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Eight linked microsites organizing a place-based MAR time-travel journey from the Ordovician period to the present day

Design · All designs
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description

A microsite is defined as "the intersection of the groups' interactions, the digital MAR content, and the physical setting." The Time Explorers app arranged eight such microsites in geologic-time order—Time Spiral Sculpture, Coral Sculpture, Limestone Boulders, Sandstone Boulders, Arched Rock Wall, In-and-Out Creek, Model Cave, and Spring Basin—each pairing a physical location with narrative MAR elements, prompts, and a photo-taking sense-making activity, plus a ninth celebratory AR-filter selfie. This lesson-level pattern lets designers connect digital content across outdoor spaces while learners move.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

  • GPS coordinates triggering app content at each physical microsite
  • A guiding narrative (here, time travel) that motivates movement between sites

Constraints

  • Designed for a children's garden in Appalachia with existing geological exhibits; content customized to that community's landform history

Target Learners

  • Intergenerational family groups visiting outdoor informal learning centers

Learning Goals

  • Placing regional landforms in geologic time and explaining rock–water interactions such as erosion and cave formation

Claims

Examples

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Key Sources

  • Heather Toomey Zimmerman, Susan M. Land, Lillyanna Faimon, Yu-Chen Chiu. (2023). Mobile augmented reality supporting families’ immersive collaborative learning: Learning-on-the-move for place-based geoscience sense-making. Intern. J. Comput.-Support. Collab. Learn. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-023-09399-9
Page metadata
Field Value
type design
id linked-microsites-time-travel-journey
title Eight linked microsites organizing a place-based MAR time-travel journey from the Ordovician period to the present day
description A microsite is defined as "the intersection of the groups' interactions, the digital MAR content, and the physical setting." The Time Explorers app arranged eight such microsites in geologic-time order—Time Spiral Scu...
status review
generated by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-18
trust unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources 1 — heather-toomey-zimmerman-2023

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