Explorable explanation: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:39, 5 October 2021

Revision as of 22:55, 8 May 2022

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{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}

{{short description|Form of informative media}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}

[[File:Parable of the Polygons drag & drop.png|thumb|329x329px|Screenshot from ''[[Parable of the Polygons]]'' by [[Nicky Case]], an explorable explanation that simulates [[racial segregation]], which allows the audience to control how "shapist" the entities in the simulation are.]]

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== Definition ==

The term "explorable explanation" was first used in passing by [[Peter Brusilovsky]] in a 1994 paper,<ref>{{Citation|last=Brusilovsky|first=Peter|chapter=Explanatory visualization in an educational programming environment: Connecting examples with general knowledge |date=1994 |pages=202–212 |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |isbn=9783540586487 |doi=10.1007/3-540-58648-2_38|title=Human-Computer Interaction|volume=876|series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science}}</ref> but did not enter into common use until 2011, when [[Bret Victor]] published an eponymous essay<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://worrydream.com/ExplorableExplanations/|title=Explorable Explanations|website=worrydream.com|access-date=January 18, 2019}}</ref> (the essay included an explorable explanation of a [[digital filter]]). Victor distinguishes explorable explanations from isolated interactive widgets and visualizations by the fact that they deliberately guide the attention of their audience towards particular phenomena within the simulation. In characterizing the concept, Victor explains:<ref name=":0" /> <{{blockquote>|Explorable Explanations is my umbrella project for ideas that ''enable and encourage truly active reading''. The goal is to change people's relationship with text. People currently think of text as ''information to be consumed''. I want text to be used as an ''environment to think in''.</blockquote>}}

Some of the ideas Victor espoused in the essay occurred to him while during work with [[Al Gore]] on the app version of the 2009 book [[Our Choice]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/1665397/after-trying-to-kill-math-an-ex-apple-designer-aims-to-kill-reading |title=After Trying To "Kill Math," An Ex-Apple Designer Aims To Kill Reading |last=Pavlus |first=John |date=November 9, 2011 |website=Fast Company |language=en-US |access-date=January 18, 2019}}</ref> He had proposed that the app should contain interactive models, but this idea was rejected on the basis that all numerical values proposed regarding climate change needed to have a citation, and the interactive models would generate un-cited numbers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://worrydream.com/ClimateChange/#media-writing |title=What can a technologist do about climate change? A personal view.|website=worrydream.com|access-date=May 15, 2019}}</ref>

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== Use in media ==

Explorable explanations are increasingly being created by journalists,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://killscreen.com/articles/your-brain-anxiety-interactive-explanation-nicky-case/|title=Your brain on anxiety: an interactive explanation with Nicky Case|last=Joho|first=Jess|date=September 2, 2015|website=Kill Screen|language=en-US|access-date=January 24, 2019}}</ref> sometimes by organisations that formerly focused on [[print news media]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/02/technology/uber-drivers-psychological-tricks.html,%20https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/02/technology/uber-drivers-psychological-tricks.html|title=How Uber Uses Psychological Tricks to Push Its Drivers’ Buttons|last=Scheiber|first=Noam|date=April 2, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 21, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/datablog/ng-interactive/2017/sep/28/hooked-how-pokies-are-designed-to-be-addictive|title=Hooked: how pokies are designed to be addictive|last1=Evershed|first1=Nick|last2=Ball|first2=Andy|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=January 21, 2019|last3=Liu|first3=Ri|last4=Davey|first4=Melissa}}</ref> and radio.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/05/21/408234543/will-your-job-be-done-by-a-machine|title=Will Your Job Be Done By A Machine?|newspaper=NPR|date=May 21, 2015|language=en|access-date=January 21, 2019|last1=Bui|first1=Quoctrung}}</ref> In 2015, [[FiveThirtyEight]] collaborated with [[The Marshall Project]] to produce an article on prison parole assessment<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/prison-reform-risk-assessment/|title=Should Prison Sentences Be Based On Crimes That Haven't Been Committed Yet?|last=Barry-Jester|first=Anna Maria|date=August 4, 2015|website=FiveThirtyEight|language=en-US|access-date=January 24, 2019}}</ref> that included aan explorable explanation of the effects of policy changes on prison populations. The article was cited by the [[Columbia Journalism Review]] as an example of how explorable explanations could be used to advance digital storytelling.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cjr.org/q_and_a/could_explorable_explanations_help_tell_a_new_kind_of_story.php|title=Could 'explorable explanations' help tell a new kind of story?|website=Columbia Journalism Review|language=en|access-date=January 24, 2019}}</ref> [[Newsgame]]s may be considered explorable explanations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.robinkwong.com/newsgames-list/|title=A list of recent newsgames|website=www.robinkwong.com|access-date=April 1, 2019}}</ref>

Other newsrooms such as [[Bloomberg Businessweek]], [[The New York Times]], and [[The Guardian]] are also notable for their use of explorable explanations to tell stories, for example covering topics like climate change, drug overdoses, and economics.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html,%20https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html|title=Is It Better to Rent or Buy?|last1=Bostock|first1=Mike|date=May 2, 2014|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 24, 2019 |last2=Carter |first2=Shan |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331|last3=Tse|first3=Archie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/ng-interactive/2015/feb/05/-sp-watch-how-measles-outbreak-spreads-when-kids-get-vaccinated|title=Watch how the measles outbreak spreads when kids get vaccinated – and when they don't|last1=Harris|first1=Rich|work=The Guardian |access-date=January 25, 2019 |last2=Popovich|first2=Nadja|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|last3=team|first3=Kenton Powell on the Guardian US interactive |last4=Harris |first4=Rich |last5=Popovich |first5=Nadja |last6=team |first6=Kenton Powell on the Guardian US interactive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/03/19/upshot/3d-yield-curve-economic-growth.html,%20https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/03/19/upshot/3d-yield-curve-economic-growth.html|title=A 3-D View of a Chart That Predicts The Economic Future: The Yield Curve |last1=Aisch |first1=Gregor |date=March 1, 2015|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 25, 2019|last2=Cox|first2=Amanda|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=2015-06-24|title=What's Really Warming the World?|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-whats-warming-the-world/|access-date=2020-10-17|newspaper=Bloomberg.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-whats-warming-the-world/ |title=Bloomberg – What's Really Warming the World? |last=Roston |first=Eric |date=June 2, 2015|newspaper=Bloomberg.com |access-date=January 25, 2019}}</ref> [[FiveThirtyEight]] has also used explorable explanations to cover topics such as gun violence<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theundefeated.com/features/fivethirtyeight-breaks-down-the-more-than-33000-annual-u-s-gun-deaths/|title=FiveThirtyEight breaks down the more than 33,000 annual U.S. gun deaths|last=Jones|first=Maya A.|date=July 1, 2016|website=The Undefeated|language=en-US|access-date=January 25, 2019}}</ref> and [[p hacking]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/science-isnt-broken/ |title=Science Isn't Broken |last=King |first=Ritchie |date=August 1, 2015|website=FiveThirtyEight |language=en-US |access-date=January 25, 2019}}</ref>

==Structure==

[[File:PhETCCKScreenshot.pdf|thumb|Screenshot of a Phet simulation, intended for use in a classroom. Since they do not involve a physically- present teacher to guide the user's interaction, most explorable explanations instead provide guidance using explanatory text.]]

Explorable explanations can differ widely in the kind of "guidance" that they give regarding how to interact with and think about their simulations. In some cases, guidance is intended to come from teachers in a school setting; this is the approach advocated for using [[PhET Interactive Simulations]] created by [[Carl Wieman]], and they have been found to be an effective complement to traditional [[Chalk talk|chalk and talk]] lessons.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://phet.colorado.edu/en/research|title=PhET Interactive Simulations|website=PhET|language=en|access-date=March 3, 2019}}</ref>