In this paper, Nancy T. Haas of the Please Touch Museum discusses Project Explore, a new research initiative that explores learning in children's museums. Project Explore is a collaborative effort of two organizations, PleaseTouch Museum in Philadelphia and Harvard's Project Zero in Cambridge. Using a dual research approach, Please Touch Museum researchers investigated exactly what it is that children are learning and how to best enable or enhance their learning process; while the Project Zero team studied how children engage in exhibits by looking at the Entry Points approach to learning
In this paper, Daryl Fischer of MUSYNERGY discusses the Denver Art Museum's use of "visitor panels" to generate substantive changes in new exhibits. These qualitative studies rely on input from panelists who are representative of the museum's target audience. Fischer provides an overview of how the Denver Art Museum used visitor panels in the reinstallation of the two ares of the museum's permanent collection.
In this paper, Zahava D. Doering and Andrew J. Pekarik of the Smithsonian's Institutional Studies Office share an overview of efforts to assess the Smithsonian's 16 museums and 26 million visitors each year. The authors also share some general findings that address communication in exhibitions.
In this article, Lynn D. Dierking of Science Learning, inc. (SLi) discusses the summative evaluation of the Pacific Science Center's Science Carnival Consortium Project, a National Science Foundation funded program designed to assist new or developing science centers with opening and operating their institutions. The evaluation was designed to determine the extent to which the Science Carnival Consortium fulfilled its primary mission of facilitating the creation of these new science centers, as well as to assess the relative efficacy of the project as a model for future collaborative endeavors
In this article, Stephen Bitgood of Jacksonville State University discusses the importance of critical thinking skills and offers ten suggestions for incorporating critical thinking into exhibit design.
In this article, Ann Baillie, museum consultant, discusses the findings of a pilot study of ten family group visits to the Queensland Museum. The study aimed to construct an understanding of its members' subjective experiences of museum visiting.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Ann BaillieVisitor Studies Associaton
This article provides study findings from the summative evaluation of "The Universe in Your Hands: Early Tools of Astronomy" permanent exhibition that opened in May 1995 at the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum. The renovated and recontextualized exhibit portrays the museum's collection of early astronomical instruments in the social and scientific setting of the European and Islamic worlds during the Middle Ages (1200 to 1500 A.D.).
In this article, Britt Raphling and Shauna Keane-Timberlake, of the Adler Planetarium, discuss the new building addition that was slated to open in the summer of 1998. The authors briefly summarize the three new galleries as well as discuss how front-end evaluation has informed the exhibit development process.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Britt RaphlingShauna Keane-Timberlake
In this article, Britt Raphling discusses how the visitor data from extensive formative evaluations guided decision-making on design revisions for the wayfinding system at the Adler Planetarium.
This article provides a brief summary of the findings from an evaluation study that examined what Field Museum visitors understand about the scientific research that goes on behind the scenes. Between May and September 1995, Selinda Research Associates conducted over 125 in-depth interviews with visitors, members, and museum staff, for a total of approximately fifty contact hours with respondents.
In this article, Barry Aprison, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, discusses the museum's "Prenatal Development" display, one of the oldest science exhibits in the US. Aprison discusses the success of the exhibit and cites recent visitor evaluation studies.
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.