In this article, I invite readers to think outside of evaluation’s current boundaries and to see the deep connectedness between what museums hope to achieve and how we evaluate the extent to which these aspirations may be realized. To do this, I present four imperatives for making museum evaluation more relevant, credible, and useful: 1) Link program activities with intended outcomes and hoped-for impact. 2) Take a systems-oriented evaluation approach. 3) Use affirmative data collection approaches based on assets and strengths. 4) Engage in courageous conversations.
This article proposes new methods of strategic planning for the twenty-first century. Potential futures can be imagined (and diagrammed) as radiating out from the present in a “cone of plausibility” that puts extreme possibilities on either side of the expected future: how the future would look if business proceeds as usual.
Although schools traditionally take their pupils to Natural History Museums, little has been elicited about either the overall content of the conversations generated by such groups or of the effect on content in the presence of an adult. Transcripts were coded using a systemic network which had been designed based on pilot studies. A range of variables was created from the coded data. The number of conversations that contained at least one reference to the designated categories were ascertained overall and those of the three sub-groups, pupils and teacher, pupils and chaperone and pupils alone
This paper explores the role of questioning in scientific meaning-making as families talk, look and gesture in front of realistic and artful dioramas at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The focus is on the ways questioning can either enable movement towards scientific understanding or hinder such progress. The socio-cultural framework of this research emphasizes Vygotsky's interpretation of the zone of proximal development (zpd). Questions are viewed as tools for mediation in the zpd. This paper examines three families' dialogues, excerpted from a larger study of collaborative
This book describes the process of retrofitting a diorama exhibit, using principles of universal design and engaging people of all ages, with various disabilities to assist in the project.
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Museum of Science, BostonBetty Davidson
This study evaluates the Living Land Living Sea exhibit at the Royal British Columbia Museum, with specific attention to gathering data related to visitor response to dioramas. The results of this study indicated that small but significant amounts of knowledge gain did occur upon visiting the Living Land Living Sea gallery, that attitudinal change was not measured, and that exhibit type clearly affects attracting power and holding power.
Interviews conducted during the summer of 2006 with people in and around the international museum community suggest that the interests natural history museums share in common with each other and with other kinds of organizations and communities are creating an array of new links across institutional, social and cultural boundaries. These links are active, complex, networked relationships directed toward common purposes. Museums that are taking advantage of this emerging environment are becoming “hyperconnected hubs” across which knowledge is exchanged and action initiated. In forging a
This study examined organizational change in science museums toward practices that are inclusive of people with disabilities. Guided by two overarching frameworks, organizational learning and the social model of disability, this study sought to answer the following: What are the contexts and processes that facilitate, sustain, or impede a science museum’s change toward practices that are inclusive of people with disabilities? The research orientation was a qualitative, multiple case study. The cases featured three science museums that varied in size and location, but shared a documented
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM) programs in out-of-school time (OST) are designed to supplement school work, ignite student interest, and extend STEM learning. From interactive museum exhibits to summer-long science camps, opportunities for informal student engagement in STEM learning abound. What difference do these programs make, and how can we improve them? These questions preoccupy educators and funders alike. OST program developers and providers can benefit from understanding why evaluation is critical to the success of STEM OST programs, what data collection
Interactive technologies are employed in museums to enhance the visitors' experience and help them learn in more authentic ways. Great amounts of time and money and many man-hours of hard work have been spent. But do such systems indeed achieve their goals? Do they contribute to a greater user experience (UX) and learning effectiveness? In this paper we describe the use of the "Walls of Nicosia" a 3D multi-touch table installed at the Leventis Municipal Museum in Nicosia, Cyprus. Two groups of students actively participated in this empirical study (they attended the 5th year class at
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Panagiotis ZahariasDespina MichaelYiorgos Chrysanthou
The article focuses on the creation and development of an interactive science museum by middle level students as part of informal science education in the U.S. The said project which primarily targets fifth-grade students aimed at maximizing the active engagement of a learner during his or her experience. It also promotes the minimization of lecture-laden instruction while maximizing an experience-based learning system. The project which is adopted in the late part of 2006 help students to review and synthesize information, collaborate with peers, and specialize science topics.
Over the last decade, hundreds of planetariums worldwide have adopted digital “fulldome” projection as their primary projection and presentation medium. This trend has far-reaching potential for science centers. Digital planetarium capabilities extend educational and cultural programming far beyond night-sky astronomy. These “digital domes” are, in essence, immersive visualization environments capable of supporting art and live performances and reproducing archeological sites, as well as journeying audiences through the local cluster of galaxies. Their real-time and rapid-update capabilities