Mizen - Education Products

The PowerHouse - Zion, Illinois

Provide a reinforcement exercise for children and adults about the sources and forms of energy. The content for the interactive program is based on 10-15 individual exhibits for each of four thematic headings.

Teachers bring classes to the facility 60 miles north of Chicago for an engaging day of information, hands on demonstrations, and group use of a variety of resources. The program is supportive of a 3-5 hour visit administered by trained professionals at the facility.

Approach

Four programs containing 30 questions each were created in version 1.7 of Authorware Professional for the Macintosh. Question types ranged from true/false, multiple choice, to timed events asking the viewer to judge their knowledge level against the clock. The updated versions were created with version 4.03 of Authorware and enhanced using improved sound files, Flash animations, and QuickTime movies.

Lessons Learned

Make learning fun! This project is a monthly visit to the interface/user interaction laboratory we all desire. Over 50,000 visitors a year help define how touch screens work, choices of questions types, and the types of visual resources viewers expect in an interactive presentation. Over the past 7 years the expectations of the viewers (students in 7-12th grade) has elevated with advancements in game software, computers, and the Internet. The source code remains sound and flexible to adapt to the visitors expectations.

Post 9/11/2001 - Due to the proximity of the exhibit to the Zion Nuclear Power Station the exhibit is closed to the public.