This paper discusses a collaboration between the Brooklyn Children's Museum and Brooklyn Botanic Garden on a series of educational programs and exhibits entitled "Breaking Ground." Developers aimed to create programs to teach basic science principles related to botany, ethnobotany, and urban ecology, promote urban children's understanding of the importance of plants to humans, biologically and culturally, and foster positive environmental ethics in children 6 to 12 years of age. Findings from a research study to support the development of these programs are briefly outlined in this paper.
This paper analyzes the effectiveness of real people (actors) as communicators of messages in museums. It includes findings from an evaluation of professional actors, who assume the roles of fictitious and real characters from the history of science, technology, and medicine at the Science Museum in London. The study attempted to understand more fully how visitors react to such live interpretations.
In this paper, Chris Parsons, of Word Craft, presents an overview of front-end evaluation. Parsons discusses the definition of front-end evaluation, how front-end evaluations differ from formative and summative evaluations, the goals and purposes of front-end evaluation, situations in which front-end evaluation would be useful, and the value of understanding your audience before designing programs or exhibits.
In this paper, the Museum of New Mexico's Thomas J. Caperton discusses how public programs often threaten preservation efforts at historic sties. Caperton suggests that alternative methods of interpretation can be accomplished in a museum setting through experimental archaeology and other programming.
In this paper, Charles A. Lewis, retired from the Morton Arboretum, discusses why and how visitors interact with botanical gardens and arboreta, places that provide natural ambiance as well as learning opportunities. Lewis argues that these types of "green museums" must recognize the psychological and physiological aspects of their landscapes that provide broader experiences for visitors.
In this case study, Carey Tisdal, internal evaluator at the St. Louis Science Center (SLSC), discusses the use of teacher response groups in the development of the school visit program at SLSC. This paper uses a case method to describe: (1) the context of policy and program issues from which the study arose, (2) the reasons this specific method was selected, (3) the development of a data base, (4) how the method was implemented to recruit and interview teachers, and (5) an analysis of the limitations and benefits of the methods.
In this paper, Marilyn G. Hood of Hood Associates discusses the benefits of community studies, rather than just visitor research. Hood examines how conducting community studies enables museums to learn new, often surprising facts about their area population as well as identify future or unsuspected audiences.
In this paper, researchers at Monterey Bay Aquarium share findings from a study of self-guided school groups. This report focuses the meaning of "running amok" as it applies to these self-guided school groups and questions general assumptions about self-guided school groups.
This paper describes findings from a study intended to improve the Confrontation Gallery at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. This remedial evaluation involved placing written text on the plexiglass photo panels that corresponded to the audi-recorded statements. Text placement was completed in two phases to asses the possibility that having written text on all panels would create competition for attention and result in less attention.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Stephen BitgoodAnn CleghornAmy CotaMelody CrawfordDonald PattersonChris Danemeyer
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.
This paper discusses the obstacles that the Philadelphia Zoo confronted when they attempted to evaluate and develop a series of interactive activity kits called "Explore-A-Zoo." The kits aimed to encourage families with children aged 3-9 to interact together in front of exhibits while at the same time improve their science process skills. This paper describes the challenges staff encountered while interviewing preliterate 3-5 year olds as well as highlights two data collection methods that they found successful.
In this paper, David M. Simmons discusses visitor studies at Old Sturbridge Village. Simmons presents an overview of visitor evaluation projects throughout the history of the institution as well as how it has responded to the data collected about visitor demographics and preferences.