This evaluation provides feedback from a tracking and timing study from the project "Seeing: The Interaction of Physiology, Culture, and Technology" at the Exploratorium. The evaluation concludes that Seeing is a large, complex collection of loosely related exhibit elements that attract and hold visitors’ attention well, but not exceptionally well. Yet, given the size and scope of the exhibits, a longer average time and more stops would not be expected. The individual interactive elements range from many that are modestly engaging, to some that are highly engaging, with a few exceptionally
This evaluation describes the results of three individual exhibits that were a part of the project "Seeing: The Interaction of Physiology, Culture, and Technology" at the Exploratorium. This document contains findings for "Seeing Yellow," "Peripheral Vision," and "Motion Detector."
Research into learning in informal settings such as museums has been in a formative state during the past decade, and much of that research has been descriptive and lacking a theory base. In this article, it is proposed that the human constructivist view of learning can guide research and assist the interpretation of research data because it recognizes an individual's prior knowledge and active involvement in knowledge construction during a museum visit. This proposal is supported by reference to the findings of a previously reported interpretive case study, which included concept mapping and
This article presents a contextual model of learning that examines visitor learning in museums. It explores features of the model, factors that can influence learning in a museum setting, and challenges associated with teaching in a museum context.
This study was undertaken to isolate characteristics of interactive exhibits that are particularly effective in attracting and holding the attention of visitors in a science museum. Forty-seven visitors were tracked through two adjacent exhibitions, comprising a total of 61 interactive exhibits. Four exhibit characteristics were identified and examined: technological novelty, user-centeredness, sensory stimulation, and open-endedness. Regression analyses show that two of these characteristics, technological novelty and open-endedness, help to account for the variance in average visitor holding
By pursing delight as a design goal in the creation of exhibits about science and nature, we can solve the 'edutainment' dilemma that plagues producers of informal educational media both in and outside the museum. A hybridized notion of education and entertainment is a misguided design goal, and by rather designing for delight we encourage learning and the creation of memorable experiences. This thesis examines how delight figures into rhetorical demonstrations of nature and the design of exhibits. To build an understanding of the aesthetics of delight in the museum experience, three key
This research illustrates the efficacy of a new approach for collecting and analyzing family conversational data at museums and other informal settings. This article offers a detailed examination of a small data set (three families) that informs a larger body of work that focuses on conversation as methodology. The dialogic content of this work centers on biological themes, specifically adaptation. The biological principle becomes visible when families talk about survival strategies such as breeding or protection from predators. These themes arise from both the family members and the museum
One method for studying visitors in museums is to audiotape their conversations while videotaping their behavior. Many researchers inform visitors of such recordings by posting signs in the areas under scrutiny. An earlier study tested the assumption that visitors notice, read and understand posted signs (Gutwill, 2003). Interviews revealed that 75 percent of visitors leaving a recording area had read and understood the signs. This article describes our attempt at increasing this percentage by placing additional signs on the exhibit elements being used, as well as on the camera itself
This article describes an exhibit evaluation project at the San Diego Natural History Museum, funded by NSF in 2001, which took a participatory approach to better understand their audience. The authors, two participants in this project, discuss their motivations and goals, useful models and lessons learned from a special needs focus group.
In this article, researchers for the University of North Carolina at Asheville describe findings from their study that assessed the impact of two interactive, hands-on, informal science-learning programs on elementary and middle school children's (1) general interest in science learning and (2) short-term science learning. They used a separate-sample pretest-posttest research design to evaluate the impact of two informal science-learning programs--a robotics program and an electricity program at the Health Adventure at Pack Place. The appendix of this report includes the survey, observation
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mark L. Harvey, Ph.D.Brandon HudsonBri Tureff
In this article, evaluator Randi Korn of Randi Korn & Associates explains how to know when the time is right for front-end evaluation and whether your questions are the ones you should be asking visitors. Korn cites examples from the field, specifically from a study conducted for the Chicago Historical Society.
The first phase of the evaluation, a front-end visitor study, assessing visitors' knowledge of and interest in space science and the cosmos, was conducted in May and June of 2000 at Boston's Museum of Science (MOS). The evaluation's second phase, a formative evaluation of the exhibition prototype, was completed in February of 2001 at the MOS. This summative report represents the third round of the evaluation process conducted by PERG, and is an evaluation of the current Cosmic Questions exhibition and related activities, based on data obtained by evaluators at two sites Boston's Museum of
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Joan KarpJudah LeblangSusan Baker CohenHarvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics