In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood and Ann Cleghorn share findings from a study that attempted to assess recall for three different types of exhibit events: visual (exhibit objects), semantic (label content), and other sensory impressions (sounds, temperature, darkness, touch). The aim of the study was to compare recollections for these three types of knowledge across exhibit areas at the Anniston Museum of Natural History.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood reviews two studies that assessed knowledge gain in addition to other measures of exhibit effectiveness. These studies used tests of semantic knowledge as measures of exhibit effectiveness, which Bitgood argues are incomplete measures of knowledge and restrict researchers from assessing other types of memory (e.g. visual and episodic).
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood provides a brief overview of the psychology of memory as it relates to visitor studies professionals. Bitgood outlines stages of memory, types of memory, other memory concepts, knowledge and exhibit experiences, and the measurement of memory.
In this article, William A. Barnard of the University of Northern Colorado and Ross J. Loomis of Colorado State University discuss a series of research studies they conducted to address three basic questions concerning the evaluation of visual learning from exhibits: (1) Was it possible to determine how well people remember specific items that they had previously seen in exhibit collections? (2) What, if any, optimal number of exhibited items would serve to maximize visual learning? and (3) What is the potential relationship of the amount of time spent viewing objects and the retention of
In this article, evaluation consultant Harris H. Shettel outlines the value of remedial evaluation. Shettel cites evidence from a study of the "Man in His Environment" at the Field Museum in 1976.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Harris H. ShettelVisitor Studies Association
In this article, Roger Miles, of the Natural History Museum in London, defends his 1993 proposal that deems the concept of remedial evaluation unnecessary. Miles presents counterarguments against proponents of remedial evaluation, Screven, Bitgood, and Shettel and argues for a classification based on the cyclical model of exhibition development.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Amy Cota and Stephen Bitgood address the following evaluation questions: (1) Would label reading decrease when the number of labels is increased? (2) Do groups who visit in families behave differently than groups composed of adults only? and (3) Do label readers view exhibit objects longer than nonreaders? The researchers share findings from a study that evaluated these questions in the Egyptian Mummy gallery at the Anniston Museum of Natural History.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood responds to Roger Miles, a proponent of the Occam's Razor principle in determining the number of exhibit evaluation types, which argues for parsimony (fewest possible). Bitgood offers a rationale for Screven's four-type evaluation model based on multiple dimensions (when, why, how, what and who), accepts Miles's three-stage model of evaluation, and addresses Miles's criticisms of the use of remedial evaluation as one of the evaluation types. which Bitgood argues should not be cut from the list of evaluation types.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Amy Cota summarizes a 1984 "British Journal of Psychology" article written by M.B. Alt and K.M. Shaw, in which the authors attempt to classify museum exhibits in terms of "the way they are perceived by museum visitors." Cota discusses how this research suggests that there are a number of exhibit factors of greater importance than interaction or participation.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood discusses three aspects of designing effective exhibits: (1) the possible criteria for assessing the success of an exhibit; (2) common exhibit design approaches or strategies; and (3) the research and evaluation strategies used to gather information on exhibit effectiveness. Bitgood argues that a better understanding of these three issues can lead to more thoughtful design of exhibits, more careful consideration of approaches, and more reliable and valid measures of success.