This study showcases the two of the most recent exhibits in the Art/Science gallery at the Museum of Science: What I Eat: Around the World in 25 Diets and Bonsai: Creating Art with Nature. By analyzing information from two different exhibits that were shown in the same space, themes emerged across both exhibit experiences that can inform the exhibit team more broadly about the gallery's audience and effect on visitors. Evaluation Questions: In what ways are visitors interacting with the exhibits? What do visitors find most interesting about the exhibits? Which connections are visitors making
Portal to the Public (PoP) is a proven, scalable guiding framework for Informal Science Educators (ISE) to engage scientists and public audiences in face-to-face interactions that promote appreciation and understanding of current scientific research and its application. The PoP approach has two important characteristics that set it apart for other efforts: PoP (1) focused exclusively on interactions between scientists and general public visitors; and (2) included professional development for the scientists interacting with the public. The three collaborating museums (Pacific Science Center
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a formative evaluation of two prototypes Mexican Era section and Model Table for the Becoming Los Angeles exhibition. RK&A designed this study, which was preceded by a front-end and earlier formative evaluation, to help NHM further refine the development of the exhibition. How did we approach this study? RK&A utilized open-ended interviews to evaluate visitors' responses to the two prototypes. In order to accurately assess these responses, the prototypes were evaluated separately
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Frozen Planet is a seven-episode prime time television series, with a complementary interactive website, co-produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel. Through high-definition "blue chip" visuals, the series aimed to increase awareness and understanding about the natural world. The goal of GRG's summative evaluation was to assess the overall influence of the series and website on TV viewers and web visitors. In accord with the Discovery Channel team's hope that Frozen Planet would change hearts and minds of its audience, GRG designed an evaluation to examine the effects of exposure to
Cyberchase: The Next Frontier is a redesign of the Cyberchase Web site that resides on PBSKIDS.org/cyberchase, designed to increase traffic to this informal mathematics education site and support learning by encouraging users to engage in multiple activities - spanning a variety of media (videos, online games, hands-on activities) - that involve related mathematics content. To that end, in addition to redesigns of the Cyberchase homepage and other areas of the site, prominent aspects of the Next Frontier redesign include: Learning Pathways: Each of the site's games, videos, and hands-on
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Shalom FischThirteen/WNETShina Aladé
Main findings and Points of Interest Both Burke visitors and members found "Life Before Plastics" to be the MOST interesting exhibit topic area. This was in part due to a general interest in history, but also included the desire to learn more about what alternatives to plastic exist, and a peaked curiosity about how past cultures survived without plastic materials, specifically how their own daily routines would be impacted if plastics did not exist. Both Burke visitors and members found "What can I do?" to be one of the LEAST interesting exhibit topic areas. This was in part due to a feeling
Queens Central Library contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct an evaluation of the newly completed Children's Library and Discovery Center (CLDC), partially funded by the National Science Foundation. In addition to traditional children's library resources, the CLDC includes interactive science exhibits, programming space, and an early childhood area. The evaluation sought to understand 1) how its family customers use the new CLDC (and its exhibits) and what they most value about it, and 2) experiences of CLDC staff who interact with the customers. How did we approach this
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Queens Central Library
The exhibition Innovation Showcase focused on energy-related innovation and individual action. As part of a larger project, Innovations in Energy, the central visitor-focused question for this exhibition was: "To what extent and in what ways do the various components of Innovations in Energy serve toward meeting outcomes for the target audiences?" This summative evaluation of Innovation Showcase addressed this question by identifying how COSI visitors used the gallery space (particularly at the level of individual exhibition elements) and how they described their experience in Innovation
This report presents visitors' perceptions of out-of-date and up-to-date exhibits at the Museum of Science, Boston. The purpose of this study was to learn about specific exhibits that visitors' view as outdated and any characteristics that influence visitors' opinions in this regard. For this report, data were collected in three stages between December 2009 and June 2010. Data from an exit interview, a prompted camera interview, and a post-refurbishment interview provide suggestions for the Exhibit Department to consider as they prioritize exhibits they plan to refurbish or replace. The
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Ann Lindgren-StreicherMarta BeyerIyar MazarMuseum of Science
Frontier Scientists (FS) is an NSF-funded University of Alaska - Fairbanks (UAF) and WonderVisions (WV) collaborative project whose mission was to excite the general public about ongoing science in Alaska and the Arctic. The Frontier Scientists website (www.frontierscientists.com) covers a wide range of topics including: humanities, geology, biology, marine science, archaeology, ecology, chemistry, and more. At the time of the summative evaluation, it included 53 video clips (the major focus of the website), as well as a number of blog posts, narrative descriptions, and short bios.This
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Deborah PerryUniversity of Alaska - Fairbanks
The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History asked Ellen Giusti to evaluate visitor learning in its temporary exhibition, Invasion of the Bloodsuckers: Bedbugs and Beyond! The exhibition, supported by a grant from the SEPA division of the National Institutes of Health, focuses on six blood-feeding species: bedbug, flea, head louse, pubic louse, mosquito and tick. The centerpieces of the exhibition are greatly enlarged, highly detailed models of the six organisms. A text panel with images and information accompanies each model. Two displays contain live animals mosquitos and bedbugs. An
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Ellen GiustiYale Peabody Museum of Natural History
ABSTRACT The Trail of Time is a 4.56 km (2.83 mile) long geologic timeline trail on Grand Canyon's South Rim, designed to give visitors a visceral appreciation for the magnitude of geologic time within the context of Grand Canyon. This summative evaluation was the final stage in a multipart evaluation effort for the Trail of Time project, seeking to answer the question: In what ways and to what extent do visitors develop a greater understanding of and appreciation for deep time and geology based on their experiences along the Trail of Time? To answer this question, the study used a
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Selinda Research Associates, Inc.University of New MexicoGrand Canyon National ParkEric GyllenhaalDeborah PerryDiane WhiteKarl KarlstromLaurie CrosseySteve SemkenMike Williams