This paper is based on comments made at "Exhibition Excellence: The 14th & 15th Annual Exhibition," a session at the American Association of Museum annual meeting in Portland, OR, May 20, 2003. This review focuses "attention to people" from quantitive data compiled by Whitney Watson of the Missouri Historical Society from the 2002 and 2001 submissions and the author's notes for 2000 and 1999.
This article discusses a study conducted as part of a larger project to develop new signage strategies to support powerful forms of parent involvement at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Center of Learning in Out-of-School Environments conducted the study in the context of the museum's expansion from 20,000 sq. ft. to 80,000 sq. ft.
This article reports findings from a study of some of the museums most active in audience research to identify success factors crucial to effective audience research. The study focused on what makes audience research effective and when audience research can be considered effective. This article reports findings from eight case studies undertaken in Australia and New Zealand. Following an explanation of the research approach, this article outlines the principal criteria for audience research effectiveness found in the institutions studied and highlights the main success factors underlying their
This paper describes a 2002 study conducted by Steve Tokar that was the first of its kind to evaluate universal design practice among North American museums with hands-on science exhibits. Tokar investigated the following questions: (1) For which audiences do museum exhibit professionals think their exhibitions are accessible?; (2) What is the current level of institutional commitment to creating exhibits that are universally designed and accessible for visitors with disabilities?; (3) Which areas need improvement?; and (4) Where have we succeeded? Evaluation methodologies, key findings, and
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Steve TokarVisitor Studies Association
This paper is an introduction to the special issue of "Visitor Studies Today" dedicated to museum accessibility for persons with disabilities by guest editor Christine Reich, Senior Research/Evaluation Associate at the Museum of Science, Boston.
This paper discusses the "Scences de Silence/Scenes of Silence" exhibition designed to enable hearing people to gain access to the world of the deaf. This paper describes the exhibition and evaluation findings which examined the project's impact on visitors and deaf guides.
Interactives—computers and other multimedia components, physical manipulatives (including whole-body and tabletop activities), and simulations—occur in all types of museums. There is considerable interest in the nature of the learning that happens when visitors use interactives. Museum professionals have enlisted constructivist theory to support the notion that interactive elements are invaluable components of any exhibition experience, and are effective learning tools that enable active visitor engagement. Interactives are also seen as vital to sustaining institutional image and expanding
This paper presents two perspectives that the author believes will contribute to an enhanced ability to describe and understand learning from museums. Arguably, a major strength of the past decade of research on learning from museums has been the description and investigation of many of the myriad factors that appear to influence learning from museums. However, though we now understand the factors, we do not yet know how to consider them holistically. We do not conduct research as if all these variables were important. In addition, we have not sufficiently incorporated scope and scale into our
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Institute for Learning InnovationJohn H Falk
In this article, Barbara A. Becker, independent exhibit developer and museum consultant and Kris Nesbitt, exhibit developer, share the benefits of traveling to the Amazon region to develop the "Amazon Rising: Seasons of the River" at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. The authors describe the trips the teams made to research and collect artifacts and analyze how travel greatly strengthened the exhibit development process, the effectiveness of the exhibit, and the power of their message.
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Barbara A. BeckerKris NesbittNational Association for Museum Exhibition