About TIDESS

We are researchers from the University of Florida in the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) and the College of Engineering (computer science). We're studying how to design interactive touchscreen exhibits for public science learning.

Project Findings and Status

Lisa and Katie started the project with a pilot study at the Hatfield Marine Science Center at Oregon State University by observing visitors interacting with a touch table, touch sphere, and spherical display. The study created a large dataset of what gestures users of all ages spontaneously tried to use on each platform, and our findings were published at IDC 2016.

In general, we found that children were more likely than adults to explore using non-standard touchscreen gestures, and two-handed gestures were more common on the touch wall than the touch table. From there, we conducted an in-the-wild exploratory observational study at the Florida Museum of Natural History using a touch table prototype created from the insights of the Hatfield pilot study.

Currently, we are conducting design-based research using an iterative prototyping technique that builds on our prior work. Our goal is to conduct a lab study with the touch table prototype to investigate ways that children and adults interact and engage with a large-scale interactive display of science data. We plan to port this prototype to an interactive spherical display to begin to test the affordances of interacting in this form factor for learning about science. 

Project Funding

Funding for the initial pilot study was provided by NSF grant #DRL-1114741 to Shawn Rowe. This work is partially supported by National Science Foundation Grant Awards #DRL-1612485. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect these agencies’ views.

Project Partners

About the Team

These are the people (faculty and students!) who help make TIDESS happen. Contact the team at TIDESS-study@ifas.ufl.edu, or call the Principal Investigator Dr. Kathryn Stofer at (352) 273-3690 for questions or for more information.

• Current Team Members

  	Kathryn Stofer, Ph.D. (Co-Investigator) is a Research Assistant Professor of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Education and Outreach in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication at the University of Florida.
  	Lisa Anthony, Ph.D. (Co-Investigator) is an assistant professor at the University of Florida, working on understanding, designing, and developing natural user interactions for children (especially pen, touch, and gesture interaction) for a variety of applications. She earned her Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008.
  	Nikita Soni is a Ph.D. student and member of the INIT Lab currently working on the Apps for Kids survey project, where she is analyzing interfaces of apps designed for kids and adults, and coding the analyzed patterns. Her interests are human-computer interaction, software development and user interface designing, and she has experience in web development.
  	Carrie Schuman is an Interdisciplinary Ecology Ph.D. Candidate with a focus in fisheries and aquatic sciences. Her work on the TIDESS project fits in with some of her interests including education, outreach, and scientific communication.
  	Elisabeth Schreiber is an undergraduate research assistant majoring in Civil Engineering. Her interests are in environmental science and sustainable development - specifically technological advancements in engineering and education.
  	Ailish Tierney is an undergraduate research assistant studying Computer Science. She is a member of the INIT lab and is currently working on the TIDESS project. Her interests include web development and human-computer interaction.

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• Advisory Board

  	John Baek is an Education Evaluator at NOAA. He is an educational researcher and technologist with experience in design research methodology and software development. His primary focus is on development of systems and infrastructure that support organizational and disciplinary learning. He is particularly interested in the ways that web-based and mobile technologies map to informal learning networks.
  	Betty Dunckel, Ph.D. has formed innovative partnerships and developed numerous programs that promote science interest, understanding, and engagement for diverse audiences. She also works with exhibit development, visitor research, and program evaluation. Betty has received federal, state, and foundation grants for her projects. She provides administrative oversight for all CSL programs and special projects. Betty received her Bachelor's degree from Cornell University and Master's degree in teaching from the University of New Hampshire. Her doctorate is from the University of Florida in science education, with a specialization in informal education.
  	Bilge Mutlu, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Computer Science, Psychology, and Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He directs the Wisconsin HCI Laboratory and organizes the WHCI+D Group. He received his Ph.D. degree from Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute.

• Other Collaborators

  

  Jacob O. Wobbrock, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Information School and, by courtesy, in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington - one of the world’s elite institutions for research in human-computer interaction (HCI). Dr. Wobbrock directs the Mobile & Accessible Design Lab, and is a founding member of the DUB Group and the Master of Human-Computer Interaction & Design program.

• Past Team Members

  Jeremy Alexandre	Peter Chang	Alice Darrow	Schuyler Gleaves	Akshay Holla
  Brittani Kirkland	Annie Luc	Amanda Morales	Hannah Neff	Alex Popeil