Goodman Research Group completed the summative evaluation report of the Black Holes Experiment Gallery (BHEG), a traveling exhibit by the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, which aimed at engaging museum visitors in the topic of black holes. One of the innovations of the project included the inclusion of significant input from youth collaborators in the exhibit's design and development phase in order to achieve improved audience impact and the other innovation was a Black Holes Explorer's Card which visitors used to collect digital artifacts at the museum and could access the
In late spring 2010, Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) was contracted by the Museum of Science, Boston, to conduct an outcomes evaluation of their educational live performance, The Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show (ANB). The show presents scientific concepts about atoms and nano science in a highly entertaining and engaging performance. The evaluation focused on the learning outcomes of children, adults, and middle school students. The goal of this evaluation was to examine the effectiveness of the show in increasing audiences' knowledge of and interest in nano science and nanotechnology
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Rachel SchechterMuseum of ScienceMolly PriedemanIrene GoodmanCarol Lynn Alpert
resourceevaluationMuseum and Science Center Exhibits
Summative report of permanent health science exhibition, Expedition Health, at Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The appendix of this report includes tracking-and-timing guideliens and codes and copies of cued questionnaires.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Patricia McNamaraDenver Museum of Nature & Science
The following comprise the CONCLUSIONS of SRA's evaluation: POLAR-PALOOZA toured the United States at a time when the topic of climate change and global warming appeared relatively low on a list of Americans' concerns (Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 2006), with the economy, war, and health care taking precedence. Nevertheless, POLAR-PALOOZA was a powerful format for engaging the public and teachers with science, while also being a rewarding and worthwhile experience for the traveling scientists. PPZA was an ambitious and complex undertaking designed to bring what is
The CASE program served communities that are underrepresented in current museum audiences. CASE served both females and males from underrepresented minority groups, primarily African American, Latino, and Asian. The most frequent participants were younger than 20 years-old and African American. CASE succeeded in making informal science learning accessible in participating communities. CASE served a total of 10,971 individuals between September 2004 and December 2008. Across the five years, families in the eight participating sites had a grand total of 358 opportunities to attend science
Columbia University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and New York Hall of Science (NYHOS) partnered to create Research and Rolling Exhibits (RARE). The project's goal is to showcase current research in science and make it accessible to the general public. Five Wondercarts were created over three years, from 2005 through 2008, highlighting topical scientific research and its relevance to the museum's target audience. The carts were programmed to engage families in conversation, letting their interest determine the direction of activities. In this manner Wondercarts
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ellen GiustiNew York Hall of ScienceKathleen Condon
Liberty Science Center (LSC) received National Science Foundation (NSF) funding to develop, install and evaluate a 12,800-square foot, two-story permanent exhibition about skyscrapers. Skyscraper! is meant to showcase the architectural design and engineering, physics, and urban-related environmental science of skyscrapers. The Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI), a Maryland-based research and evaluation organization that focuses on lifelong learning in informal or free-choice settings, was contracted to conduct the summative exhibition evaluation. The purpose of the summative evaluation
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kerry BronnenkantLiberty Science CenterClaudia Figueiredo
The University of Pennsylvania Museum received a grant from the National Science Foundation to develop, install, and evaluate an exhibition on human evolution. The exhibition, entitled Surviving: The Body of Evidence, opened in May, 2008. It was produced and first exhibited in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology and will travel to other venues across the United States. Surviving is a ground-breaking exhibition which looks at contemporary human beings in the context of their evolutionary history. Containing approximately 4,000 square feet of
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Minda BorunUniversity of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology
This Pathways Project connects rural, underserved youth and families in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho to STEM concepts important in sustainable building design. The project is a collaboration of the Palouse Discovery Science Center (Pullman, WA), Washington State University and University of Idaho, working in partnership with rural community organizations and businesses. The deliverables include: 1) interactive exhibit prototype activities, 2) a team cooperative learning problem-solving challenge, and (3) take-home materials to encourage participants to use what they have learned to investigate ways to make their homes more energy-efficient and sustainable. The project introduces youth and families to the traditionally difficult physics concept of thermal energy, particularly as it relates to sustainable building design. Participants explore how building materials and their properties can be used to control all three types of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. The interactive exhibit prototypes are coupled with an Energy Efficient Engineering Challenge in which participants, working in cooperative learning teams, use information learned from the exhibit prototype activities to retrofit a model house, improving its energy efficiency. The project components are piloted at the Palouse Discovery Science Center, and then travel to three underserved rural/tribal communities in Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington. Front-end and formative evaluation studies will demonstrate whether this model advances participant understanding of and interest in STEM topics and careers. The project will yield information about ways that other ISE practitioners can effectively incorporate cooperative learning strategies in informal settings to improve the transferability of knowledge gained from exhibits to real-world problem-solving challenges, especially for rural and underserved audiences. This project will also provide the ISE field with: 1) a model for increasing the capacity of small, rural science centers to form collaborative regional networks that draw on previously unused resources in their communities and provide more effective outreach to the underrepresented populations they serve, and 2) a model for coupling cooperative learning with outreach exhibits, providing richer experiences of active engagement.
Through Wildlife Watch, participants gain first hand experience with plants and animals in their natural environment. The Wildlife Watch website features downloadable "watch" lists by state, and the capability for visitors to share wildlife sightings, photos and stories online. Wildlife Watch is an introductory citizen science program that is perfect for families, photographers, kids, outdoor enthusiasts and anyone who wants a deeper connection with world around them.
Gardeners visit this site and report what varieties perform well - and not so well - in their gardens. Other gardeners visit to view the variety ratings and read the reviews to decide which might work well for them. The VVfG citizen science project also provides an opportunity for researchers to involve knowledgeable, motivated citizens in meaningful scientific research. Research on the performance of vegetable varieties is often limited to commercial production in part, because visiting thousands of home gardens to collect data would be an overwhelming task.
Project BudBurst engages people from across the United States in the collection of important climate change data based on the timing of leafing and flowering of trees and flowers. Project BudBurst participants take careful observations of the phenological events such as the first leafing, first flower, and first fruit ripening for a variety of plant species including trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, weeds and ornamentals. Project BudBurst is particularly interested in observations of native plant species. The citizen science observations are reported online to a national database. As a result valuable environmental and climate change information is being collected in a consistent way across the country. Scientists can use this data to learn about the responses of individual plant species to climatic variation locally, regionally, and nationally, and to detect longer-term impacts of climate change by comparing with historical data.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Office of Outreach and EducationChicago Botanic GardenUniversity of MontanaSandra Henderson