The Yellowstone Park Foundation is partnering with Yellowstone National Park (YNP) to develop and build a visitor education center at Old Faithful. Selinda Research Associates (SRA) worked with staff from Yellowstone's Division of Interpretation to plan and conduct a front-end evaluation of the exhibits for the new center. The evaluation was grounded in naturalistic methodology and used a variety of methods to triangulate on park visitors understanding of and reactions to a variety of issues. These methods included in-depth interviews with visitors both before and after their visits and card
We used meta-analysis to review 55 evaluations of the effects of mentoring programs on youth. Overall, findings provide evidence of only a modest or small benefit of program participation for the average youth. Program effects are enhanced significantly, however, when greater numbers of both theory-based and empirically based "best practices" are utilized and when strong relationships are formed between mentors and youth. Youth from backgrounds of environmental risk and disadvantage appear most likely to benefit from participation in mentoring programs. Outcomes for youth at-risk due to
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David DuBoisBruce HollowayJeffrey ValentineHarris Cooper
This report provides a critical overview of impact evaluation in the museums, archives and libraries sector. The study, funded by Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, consisted largely of a review of the literature published during a five year retrospective period, with a particular emphasis on impact evaluations conducted within the UK. An advisory group, representing all three domains, was also established. The methodologies used in, and the evidence obtained from, these evaluation studies are discussed critically within the broad context of social, learning and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Caroline WavellGraeme BaxterIan JohnsonDorothy Williams
One method for studying visitors in museums is to audiotape their conversations while videotaping their behavior. Many researchers inform visitors of the recordings by posting signs in the areas under scrutiny. This study tests the assumptions underlying that method—that visitors notice, read, and understand such signs. Signs were posted at the entrance to an Exploratorium exhibit which was being audio- and videotaped. Researchers interviewed 213 adult visitors as they exited the exhibit. The interviews revealed that 75 percent of the visitors had read and understood the sign. Of the 52
This book describes the similarities and differences between scientific inquiry in education and scientific inquiry in other fields and disciplines and provides a number of examples to illustrate these ideas. Its main argument is that all scientific endeavors share a common set of principles, and that each field including education research develops a specialization that accounts for the particulars of what is being studied. The book also provides suggestions for how the federal government can best support high-quality scientific research in education.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
National Research CouncilRich ShavelsonLisa Towne
This article transcribes remarks given by Willard L. Boyd at the Visitor Studies Association Annual Conference in Orlando on August 3, 2001. Boyd discusses the complexities and challenges of museums as centers of public learning based on his experience as the director of the Field Museum in Chicago.
This article discusses a study that investigated whether visitor or visit variables were the best predictors of satisfaction, and whether the predictive power of these variables would differ in different types of visitor institutions. Also studied was whether higher ratings of satisfaction would result in specific visitor intentions. Data were collected from adult visitors at three different institutions: Denver Art Museum, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and Colorado's Ocean Journey, an aquarium.
This article discusses a Visitor-Center Evaluation Hierarchy that illustrates the relationships between evaluation needs and various methodologies that, in turn, yield a variety of visitor data important to educators, marketers, evaluators, administrators, and program funders. It includes discussions about the utility of the hierarchy, implications of data gathering at each level, issues related to measurement and sampling, and a list of resources for further discovery.
This paper reports the results of a study designed to determine people's preferences for different types of Web-based educational activity. Researchers identified six activity types for comparison: Creative Play, Guided Tour, Interactive Reference, Puzzle/Mystery, Role-playing Story and Simulation. They collected two sets of data: 1) user exit surveys evaluating the study site and preferred genre or type of learning activity and 2) serve statistics indicating the duration of stay. Researchers found clear differences in preferences between adults and children.
This article discusses the preliminary resistance to labels and then the eventual inclusion of labeling in the "Ice Age Exhibit" at the Cincinnati Museum Center's Museum of Natural HIstory & Science. It includes findings from visitor studies that evaluated the effectiveness of the new labeling strategies incorporated into the immersive exhibit.
This article discusses findings from an evaluation conducted by researchers at the Liberty Science Center in planning for a new exhibition about skyscrapers. Members of the exhibition team examined if and how the public's perceptions of skyscrapers changed as a result of the World Trade Center collapse and the media attention towards skyscrapers. Evaluators compared the results of this study to data collected prior to 9/11 as part of the exhibit's front-end evaluation.