In this article, Ethan Allen (Teachers Academy for Mathematics & Science in Chicago) describes two types of museum collaborations and how they improve visitor experience through different modes. Allen discusses the Chicago Museum Exhibitors Group (CMEG) and the Museum Partners of Chicago's Urban Systemic Initiative as two models of museum collaboration.
In this article, Pete Conroy, Curator of Natural History at the Anniston Museum of Natural History (Anniston, AL), summarizes an article written by George Weiner (Supervisory Exhibits Editor at the Smithsonian) in 1963 about writing exhibit labels.
In this article, Gary Clarke, Director of the Topeka Zoo, describes the opening of Gorilla Encounter, a fascinating gorilla exhibit. Clarke's account of the opening day is important because of the successful planning that made standing in line almost a pleasant experience for visitors.
In this article, Steve Bitgood, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Jacksonville State University, presents general principles that can be used to guide exhibit designers, facility planners, and decision-makers of exhibit-type facilities. Bitgood offers two principles of visitor behavior that deal with physical qualities of the exhibit object or spieces.
In this article, Ben Gammon, Visitor Studies Manager, and Jo Graham, Education Manager, at the Science Museum, London ask, "What is the value of evaluation if nobody pays any attention?" They advise "audience advocates" on how to communicate research findings effectively with curators and exhibit developers and offer four exercises" to improve visitor awareness.
The Principal Investigator's Guide: Managing Evaluation in Informal STEM Education Projects (PI Guide) is designed to help principal investigators and other leaders of informal STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education projects integrate evaluation into all phases of project design, development, and implementation. Such projects include exhibits, media projects, websites, community science projects, afterschool programs, festivals, family activities, online games, citizen science projects, and other efforts to help people learn about science in the course of their everyday
Once resources for the scholar and serious student, science museums are now dedicated to public education. But just how institutions define and meet their educational goals is a continuing story. This article describes the evolution of science museums from private collections to public institutions over three generations.
The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) provides a decision chart as a guide for institutional review boards (IRBs), investigators, and others who decide if an activity is research involving human subjects that must be reviewed by an IRB under the requirements of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations at 45 CFR part 46. OHRP welcomes comment on these decision charts. The charts address decisions on the following: whether an activity is research that must be reviewed by an IRB, whether the review may be performed by expedited procedures, and whether informed
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The authors provide an analysis of pairs of children interacting with a multi-touch tabletop exhibit designed to help museum visitors learn about evolution and the tree of life. The exhibit’s aim is to inspire visitors with a sense of wonder at life’s diversity while providing insight into key evolutionary concepts such as common descent. The authors find that children negotiate their interaction with the exhibit in a variety of ways including reactive, articulated, and contemplated exploration. These strategies in turn influence the ways in which children make meaning through their
The University of Washington’s Museology Program, in partnership with the Woodland Park Zoo and the Learning in Informal and Formal Environments Research Center is developing a model of university-community collaboration where students work with client museums, zoos and aquaria to evaluate exhibits and programs under the guidance of a research mentor. Students will gain experience in audience research and evaluation, as well as in project management, collaboration, and leadership. Staff at participating museums will advance their personal knowledge about visitors and the field of museum evaluation. The project will prepare a new generation of evaluators and museum practitioners through an innovative apprentice-styled laboratory that integrates the strengths of mentoring, fieldwork, academics, and client-centered experiences. Project Advisors include John Falk, Julie Johnson, Randi Korn, Marjorie Schwarzer, and Patterson Williams. Project started January, 2009 with 24 graduate students in the first cadre.
Children feed alphabet letters to a talking baby dragon, drive a New York City fire truck, paint on a six-foot art wall, and crawl through a challenge course in PlayWorks™ at the Children's Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) in New York. Manhattan’s largest public play and learning center for early childhood marries the skills that children need to succeed in kindergarten with fun stuff that kids love. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) funded the project through a 2006 Museums for America grant to support the museum as a center of community engagement and lifelong learning. “PlayWorks™ is a joyful place for learning science, math, reading and other things. We incorporate fun and learning into the whole design to create a scaffold of learning. Families come to the museum to supplement preschool experiences,” said Andy S. Ackerman, CMOM’s executive director. The museum also offers parents, sitters, and other care-providers guidance on engaging their children with the exhibit. Based on the concept that children’s learning and personal growth is rooted in play, the 4,000-square-foot space is divided into five learning areas: Language, Math and Physics, Arts and Science, Imagination and Dramatic Play, and Practice Play (for infants and crawlers).
This report presents findings from a joint study carried out by the Museum of Science, Boston Research and Evaluation Department (MOS) and Art Beyond Sight (ABS, formerly Art Education for the Blind) with museum visitors who are blind or have low vision. The purpose of this study was to gather information that can inform the development of pilot museum programs that meet the needs and interests of visitors who are blind or have low vision and to provide professional development for museum professionals. Focus groups were used as the primary data collection method, as they enable idea sharing