GAMIFICATION OF QUILTS TO INCREASE OCEAN EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT: EXAMPLES FROM SCIENTIFIC OCEAN DRILLING (IODP EXPEDITIONS 390 & 393)

The science communication toolkit has expanded to include nontraditional approaches and creative means to disseminate science and to engage non-STEM audiences. One approach that merges science and art for storytelling is quilting. In the textile world, quilts are familiar objects that represent comfort and warmth, experienced by individuals and communities over generations. When quilts are hanging on display, however, viewers are only briefly immersed in looking at a quilt, perhaps taking a photo to share, and then moving on. By tapping into the familiarity people have with quilts and adding a gaming component to the quilt design, a quilt can be an effective addition to the tools available for science communication and education.

Quilts have a history of telling stories through the thread and fabric used during their creation, and some have even been used to transmit coded messages. Merging the general interest individuals have for solving puzzles with telling a story relating to scientific ocean drilling, quilts are being created to trigger the curiosity of viewers and to educate about science research at sea. Through embedding a puzzle to solve in the quilt design, the viewer engages longer with the quilt to solve the puzzle, then learns how the puzzle solution connects to ocean science. Currently, a quilt collection is being created to share with non-STEM audiences the work of JOIDES Resolution during the South Atlantic Transect (IODP Expeditions 390 & 393, April-August 2022). Three of the gamified quilts will be on display at the poster, including a quilt in Morse Code and sudoku puzzle of the science laboratories on the ship. Visitors to the poster will have the opportunity to solve the puzzles and learn more about scientific ocean drilling. The entire Stories from the South Atlantic Ocean quilt collection can be viewed at: https://www.sciodquilts.studio/