BM: It's always hard to see these things in action but are there any cases where you've watched somebody come in or you've talked to somebody after they've come in and you've sort seen that "hands-on minds-on" thing happening?
HF: It's very hard to say. I mean it's, it's the great bugbear - of science centres - is that you can't evaluate, you can't say to somebody - you can't test what they knew before they came in you can't test what they - have learnt on the way out. As I say - the theory - you know, it's the "hands-on minds-on" is that you should learn - if you're engaged with something. But equally it's got to be fun, so that you stay engaged with the process. So there's always two sides to it.
Have I ever seen - learning in action? I've seen, I've - seen it in a workshop environment where I've used hands-on exhibits in a workshop with schools and where kids at the end have gone "I get it now. Newton's 1st law, of course, I'll just keep going" you know. And, yes so I've seen it, in that sort of slightly more focused environment rather than just a - it can be a bit manic, you know, if you - sort of out there. But - if you're actually explaining and you're on an exhibition floor you can engage with people. And I do tend to find hands-on exhibits work better with a person, attached to them.