The goal of this evaluation was to determine how museum visitors responded to the museum's existing live animal exhibits and identify recommendations for their new Live Animal Garden exhibit.
This by the project external evaluation partner presents findings from the first phase of the Co-Created Public Engagement with Science project (CC-PES). The CC-PES project has sought to bring together informal science education institutions, civic partners, and community partners to create forums that address socio-scientific issues that are important to audience being served. The project is designed to lead these collaborative teams through three key steps of public engagement with science: agenda setting (identifying the topic of interest and designing a forum to address it), decision
NSF generously funded the Science Museum of Minnesota's exploration of whether or not the "theatrical gaming" technique could improve visitors' understanding of complex topics requiring conceptual shifts--topics like evolution. COVID disrupted our formal evaluation plans, but this report offers finding and guidance/best practices for other informal education institutions interested in developing this type of experience. Individual sections discuss our particular, three-phased project, theatrical gaming as a technique, storytelling, gaming, technology, and evaluation.
The Lineage project was a collaboration between Twin Cities Public Television and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The project included creation of a feature-length video program, a Virtual Reality game, and a set of hands-on activities designed for use by multigenerational audiences—all of which were incorporated as part of a series of seven Fossil Festival events at museums and other sites around the United States. This report presents findings from a set of external evaluation studies that examined impacts on families who participated in Fossil Festival events as well
This report summarizes the project work and research findings for a project designed to address racial justice through a STEM lens, in Minnesota communities, in the wake of George Floyd's murder. The project was rooted in principles of power sharing and co-creation. Though ultimately challenging, and not entirely successful according to the original goals, this report provides an overview of research findings and lessons learned.
Appendices include instruments.
Framing: Broadening participation and achieving equitable outcomes has been a core goal of the science museum field for over two decades. However, how to make progress has proven an intractable problem.
Methods: Focusing on five organizations who officially committed to diversity, equity, access, and inclusion (DEAI) by participating in a national professional development program, the researchers investigate how science museums attempt to enact internally-focused change via a mixed methods case study.
Findings: While these organizations considered a variety of structurally focused change
Pulsar: A Science Podcast is a science and technology podcast produced by the Museum of Science, Boston. The podcast has grown and expanded in recent months as the museum turned its attention to developing online resources during the coronavirus pandemic. This evaluation seeks to understand the ways the Pulsar team may improve their product in order to better suit listeners’ preferences and to expand the podcast’s reach.
This evaluation is grounded in two primary objectives: (1) describing the podcast’s current audience and (2) understanding factors that impact listeners’ engagement with
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Alia QatarnehAbigail FeldmanMason Hill
This study researched whether and how affiliation with the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) led to change in informal science education organizations’ (ISEs) practices. The NISE Net provided an opportunity to look at how participation in a large but loosely-structured network of museums, science centers, educators, and scientists can influence museums to experience organizational change and adopt new practices.
By conducting qualitative case studies of a few selected partners, this research aimed to understand the conditions that facilitate or impede the influence of
The Museum of Science, Boston (MOS or the Museum), in partnership with EdTogether and in collaboration with researchers and engineers across a range of affective science and technology disciplines, implemented a two-year exploratory research and development initiative titled Empowering Learners through Effective Emotional Engagement (ELEEE), with funding from the Argosy Foundation. Through the ELEEE project we sought to develop a framework for leveraging emotion in design where visitors are empowered to have meaningful, self- or socially-directed, and intrinsically motivated learning
This document represents the story of Native Universe: Indigenous Voice in Science Museums and how it has unfolded at the project level, the three case study museum sites, and through partnerships between tribal communities and the three science museums. Modeled on the project itself, our research and evaluation team brings together Indigenous and conventional, western evaluation and research practices, through a collaborative partnership between the Lifelong Learning Group, based at COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation (Columbus, OH) and Native Pathways (Laguna, NM). The results of
The New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC) initiated the Understanding Communities Study with the goal to better understand how New Jersey history and history organizations can be more inclusive for all. NJHC contracted RK&A for the first phase of the study to conduct focus groups with members of Hispanic and Latino communities in New Jersey. NJHC plans to expand the study to other communities in the future. The New Jersey Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development served as advisors in the project.
With support from NJHC partners, RK&A conducted three focus groups with
The National Building Museum (NBM) contracted RK&A to evaluate Creative-in-Residence (CIR), a program that invites visual and performing artists to NBM for short-term residencies to create original work that promotes engagement with the built environment. The study goal was to consider future implications for the CIR program based on the most recent CIR iteration (a January 2019 dance performance inviting visitors to explore NBM’s historic building) and past program iterations.
How did we approach this study?
To hear a variety of perspectives on CIR, RK&A conducted in-depth telephone