ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the variety of ways engaged attention can be tied to inferred outcomes. The variety of outcomes listed in this chapter give testimony both to the richness of deeply engaged attention and to the imaginations of those who have proposed these outcomes. Minda Borun's work on family learning with the Philadelphia collaborative (PISEC) project provides a methodology to measure different levels of engaged attention related to informal learning. Using a constructivist rationale, John Falk has suggested Personal Meaning Mapping (PMM) as a method for assessing learning in exhibit environments. Other inferred outcomes in this chapter refer to a more holistic, complex experience than may be involved with learning: simulated immersion, flow, attention restoration, and empathetic dramatic engagement. Harvey, Loomis, Bell, and Marino found similar results at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science: visitors' feelings of immersion were correlated with interactive components, multisensory stimulation, and dynamic displays.
