This paper discusses the "Growing Up and Away" project at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, in which a team consisting of a curator, programmer, designer and project team leader, developed a family-friendly exhibit that showcased the vast diversity of Glenbow's collection of artifacts related to childhood. This paper outlines the team's approach to development, front-end evaluation, formative evaluation, advisory groups, and related programs.
The focus of this summative evaluation report is the Shark Encounter exhibit at Sea World of California, which opened in June 1992. The design concept was to display the largest collection of sharks in the world. Visitors are transported to the "tropics" to view sharks from above, and then venture into the sharks' environment as they travel through an acrylic tube placed on the bottom of the habitat. The goal of the evaluation was to determine the overall effectiveness, or success, of the exhibit
In this paper, Pedro J. E. Casaleiro of the University of Leicester (UK), Department of Museum Studies, discusses methodology and findings from a comparative analysis of audiences for "The Return of the Living Dinosaurs" exhibition in four separate locations: London, Paris, Spain, and Portugal. The exhibit consisted of robotic dinosaurs (animatronic models).
In this paper, Pat Sterry of the University of Salford (UK) discusses the potential of family group research and the need to establish a research program in a variety of heritage sites and attractions, not just museums.
In this article, Jennifer B.J. Cave discusses methods and findings from an audience research project completed for use both the strategic planning process and the design concept of a new Children's Museum, part of the Canadian Museum of Civilization complex in Ontario.
In this article, Jeff Hayward of People, Places & Design Research outlines the evaluation process by summarizing the evaluation of "The Estimating Game," a traveling exhibit developed by the Children's Museum of Boston. The study assessed the effectiveness of the exhibit as installed at the Children's Museum, the effectiveness of "mock-ups" of parts of the exhibit as they were developed, and the effectiveness of teaching children the concept of estimating.
In this article, Linda Snow Dockser, evaluator at the Please Touch Museum for Children, discusses research methods and findings from an evaluation of its "Play: Past, Present, and Future" exhibit. Researchers evaluated how the exhibit theme was interpreted and personalized by the audience and the extent to which the exhibit encouraged adult/child interaction.
In this article, Jeanne Vergeront, Director of Exhibits and Education at The Children's Museum in St. Paul, discusses the Museum's efforts to examine exhibit safety and implementation of a 5-part procedure to improve safety of interactive exhibits for its visitors.
In this article, Mary Stewart Miller, evaluator at the Cumberland Science Museum, discusses evaluation methods involving child visitors as well as adults. Stewart Miller shares methodology and findings from an evaluation of the museum's "Brain" exhibit, a study which involved interviewing children ages eight to thirteen.
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.