In this paper, researchers from the University of Florida discuss the cognitive movement in instruction, which has major implications for research and practice in informal settings. The authors focus on a number of promising cognitive lines of inquiry and suggest their application in informal settings.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
John J. Koran, Jr.Mary Lou KoranJohn Scott Foster
This paper presents the methodology and findings of the formative and summative evaluation of the "Kongo Ranger Station" interactive interpretive displayed located in the new "Africa Rain Forest" exhibit at the Metro Washington Park Zoo. This display focuses on conservation, natural history and cultural issues in West and Central Africa.
In this paper, the Franklin Institute's Ann Mintz discusses the managerial challenges associated with evaluation projects. Mintz explains how evaluators teeter on a continuum serving as both as artists and educators throughout the evaluation process. She cites evidence from an ongoing project at the Franklin Institute called the The Franklin Institute Computer Network that serves seven categories of museum visitors.
In this paper, Ruth S. Britt discusses front-end evaluation findings of the "In the Dark: Worlds without Light" traveling exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History. The exhibit aimed to show that humans are not well-adapted to the dark, and that this gives rise to discomfort, fear, avoidance, and lack of knowledge; to take some of the mystery out of dark environments by showing and talking about creatures of darkness, their adaptations to dark environments, and the processes which make life possible in unlighted worlds; and to show how dark environments are tied to the whole of life
In this paper, researchers from Science Learning, Inc. discuss findings from an evaluation study that used interpretive carts to analyze visitor conversations. Researchers collected data using the "Rock Talk" cart to inform the redesign of the Geology, Gems & Minerals Hall at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
In this paper, Marilyn G. Hood, Ph.D., of Hood Associates, examines the issue of how adults' leisure choices are influenced by their socialization during childhood. Hood describes the methodology she developed to measure the influence of childhood socialization on adult leisure choices as well as the value of using her multi-attribute model in understand museum visitation patterns.
The focus of this summative evaluation report is the Shark Encounter exhibit at Sea World of California, which opened in June 1992. The design concept was to display the largest collection of sharks in the world. Visitors are transported to the "tropics" to view sharks from above, and then venture into the sharks' environment as they travel through an acrylic tube placed on the bottom of the habitat. The goal of the evaluation was to determine the overall effectiveness, or success, of the exhibit
This paper examines the differences between the single and married visitors to Old Sturbridge Village, within the single group itself, and between single and married museum members. In addition, "singletons" are defined and explored as single visitors to the Village to see how they differ from the great majority who visit with friends and families. A variety of measures, including t-test, analysis of variance, chi-square, CHAID, and factor analysis, elucidate significant points of contrast within the data.
In this paper, researchers at the University of Queensland discuss findings from investigations on conservation learning at two Queensland ecotourism sites—a three hour whale watching cruise operating from the Gold Coast and turtle viewing at Mon Repos Turtle Rookery, Bargara. The researchers present a set of five challenges they faced in this research, as a warning to all who might dare to attempt similar studies. Their experience has demonstrated that the famous adage of show business, “Never work with children or animals” can indeed apply in wildlife tourism research.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Karen HughesRoy BallantyneJan Packer
In this paper, C. Dufresne-Tasse of the University of Montreal discusses three characteristics of the methods French-Canadians conduct research on museum visitors in Québec. Dufresne-Tasse also offers an example of a study conducted by researchers at two Québec universities, which evaluated the psychological functioning of the adult observing objects in an exhibition room.
In this paper, Hannah Jennings of the Brookfield Zoo discusses findings from the zoo's evaluation initiative to study how to best communicate with and serve audiences with visual disabilities.
This article summarizes methodology and key findings from research to determine the effectiveness of several aspects of the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve on Lake Erie visitor center for providing public information about the value of estuaries. Researchers investigated how knowledge and attitudes of adults change with each visit, the factors that contribute to differing visitor experiences, how types of exhibits, readability, and placement relate to knowledge changes, and if a computer can serve as a testing device in a visitor center.