Goodman Research Group completed the summative evaluation report of the Black Holes Experiment Gallery (BHEG), a traveling exhibit by the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, which aimed at engaging museum visitors in the topic of black holes. One of the innovations of the project included the inclusion of significant input from youth collaborators in the exhibit's design and development phase in order to achieve improved audience impact and the other innovation was a Black Holes Explorer's Card which visitors used to collect digital artifacts at the museum and could access the
In summary, this Planning Grant has demonstrated that the Fusion Science Theater mode successfully uses the dramatic structure of a play to create an investigative, participatory theater event that conveys science information, concepts, and methodology in a way that is engaging to children and attractive to parents and educators. The model can be transferred to others both by teaching others to develop their own shows and by training undergraduates to perform FST shows that have already been created. Finally, significant achievements have occurred in publicizing the model and in recruiting
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Joanne CantorMadison Area Technical College
Our study at the Frye Art Museum examined the use of the gallery guides by visitors in Tete-a-Tete, the salon-style hang of the museum's founding collection. Our goal was to see who was using the guides, how, what effect this had on their experience, and what they expected from the guides. We discovered that the average gallery guide user was female, over 35 years of age, previously been to the Frye Art Museum but had not yet seen Tete-a-Tete. Although gallery guide users spent more time in the exhibit and were able to recall art historical information more readily, the use of the guides did
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Valerie GrabskiLauren LeClaireFrye Art Museum
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This evaluation looked at one set of visitor behaviors - taking and using photographs - in the whole of Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM). It was conducted between April 30 and May 6, 2010 by collecting semi-structured interview responses from 58 EMP|SFM visitors during their visits. We sought to identify 1) whether visitors were taking their own photos in the galleries; 2) how they planned to use those photos; 3) whether they planned to use visitor-generated material (in the form of the Taking Aim Flickr site) after their visit; and
Overall findings suggest that the Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway exhibit attracted a different audience than the audience which attended the Coffee: The World in Your Cup exhibit the previous year. Additionally, visitors were highly engaged within the exhibit, and were spending a great deal of time in the exhibit space. Visitors to Cruisin' felt strongly that the exhibit was able to successfully present scientific and educational content, but in a more creative and dynamic way than they're used to. The appendix of this report includes the interview and observation protocols and tracking
The purpose of this summative evaluation was to find out how visitors are using and learning from the East by Northwest exhibit at the Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) in Seattle, Washington. The exhibit tells the story of Seattle's Ethiopian community, highlighting the continuity of the culture and the contribution to our shared experience. To do this, three methods were employed: 1) tracking and timing observations, 2) exit surveys, and 3) analysis of guestbook entries. A total of 188 visitors were included in this study. Data collection occurred during January, February, and March
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Marta BeyerAlex CurioJulie DoughertyJustine WalkerErin WilcoxUniversity of Wisconsin
EVALUATION PURPOSE The purpose of this evaluation was to determine which visitors are attracted to interpreter-staffed Discovery Carts and what behaviors they exhibit that reflect their learning experience. To do this, 348 observations of unique visitor interactions with Discovery Carts were collected from January 21 to February 17, 2010. KEY FINDINGS What age group is most attracted to the Discovery Carts? Children ages 3 to10 comprise the majority of visitors to the Discovery Carts. Who initiates the interaction between visitors and the cart? The visitor initiates the majority of
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Kathryn FromsonJessica NewkirkElizabeth RosinoShannon WeissPacific Science Center
In late spring 2010, Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) was contracted by the Museum of Science, Boston, to conduct an outcomes evaluation of their educational live performance, The Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show (ANB). The show presents scientific concepts about atoms and nano science in a highly entertaining and engaging performance. The evaluation focused on the learning outcomes of children, adults, and middle school students. The goal of this evaluation was to examine the effectiveness of the show in increasing audiences' knowledge of and interest in nano science and nanotechnology
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Rachel SchechterMuseum of ScienceMolly PriedemanIrene GoodmanCarol Lynn Alpert
Sea Studios has undertaken the daunting task of motivating the American public to engage in solving some of the Earth's most challenging problems. Initially, Sea Studios' efforts focused on bringing significant environmental challenges to light. More recently, the organization's work has explored ways of communicating challenges facing natural systems with consequences in seemingly "unrelated" issue areas like poverty, globalization, and health. This task is formidable for a number of reasons. First, many of the problems Sea Studios is addressing are global in nature. As a result they seem
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Topos Research Partnership, LLCSea Studios Foundation
Listening to the River (LTTR) is a watershed science education project funded by the National Science Foundation. Its aims are to deliver education experiences in the local area, Traverse City, Michigan, and also to develop a model that could be replicated in other locations. Inverness Research was contracted by the Listening to the River project to conduct both formative and summative evaluations. Our work began in 2005 when the project received a planning grant, and continued through the life of the project. Primarily through interviews and product reviews, along with some direct program
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Mark St. JohnHeather MitchellDawn RoblesElizabeth HorschLaura StokesLand Information Access Assocation
The Citizen Science Central site developed by CLO clearly meets its goal of providing guidance and resources to individuals and organizations engaged in, or interested in undertaking, citizen science, volunteer monitoring, or participatory action research initiatives. The site embodies the ideas and insights generated by the Citizen Science Toolkit conference. In terms of the evaluation objectives, the evidence from the user surveys show that the site meets both of the standards listed below. Ease of use, sufficiency, and appropriateness of Citizen Science Central content Quality and
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Stephanie ThompsonCornell University
Radiolab is a public radio series of hour-long interdisciplinary shows, co-hosted by Robert Krulwich and Jad Abumrad, and produced by WNYC. To help guide the future development of shows, this evaluation, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, gathered feedback from listeners via online and mailed questionnaires in response to a season 4 show entitled Choice. The general goals for the evaluation process are: (1) To explore what attributes of the format engage and interest listeners; (2) To examine influences on awareness and comprehension of content; and (3) To assess impact on post