PERG conducted the formative and summative evaluations of Windows on Earth, a project led by the Center for Earth and Space Science Education (CESSE) at TERC. The project included numerous partners and contributors who focused on the development of the Windows on Earth software, exhibit and website, as well as four museums who participated in the development and evaluation process: Boston's Museum of Science, (MOS), the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, (A&S), the St. Louis Science Center (SLSC), and the Montshire Museum of Science (MM) in Vermont. The project also coordinated some programming
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Judah LeblangJoan KarpTERC IncJodi Sandler
In 2006 the Exhibits department conducted a summative evaluation of Ocean's Edge, the aquarium's original and permanent galleries. From 2002-2005 the original galleries underwent a renovation to bring the original exhibits and interpretation up-to-date and to add additional exhibits. This area covers approximately 10,000 square feet. Ocean's Edge is a dramatic transformation of the aquarium's original exhibit galleries. Rockwork and wharf pilings and touchable models transform galleries into the habitats they represent. Visitors can walk under a crashing wave or delve into multimedia exhibits
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Steven YalowitzJenny Sayre RambergJaci Tomulonis
Ice Planet Earth (IPE) was a three-year NSF-Funded grant, with a focus on building awareness and understanding of polar processes and designed to coincide with the International Polar Year, which took place from March 2007-March 2009. A key feature of the IPE project was the development of 'Ice Worlds', a planetarium style film designed for both general audiences and for students/youth. IPE was a collaboration between the University of New Hampshire, and the following institutions: The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh; the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences; the Louisiana Art
The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans. From 2006 to 2008, Aquarium staff members and consultants conducted a series of qualitative and quantitative studies to assess the extent to which visiting the Aquarium engaged, inspired and empowered visitors to care about and for the oceans. The Inspiring Ocean Conservation (IOC) Project included four phases. During Phase I, the researchers consulted with Aquarium staff and conducted in-depth interviews with visitors to develop a logic model. The model outlined the conservation outcomes that could result from
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Cynthia VernonSteven YalowitzAva FergusonVictoria Macfarlane
The Sam Noble Museum contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to evaluate their Whitten-Newman ExplorOlogy Program. The program offers hands-on, immersive experiences in scientific field research to classroom teachers and middle and high school students. The evaluation study explored how participants experienced the program and how their sense of self and identity was affected during the year following the program's completion. How did we approach this study? The Whitten-Newman ExplorOlogy Program offers an in-depth program experience to a select number of teachers and students. We
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
ABSTRACT The Trail of Time is a 4.56 km (2.83 mile) long geologic timeline trail on Grand Canyon's South Rim, designed to give visitors a visceral appreciation for the magnitude of geologic time within the context of Grand Canyon. This summative evaluation was the final stage in a multipart evaluation effort for the Trail of Time project, seeking to answer the question: In what ways and to what extent do visitors develop a greater understanding of and appreciation for deep time and geology based on their experiences along the Trail of Time? To answer this question, the study used a
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Selinda Research Associates, Inc.University of New MexicoGrand Canyon National ParkEric GyllenhaalDeborah PerryDiane WhiteKarl KarlstromLaurie CrosseySteve SemkenMike Williams
Summary of Findings Summative Evaluation Cielo y Tierra Noticias del Mundo Robert L. Russell, Ph.D. Learning Experience Design October 2011 Learning Experience Design conducted summative evaluation of the project entitled: Cielo y Tierra Noticias del Mundo (Sky & Earth News of the World). A series of three evaluation sessions were conducted with radio listeners to look at the impacts of the programs on their interest in the topics presented, their understanding of the content presented, and their motivation to take further action. The first two studies used focus group sessions. The third and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Robert RussellEarthSky Communications, Inc.Malu Jimenez
The purpose of this evaluation conducted at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History was to find out how visitors are behaving in, reacting to and learning from the newly reopened Sant Ocean Hall. To do this, three methods were employed: a) timing and tracking, b) exit interviews and c) focused studies for specific exhibits and experiences. A total of 553 unique visitors were included in the study, with data collection occurring in December 2008 and January 2009. Visitor groups spent an overall time of just under twenty minutes, and the five most enjoyed elements were
The following three case studies are descriptive and evaluative in nature, and are designed to describe, explain, and portray in some detail three examples of COSIA partnerships. These cases are context bound; the place-based aspect of these cases is critical to the phenomenon being explored. Consistent with the goal for employing a case study approach for COSIA (Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences) is the approach if investigating a phenomenon within the context of the places and partners involved. While each of these COSIA partnership sites are involved in other important and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mark St. JohnUniversity of California, Berkeley
On November 4, 2010 The Science Museum of Minnesota, in conjunction with Fresh Energy, held a program about ocean acidification. The program included a dinner reception for VIP guests, a screening of the documentary film A Sea Change, and a panel discussion about ocean acidification. A Sea Change (http://www.aseachange.net/) is a feature-length documentary film about ocean acidification. A Sea Change documents Sven Huseby's worldwide search for more information about ocean acidification. Huseby, a retired history teacher, talks with scientists, policy experts, lawyers, business leaders, and
Suitcase Science is a community-inspired theatre program and exhibit that highlights many scientific disciplines, including anthropology, biology, chemistry, geology, sociology and material culture. Its development was funded through a Legacy grant from the state of Minnesota. To help generate topics and ideas to include in the Suitcase Science show and exhibit, SMM held several workshops in communities around the state. SMM staff invited local community members to bring two objects of value, meaning, or significance to the workshop and to share their story about them. These stories and
The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a summative evaluation of the reinstallation of the Gallery of California History (History Gallery). Timing and tracking observations were used to examine visitors' experiences in the reinstalled History Gallery. A total of 108 observations were collected in February and March 2011. RK&A conducted timing and tracking observations of visitors to the History Gallery. Trained data collectors unobtrusively observed visitors and documented time spent in the exhibition overall, exhibits stopped at, and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Oakland Museum of California