This report presents findings from the evaluation of the Baseball Stories user generated content (UGC) project. The Baseball Stories project was created by the Information and Interactive Technology Department to allow people to share stories about their experiences with baseball for display in the Baseball As America traveling exhibition. As a part of the project, a website was created where people could create and post their stories and view other stories, and an exhibition kiosk was created where people could view their or others' stories or send an email to remind themselves to create a
During Fall 2008, the Science Museum of Minnesota's outreach staff visited schools throughout northern Minnesota to deliver the Energy Connections program. A summative evaluation was carried out to gauge the impact the program had on students' understanding of three of the program's key learning goals. As a result of participating in the Energy Connections program, students will learn that electrical energy can be generated from a variety of sources, which can be either renewable or non-renewable, and can have different environmental consequences/impact. People influence what decisions are
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Amy Grack NelsonClaire PhilippeScience Museum of Minnesota
The Learning Places evaluation went beyond the traditional approach of determining how well the project met its goals. In addition to that approach, we identified grounded theory. Five areas of theory and related hypotheses emerged: STEM learning, agents of change, teens as designers, community partner engagement and national collaboration. Each is described in detail in the full report, along with findings related to each of the project goals.
Columbia University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and New York Hall of Science (NYHOS) partnered to create Research and Rolling Exhibits (RARE). The project's goal is to showcase current research in science and make it accessible to the general public. Five Wondercarts were created over three years, from 2005 through 2008, highlighting topical scientific research and its relevance to the museum's target audience. The carts were programmed to engage families in conversation, letting their interest determine the direction of activities. In this manner Wondercarts
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ellen GiustiNew York Hall of ScienceKathleen Condon
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
National Canal Museum (NCM) contracted with Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to evaluate three National Science Foundation-funded exhibitions: Engineering America, Towpath Town, and Waterworks. All three exhibitions were designed to facilitate multi-generational learning of science within an historical context using a variety of interactive and hands-on learning activities, a unique approach for this history museum. The exhibitions' target audience was broadly defined as families, including visitors 6 years of age and older. To examine visitors' experiences and the exhibitions' impact, RK
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.National Canal Museum
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
resourceevaluationProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Nanoscale Education Outreach (NEO) workshop participants were interviewed 6+ months after their attendance to determine the effect of the workshop on the participants' professional capacity and to determine the effect of the participants' involvement in the broader NISE Network. 33 of the 87 total participants were interviewed over several months.
This report summarizes the evaluation of the first 20 months of the National Science Foundation-funded tour of the Traveling Experiment Gallery. The Traveling Experiment Gallery is the touring version of Science Museum of Minnesota's successful core science hall, the Experiment Gallery. The evaluation of the Traveling Experiment Gallery was conducted using naturalistic inquiry methodology. Depth interviews were conducted with 28 staff and six volunteers at the five museums and science centers which have hosted the exhibition. The evaluators also spent almost 30 hours observing visitors, floor
This report presents findings from a summative evaluation of Electric Space, a traveling exhibition developed by the Space Science Institute, with major funding provided by the Informal Science Education Program of the National Science Foundation. This study is the third phase of evaluation conducted by Randi Korn & Associates in association with this project. After performing both front-end and formative evaluations during the exhibition development process, this summative study was conducted on the completed traveling version of Electric Space at two host sites. This final study was
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Space Science Institute
In 2004, WGBH received partial funding from the National Science Foundation to create Einstein's Big Idea, a two-hour docudrama on Einstein and the history of the formula E=mc2. Based on the book E=mc2, A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis, the program highlights the stories of those who helped develop the key concepts that make up the equation, with a particular focus on how Einstein pulled together these concepts to create E=mc2. Through these stories, Einstein's Big Idea focuses on four themes that served as learning goals for the project. The four themes are: (1
Design It! Building Design Challenges in After School Programs, funded by the National Science Foundation, is a collaboration between the Education Development Center (EDC), the National Institute for Out-of-School Time (NIOST) and science centers/museums and after school programs located in community-based organizations (CBOs) in six cities. The project's primary goal was to improve the quality of programming in after school programs by establishing long term relationships between science centers/museums and after school programs and developing, incorporating and institutionalizing hands-on
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Patricia CampbellEducation Development CenterLesley PerlmanEarl Hadley