This report represents the results of a summative evaluation study of visitor response to new interpretive signage in Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Tropical Pavilion. The evaluation aims to reveal the extent to which the new signage succeeds in providing the outcomes for the visitor experience identified in the Garden's Interpretive Master Plan (IMP). The IMP's overarching goal is: to create interactions and experiences with visitors of all ages and backgrounds which are rich, enjoyable, personally relevant, and communicate the key message,Plants are essential to life. The following content goals
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ellen GiustiBrooklyn Botanic GardenKathleen Condon
"Megalodon: Largest Shark That Ever Lived", a 5000-square-foot exhibition, started with a gift of shark fossil specimens and models, inspiring curators and administrators to create an exhibition to educate the public about extinct and modern sharks. This summative evaluation was undertaken to investigate whether exhibition visitors come away with an understanding of the exhibition's main premise: Megalodon, a dominant marine predator for 15 million years before vanishing 2 million years ago, provides lessons for shark conservation today. The learning goals also included a number of subthemes
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ellen GiustiFlorida Museum of Natural History
This summative evaluation report aims to examine the impact of Travels in the Great Tree of Life, a temporary exhibition at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. The 1000-square-foot exhibition seeks to convey concepts of phylogenetic relationships based on recency of common ancestry. In addition, its goal is for visitors to come away with an understanding of the vast scope and complexity of the Tree of Life (herein referred to as ToL) and some practical applications of ToL research. Data collection employed a mixed methods approach. Structured exit interviews were conducted with 102
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ellen GiustiYale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Beautiful Science: Ideas that Changed the World, a 2,500-square-foot permanent exhibition, contains more than 100 rare, important, and beautiful books and manuscripts from the Huntington's collections, along with artifacts and interactive experiences. The content focuses on the changing role of science through the centuries, with particular emphasis on some of the astonishing leaps in imagination made by scientists and the importance of written works in communicating those ideas. There were 52 exhibit elements in subject areas of Astronomy, Natural History, Medicine, and Light. Feedback on the
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Beverly SerrellThe Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Liberty Science Center (LSC) received National Science Foundation (NSF) funding to develop, install and evaluate a 12,800-square foot, two-story permanent exhibition about skyscrapers. Skyscraper! is meant to showcase the architectural design and engineering, physics, and urban-related environmental science of skyscrapers. The Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI), a Maryland-based research and evaluation organization that focuses on lifelong learning in informal or free-choice settings, was contracted to conduct the summative exhibition evaluation. The purpose of the summative evaluation
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kerry BronnenkantLiberty Science CenterClaudia Figueiredo
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer received a three-year National Science Foundation grant from Fall 2003 to Spring 2006 to develop, produce and air science reports during the regularly televised news program. The Online NewsHour Web site extends the reach of the science reports by housing the broadcast transcripts of the science reports, as well as information, graphics, and links that enhance the televised segments. In addition, EXTRA, a feature within the Web site designed for teachers and students, provides lesson plans and resources to support the use of the science segments in the classroom
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Rockman et alMacNeil/Lehrer Productions
resourceevaluationMuseum and Science Center Exhibits
Children's Museum of Houston (CMH) contracted with Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to evaluate Cyberchase: The Chase is On!--a National Science Foundation-funded exhibition designed to facilitate children's development of mathematical strategies and build their confidence in using these strategies in daily life. The exhibition used the popular children's television show, Cyberchase, as a vehicle to facilitate this learning. CMH identified the exhibition's target audience as children between the ages of 5 and 10 years, with an emphasis on children 7 years and older. To document the
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Children's Museum of Houston
Sugar from the Sun was managed by the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance (GPCA) and funded, in part, by the National Science Foundation. For this project, a 6,400 square foot living exhibition was built at Garfield Park Conservatory. This exhibition, comprised of five sections, depicted plants' production of sugar from water, air, and sunlight. The exhibition also featured a printed Exhibit Guide and hands-on activities. This study used a naturalistic inquiry methodology. The research question for this study was, As visitors engage with the immersive environments and interpretive messages in
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Eric GyllenhaalGarfield Park Conservatory Alliance
Rockman et al (REA) conducted an impact study of the educational, two-hour, television special, Exploring Time, and the value-add of its associated web site, www.exploringtime.org. The program's objective is to increase the public's understanding of change over time the multitude of changes that are occurring in the present, but at rates too slow or too fast to be seen. This evaluation explored the extent to which the programs and web site met this overall objective by looking at three impacts of the resources: (1) Comprehension of the program's content, (2) Knowledge and understanding gained
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Saul RockmanTwin Cities Public Television
In 2008, Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted summative evaluation of Absolute Zero, a collaborative effort of the University of Oregon's Cryogenic Helium Turbulence Laboratory and Twin Cities Public Television. The films were produced by Meridian/Windfall Productions, Washington DC, and/Windfall Films in London, UK. Outreach was spearheaded by Devillier Communications, Inc. The Absolute Zero project was centered on a two-part documentary about low-temperature physics, which aired on PBS/NOVA in early January 2008, as well as an outreach campaign, which included approximately 20
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Irene GoodmanUniversity of OregonLaura HousemanMarianne McPherson
In 2005, Independent Broadcasting Associates (IBA) received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create a series of radio programs for National Public Radio that features the Ganges river basin in South Asia. The radio programs, which are in the process of being produced, will describe the 650 million people who are supported by the river, as well as its cultural and religious significance. The programs will also describe the political and/or economic environment of the river and its surrounding areas. Each of these topics will encourage listeners to divorce themselves from U
GRG conducted summative evaluation of Ganga, a NSF-funded six-segment series of NPR radio programs about the culture and ecology of the river Ganga in India and Bangladesh and its companion Website. Through a web-based survey, GRG assessed the study participants' knowledge gain from and the satisfaction with the series and the Website. The appendix of this report includes the online survey used in the study.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Irene GoodmanIndependent Broadcasting Associates, Inc.