
talking bout how what he did and things”. The other children conceded that
there was some story from the children’s audio at the Baths but definitely not
from the adult one. However, Fiona did feel that “it was ordered quite well”
though wasn’t really sure if that was a story or not.
As well as being able to touch the objects, another thing that separated
these museums from others was that they “focussed on one main thing”. They
weren’t “jumbled up” but “based on the same thing” and so was easier to take in.
As Fiona says “you learn a lot about that thing instead of lots of different time
periods” and Ben felt that you could “spend more time looking and thinking
about the objects”. It also meant, for Michael, that you could return to ask a
question about a previous area as everything was “linked”.
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Appendix 3: Glossary
Big Pit: The Big Pit National Coal Museum is one of the national museums of
Wales. It is located in Blaenavon and focuses on the lives of the miners and their
families who used to work in the coal fields of Wales. As a tourist attraction, one
of its biggest draws is the underground tour down the biggest pit in Europe.
Brunel: Isambard Kingdom Brunel is the Victorian engineer who designed the
SS Great Britain. He is a famous figure, particularly in his home-city of Bristol
where he is also responsible for the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Constructivism: A theory of learning which states that people create their
own meaning based on their prior knowledge, experiences and socio-cultural
background.
Harry Potter: A literary character created by J.K Rowling. He is the main
character in her series about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in
which he battles the evil wizard Voldemort with the help of his friends.
High Tech: Technology that involves a screen or computer such as touch
screens or projectors. It is usually electrically powered.
Immersion: The feeling of being totally engrossed, absorbed, involved or
engaged to such an extent that the subject feels transported to another time or
place. See pages 7-9
Interactives: Museum displays that allow the visitor to actively engage with
content usually through touch.
Low Tech: Technology that does not include a screen or computer part as a
main component. It will often not be electrically powered.
Meaning-Making: The process of constructing one’s own knowledge. See
pages 13-14.
Minecraft: A computer game which was released in 2009. It is a world in
which the player’s character can accumulate different resources so that they can
build and create building and objects. Everything within the game is made up of
cubes and resources must be mined to acquire them.
Narrative: A way of structuring which emphasises temporal interrelation,
process and change. See pages 10-11.
Physical Presentation: How the museum constructs the environment and
places the objects within the space. It also includes the lighting, colours, access
in the space and any other physical and visual aspects.
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Roman Baths: A museum in Bath built around the Roman remains of Aquae
Sulis, a place where Romans met to bathe, have a massage, meet with friends
and business colleagues and worship the gods. The exterior of the museum is
Georgian showing how it continued to be used as a spa as it still is in the present
day.
SS Great Britain: A museum on the dockside of Bristol which encompasses
the Victorian ship SS Great Britain and the dockside in which it was built. It has
been reconstructed to take the visitor back to its Victorian hey-day.
Textual Presentation: The writing in a museum, whether it be the labels,
advertisements, posters, titles or handouts.
Verbal Presentation: The way that speech communicates the museum
message. It may be through audio clips, tour guides, video narration etc.
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