Interactive Exhibit Design

Course Info

Course Title & Number: Interactive Exhibit Design, IMM 470-02

Professor: Mark Thompson
Office Address: Art and Multimedia 312
Email Address: thompsom@tcnj.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 9:30-12:30 or by appointment

Class Meets: Fridays, 8:00 – 12:20
Room: AIMM 222

Course Description

Interactive and digital technology is transforming the experience of visiting and learning in a museum. This course explores recent trends in museum and exhibit design through lectures, discussions, readings, presentations and on-site visits. Working as a collaborative design studio, students will also design and build interactive systems for the New Jersey State Museum, one of the largest museums in the state. Located in Trenton, the New Jersey State Museum is home to extensive collections in Archaeology & Ethnography, Fine Art, Cultural History, and Natural History, and is also home to New Jersey’s largest Planetarium. In collaboration with museum staff, students will design systems intended to expand the museum’s message, enhance the visitors’ experience, and extend that experience beyond the walls of the museum.

Course Materials

This blog

The New Jersey State Museum

Pretty Big Things Exhibition Labels

Civil War Flags Exhibition Labels

Exhibit Design & Storytelling

Collection Management

NJSM Registrar Paula Andras’s presentation

American Alliance of Museums

New Media Consortium

Sensors

Sensors and Cellphones

Course Requirements

Design Notebook – This course requires students to keep a design notebook, which will be updated weekly over the course of the semester.
Vision Document – Students are required to submit a vision document as a roadmap for the design and development of their prototype.
Exhibition Critiques – This course requires students to complete two critiques of existing “real-world” interactive exhibits.
Field Trips – Students will be required to make two field trips to nearby exhibitions to experience selected interactive exhibits in situ.

Course Purpose & Learning Goals

Purpose

To familiarize students with the functions and processes of a real-world design studio.

Learning Goals

To apply skills in digital media production, writing, interaction design and programming to development of a system with a real-world audience and real-world implications;
To consider the challenges of designing interactive media for a group experience in a particular physical space;
To Analyze and critique similar software and installations;
To employ industry-standard tools as well as develop skills and strategies for managing a long-term collaborative project;
To learn to integrate skills, techniques and processes with that of classmates;
To learn to articulate and advocate for ideas in a collaborative setting;

Course Schedule

August 28 – 1st Day of Class

September 4 – The New Jersey State Museum & Collection Management Basics, Open Content & Big Data

September 11 – The Cultural History Collection, Mobile & Location-based Services

September 18 – Internet of Things

September 25 – The Sarnoff Museum, Augmented Reality

October 2 – Natural User Interfaces

October 9 – Games & Gamification

October 16 – Present Vision Documents

October 23 – 1st Field Trip, Princeton Art Museum

October 30 – 1st Exhibition Critiques

November 6 – MCN Conference, Open Discussion

November 13 – 2nd Field Trip, Bucks County Children’s Museum

November 20 – Open Discussion

November 27 – Thanksgiving Break

December 4 – Presentation Rehearsals, 2nd Exhibition Critique Due

December 9 – Final Presentations 8:00-10:50

Grading

Grades with be determined according to the following formula:

20% Final Presentation
20% Vision Document
20% Design Notebook
20% Class Participation
10% Exhibition Critiques
10% Field Trips

Note: Details of how each of the above will be scored will be provided at the time of assignment.

TCNJ Policies

The College of New Jersey Policy Prohibiting Discrimination in the Workplace/Educational Environment governs the college’s commitment to and expectations of having an environment that respects the diversity of all members of the campus community. The link to this policy is: http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=9122. Under this policy, forms of discrimination or harassment based upon specific protected categories are prohibited and will not be tolerated. If you wish to report a concern, please contact Kerri Thompson Tillett, Chief Diversity Officer, at 771-3139, or via email at thompsok@tcnj.edu.

Syllabus