In this article, Linda A. Black, Exhibits Planning Director at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, discusses methods and findings from the Kellogg Demonstration Project. The project directly involved museum staff in the instrument design and data collection for evaluation of the Museum's new "Mysteries in History" exhibit. Also, a computer software package known as "Looking Closely" was developed to assist with data collection and analysis.
In this article, Linda A. Black, Exhibits Planning Director at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, demonstrates the usefulness of "quick and dirty" evaluation work by sharing key findings from Dr. Robert Wolf's series of one-month "mini studies."
This is a brief abstract of Suzanne Hodges's Master's Thesis at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Hodges researched the influence of enlarged signs and less label copy on visitors' behavior at a small children's zoo in Virginia.
This is a brief abstract of Steve R. Hage's Master's Thesis at the University of Minnesota. Hage conducted an ethnographic study of family groups at the Japanese Snow Monkey exhibit in the Minnesota Zoo. Hage confirmed prior research that concluded visitors appear to be more interested in viewing active, attractive animals than learning about the natural history of animals.
This article summates findings from research at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle that evaluated and compared visitor behavior in the gardens, main galleries and two temporary exhibits.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood discusses an evaluation study of a "Falling Feather" gravity-themed exhibit at a science museum. Bitgood shares key findings from the evaluation, which revealed several problems with the exhibit.
In this article, the Center for Social Design's Don Thompson summarizes a 1988 paper written by K.D. Hirschi and C.G. Screven featured in the "ILVS Review." Thompson summates findings from the researchers' investigations of the use labels which ask questions. The study was conducted with family groups of visitors to five different exhibits at the Milwaukee Public Museum.
This article highlights findings from a study conducted by researchers at Jacksonville State University that assessed group visitor behavior at four exhibits at the Anniston Museum of Natural History. Researchers studied if male and female adults behave differently at exhibits when they are with a child than when they are with another adult as well as whether or not adult behavior was consistent across different types of exhibits.
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Stephen BitgoodChifumi KitazawaAndrea CavenderKaren Nettles
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood outlines variables that influence social learning in museums. Bitgood identifies group variables, which include those that originate from the quality or number of people within the group or from the combination of variables as well as exhibit characteristics, or design features of the exhibit that play a critical role in understanding how visitor groups behave.
In this article, Barbara A. Birney of Interpretive Planning in Nuce discusses findings from a 1988 study of 12-year-old children's perceptions of their social experience in musuems and zoos. Birney found that children associated visiting museums and zoos with their parents with a lack of control over their own learning experience.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Amy Cota and Stephen Bitgood address the following evaluation questions: (1) Would label reading decrease when the number of labels is increased? (2) Do groups who visit in families behave differently than groups composed of adults only? and (3) Do label readers view exhibit objects longer than nonreaders? The researchers share findings from a study that evaluated these questions in the Egyptian Mummy gallery at the Anniston Museum of Natural History.
In this article, D.D. Hilke of the Smithsonian Institution discusses strategies family visitors use in exploring exhibitions. Hilke cites evidence from studies which family groups through exhibition halls in a large natural history museum.