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.
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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.
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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.
The purpose of this study was to investigate a museum exhibition design assumption that visitors develop conceptual understanding of a science topic after utilizing a cluster of conceptually related exhibits which lack explicit concept labeling; also investigated was whether visitor concept development could be enhanced through the addition of explicit labeling about the intended conceptual messages. Two very different clusters of exhibits were selected for investigation: how transportation in Los Angeles affects air pollution (“Transportation”) and the conception and early development of
This report presents findings from a summative evaluation of Electric Space, a traveling exhibition developed by the Space Science Institute, with major funding provided by the Informal Science Education Program of the National Science Foundation. This study is the third phase of evaluation conducted by Randi Korn & Associates in association with this project. After performing both front-end and formative evaluations during the exhibition development process, this summative study was conducted on the completed traveling version of Electric Space at two host sites. This final study was
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Space Science Institute
This report presents findings from an extensive summative evaluation of the Breaking Ground project (BG) conducted for both the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) and the Brooklyn Children's Museum (BCM). Breaking Ground is a collaborative project established between BBG and BCM. The products of the overall project include three exhibits (two at BBG and one at BCM) and a series of educational programs. Specifically, the project components are: the Amazing Plants exhibition and the Discovery Garden at BBG, the Plants & People exhibition at BCM, and Discovery Carts, along with the City Plant
The Exploratorium is developing a model program that demonstrates the vital role science museum exhibits can play in supporting formal science education reform. The development of exhibitions and enhancement activities is based on the Science Framework for California Public Schools and the emerging National Science Education Standards. The project includes: A series of four museum exhibitions (with a total of 60 exhibits) based on the Science Framework themes of Patterns of Change, Stability, Scale and Structure, and Systems and Interactions Publications (Exhibit Guides and Pathways) for each collection A series of workshops and evening events for teachers, families and students A symposium, video and Internet resource for museum and education professionals An important feature is an information desk and resource kiosk to inform teachers, parents and the general public about science education reform efforts. The project aims at 5,000 teachers, 32,000 parents and caregivers, 140,000 students and 1,320,000 members of the general public.