The Global Viewport project was an integrative collaboration between the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and. the New Bedford Oceanarium Corporation dba Ocean Explorium at New Bedford Seaport (hereafter, Ocean Explorium). The main thematic area that was addressed is Improving Public Earth System Science Literacy. A main objective of the Global Viewport project was to address Goal 1 of the GEO Education and Diversity Strategic Plan (2010-2015): “Advancing public literacy in Earth System Science.” For this evaluation the public interacted with spherical display content in an informal
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Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)Meredith Emery
In 2013 and 2014, the Museum of Science (MOS) partnered with Dr. Rob Wood’s lab at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) to create an exhibition about Wood’s Robotic Bees (RoboBees) project. The Microrobotics Takes Flight exhibition (referred to in the original grant as the RoboBees exhibition) consists of three interactive components and an introductory section. The three interactive components are modeled on the three different engineering teams working on the RoboBees project: the Brain, the Body, and the Colony teams. The purpose of the evaluation was
This report summarizes the evaluation results from the NSF funded Eight-Legged Encounters family event that uses arachnids as a hook to draw public interests towards science. The event involves informative and hands-on activities that bridge the gap between academia and the public, extending knowledge about arachnids to children and their parents. The Bureau of Sociological Research (BOSR) at UNL was contracted to evaluate Eight-Legged Encounters. The data collection for this report involves five events and three audiences: adults, children, and the volunteers of the event. Two events were
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University of Nebraska LincolnEileen Hebets
To better help museum visitors make sense of large data sets, also called “big data”, this study investigated if there were generalizable ways in which visitors engage with and then make meaning of such data sets. This front-end study was designed to explore if there were different, distinct, and repeatable patterns intuited by individuals as they work with large data sets. This was a descriptive, process method using a complex card sort with an interview. Each card had the name of one food item written on it. Food items were diverse, including eggs, crackers, lasagna, apples, tofu and almonds
The Bronx Zoo of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) engaged Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. to conduct formative evaluation and community focus groups related to a proposed exhibit, "Safari Adventure." The aim with this exhibit is to provide better connections to nature for families in our community and foster a life-long sense of environmental stewardship. The exhibit concept was born of the issue that, today, there exists a greater need to connect people to nature than ever before, a topic especially relevant for our community—part of the largest urban population in the United States
This report presents findings based on the largest and most international study of zoo and aquarium visitors ever conducted worldwide. The study used a pre- and post-visit repeated-measures survey design to evaluate biodiversity literacy - biodiversity understanding and knowledge of actions to help protect biodiversity - in zoo and aquarium visitors. In total, more than 6,000 visitors to 30 zoos and aquariums around the globe participated in the study. Appendix contains survey.
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World Association of Zoos and AquariumsAndrew MossEric JensenMarkus Gusset
This report summarizes findings from a three-year study of the Time Team America: Science of Archeology project, funded by the National Science Foundation. The project included a series of archaeology field schools for youth, four broadcast episodes and a redesigned website with a variety of information and instructional resources. The evaluation included both formative and summative components and a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods including surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Includes interview protocol and survey.
The purpose of the Handbook is to inform the co-creation of a new wave of iSaveSpecies interactives designed to deepen engagement in science and conservation at zoos, aquariums, and other living-exhibit institutions. The Handbook allows participating institutions to easily collect visitor data, to better understand how visitors currently engage at exhibits, and to apply visitor data to the development of iSaveSpecies inquiry and action tools. We describe some common methods of data collection including: timing and tracking of visitors, prototyping exhibit mock-ups, and language testing using
This report summarizes evaluative findings from a project titled “What Curiosity Sounds Like: Discovering, Challenging, and Sharing Scientific Ideas” (a.k.a.: “Discovery Dialogues”). The project, a Full-Scale development project funded by the National Science Foundation as part of its Advancing Informal Science Learning (AISL) program, explored new ways to actively engage both lay and professional audiences, and foster meaningful communication between scientists and the general public. Appendix includes survey and interview questions.
Concord Evaluation Group (CEG), led by Dr. Christine Paulsen, was hired by WGBH to perform an evaluation of NOVA’s Making Stuff Season 2 series (MS2), website, and outreach activities. CEG also conducted a separate set of formative evaluation activities during the early stages of resource development. The findings from the formative evaluation have been delivered separately. The goal of the summative evaluation was to explore the extent to which MS2 activities were successful at achieving NOVA’s intended impacts: 1. To increase public understanding that basic research leads to technological
Rockman et al (REA), in partnership with Marti Louw and the University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE), conducted a summative evaluation in Fall 2012-Spring 2013 of a temporary museum exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) in Pittsburgh, PA called, Stories in the Rock. The exhibition highlighted CMNH researchers’ documentation of ancient petroglyph sites in Saudi Arabia using GigaPan technology to capture high-resolution, zoomable images of the rock art. The exhibition centers around an activity called the Explorable Image, a
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University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School EnvironmentsCamellia Sanford-Dolly