AME faculty discusses STEM learning

On Sept. 20, 2010, David Birchfield shared the air with AirTalk host Larry Mantle and callers on 89.3 KPCC-FM Southern California’s Public Radio station. In the Using computers to teach kids segment, Birchfield, an associate professor in the ASU School of Arts, Media and Engineering in the Herberger Institute, discussed the Situated Multimedia Art Learning Lab (SMALLab).

Developed by Birchfield and a team of interdisciplinary researchers at ASU, SMALLab is a research-based, embodied learning environment that uses K-12 students’ senses of hearing, movement and sight in practical ways to enhance instruction in STEM disciplines. In SMALLab, motion-capture technology tracks students' 3D movements as they are immersed in an interactive space.

For example, as students are learning about a physics concept like velocity, they can hear the sound of their actions getting faster. They can see graphs and equations that represent their motions in real time. They can feel the weight of an object in their hand as they interact in real physical space.

Read about SMALLab’s more than $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation and view links to SMALLab videos: http://asunews.asu.edu/20100914_NSFgrantASUSmallab