This report presents and analyzes the findings from a front-end evaluation of Vicious Fishes and Other Riches, a National Science Foundation-funded traveling exhibition being developed by the Miami Museum of Science in Miami, Florida (MMS) in collaboration with the Science Museum of Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minnesota (SMM). Front-end evaluation helps planners understand how visitors comprehend and think about themes, ideas, concepts, and objects that will be displayed in an exhibition. It seeks common ground between visitors and the exhibition. Findings from the study demonstrate visitors'
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Miami Museum of Science
This report presents and analyzes the findings from a front-end evaluation of an exhibition being developed by the Tech Museum of Innovation about the potential of the Internet. Front-end evaluation helps planners understand how visitors comprehend and think about themes, ideas, concepts, and activities that will be displayed in an exhibition. It seeks common ground between visitors and the exhibit. Findings demonstrate people's understanding of various concepts integral to the exhibition and will inform the Tech during the exhibition development process.
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Tech Museum of Innovation
In May 1999, Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), began a comprehensive summative evaluation of the four permanent galleries and the overall visitor experience of The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California. For this first phase of evaluation, there were four reports - one for each gallery. This document presents the discussion, recommendations, and executive summaries from Phase I. Data for this phase were collected in July and August 1999. The evaluation was undertaken to document the scope of the galleries' impact and effectiveness as well as to identify elements in existing
This report presents the findings of a summative evaluation of Invention at Play, conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), for the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Invention at Play is a traveling exhibition developed by the Lemelson Center in partnership with the Science Museum of Minnesota and is funded by The Lemelson Foundation and the National Science Foundation. Data collection took place at two venues: in December 2002 at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.,
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Smithsonian Institution
The Outdoor Exploratorium Project is a five-year project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF0104478), that aims to encourage and support visitors in noticing the subtleties of the outdoor environment. The study described here is one in a set of evaluation studies conducted for this project. It is a first look at what and how visitors notice in the area immediately outside the Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts. In particular, we look at visitors' experiences with a noticing toolkit, a set of simple tools we gave visitors to encourage them to explore the outdoors. The study 1)
Concept planning studies ("front-end" studies) are useful in finding out "where the audience is starting from" in their perceptions of particular subjects, themes or messages to be communicated in upcoming exhibitions. In this case, the exhibition team needed some clarifications about visitors' awareness, interests, and other perceptions of 'current science.' The priorities for this research were focused on: name and recognition of the topic (explore people's reactions to 10 preliminary "titles;" seek examples of topics that they associate with new/current science) interest in current science
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jeff HaywardScience Museum of MinnesotaJolene Hart
This study was commissioned to provide systematic feedback regarding visitor experience of the Low-Carb Craze exhibits (about nutrition and dieting) in Current Science Central. The principal issues to be investigated were about the interpretive experience: are visitors getting the idea that this is about current science information?; do visitors perceive the information to be recent?; are they learning any new information or not? To address these issues, an evaluation strategy was developed that focused on people's perceptions of the content and reactions to the activities; specifically
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jeff HaywardScience Museum of MinnesotaJolene Hart
Nanoscale science and engineering study and create materials and devices on the molecular scale. The Nanobiotechnology Center, a National Science Foundation supported Science and Technology Center, collaborated with Ithaca, New York's Sciencenter, a hands-on museum, and Painted Universe, Inc. an exhibition design-and-fabrication team, to create It's a NanoWorld, a 3,000 square-foot, hands-on traveling exhibition. Edu, Inc., an external evaluation group, led front-end research and formative evaluation to guide and refine development of the exhibition. Summative evaluation investigated visitors'
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Douglas SpencerCornell UniversityVictoria AngelottiSciencenter
This is a report from the supplemental summative evaluation of the exhibition, Genetics: Decoding Life at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. The evaluation was designed to measure visitors' attention to the main messages of the exhibition, visitors' thinking and attitudes about genetics, and whether visitors made connection among their genes, themselves, and their families. The evaluation was designed to establish findings that complemented and built upon a previous summative evaluation. Two types of exit interviews were used to gather qualitative and quantitative data. A total of
Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG), an evaluation research firm specializing in the evaluation of educational programs, services, and materials, is conducting an evaluation of PEEP and the Big Wide World (PEEP). The primary focus of the evaluation is to assess PEEP's appeal and the extent to which the various components of PEEP (e.g., television series, Web site, and educators' print guide) contribute to encouraging children ages 3-5 years to engage in hands-on science explorations of their everyday environments. GRG employed several data collection methods to assess PEEP, including a children
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jennifer BeckWGBH-TV BostonJennie MurackIrene F Goodman
RK&A conducted 56 timing and tracking observations of visitors, 20 exit interviews with visitors, an interview with the Cell Lab Program Manager, and interviews with 13 Lab Crew in the summer and fall of 2003. The Cell Lab succeeded in engaging visitors in enjoyable and educational activities. It also excelled in providing Lab Crew teens with valuable employment and life experiences. The concept and design of the Cell Lab - its level of interactivity, staffing, and resource allocation - offers visitors a unique experience. In some ways, the SMM was taking a risk by offering in-depth
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Science Museum of Minnesota
With support from the National Science Foundation and Best Buy, Twin Cities Public Television has produced a science series for children. Entitled "DragonflyTV," the series presents real kids engaged in real science to promote the process of science inquiry in viewers. This formative evaluation gathered feedback from 5th and 6th graders in response to three 28 minute videos, presented one per week. The following were the general research goals: To evaluate change in student ability to design an experiment To measure change in interest in doing one's own science investigation To determine
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Barbara FlaggTwin Cities Public Television