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.
The summative evaluation report for Project TRUE focuses on program implementation, participant experiences, organizational capacity outcomes and project scale-up over the five-year project.
Appendix includes logic model and instruments.
The summative evaluation documents and articulates what SCIENCES has improved or changed, and in what ways. The final design of the summative evaluation was based on findings from the front-end and formative evaluations, including using participatory evaluation techniques to engage community members in discussing their experience with the programs and assessment of community needs and assets at the close of the project.
The goal of the summative evaluation was to address discrete program impacts in the context of the project, as well as the cross-program impact of providing a thematically
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is planning to redesign existing conservation-related interactives as well as add new experiences on the Aquarium floor. In preparation for this project, the Aquarium sought to gain a better understanding of visitors’ awareness of and engagement in conservation-related actions and responses to conservation-related messaging. The Aquarium contracted with MWA Insights to conduct a front-end evaluation study to help inform the planning for these conservation stations. Specifically, the evaluation sought to understand:
Are visitors aware of issues affecting the
NatureStart Network brought together early childhood educators and environmental educators to support nature play, exploration, and inquiry for young children and their families within urban environments. Project partners included the Forest Preserves of Cook County and two established Head Start programs in the Chicago area, Mary Crane Center and El Valor. The foundation of the project was a series of three two-day professional learning sessions that took place over an eighteen month period. Through hands-on, collaborative learning and reflection activities, the participating educators
Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) has more than 700 active adult and teen volunteers, the majority of whom spend much of their time speaking with guests out on grounds. Despite the thousands of contacts volunteers have with guests every year information about these interactions has so far been limited to measuring the frequency of these interactions and how they rate along a few customer service variables, such as friendliness and availability. In addition, many of these past measurements have grouped staff and volunteer engagements together, making it challenging to understand the role that
This report details a four-month snapshot summative evaluation of the Bridging the Gap (BTG) program at the Wildlife Conservation Society. A snapshot summative evaluation in this instance means that the evaluation occurred as the program was concluding, but was not intended to evaluate the totality of the three-year program. The study sought to 1) better understand the effect the program had on teen participants' attitudes on any element associated with the program (STEM, careers, college, zoos, etc.); and 3) identify components of the program that were particularly successful or effective.
The 3-year Bridging the Gap program, developed and implemented by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), was designed to educate minority youth from New York City (NYC) about education and career opportunities available in wildlife and conservation sciences. This National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST)-funded program provided almost 150 minority high school students with conservation knowledge, practical information about the college application process and college life, and long-term support through continued contact with WCS
The evaluation examined the overall visitor experience (time spent, main message comprehension, response to exhibition look and feel) in the 1,100-square-foot Animal Attraction as well as the exhibition's multimedia content delivered via 18 iPads. Specifically, researchers explored iPad usability and visitors’ reactions to the iPad content, especially compared to static labels found in other areas of Animal Attraction. Findings indicate that the iPads appealed to all visitors segments and that iPad users spent more time in the exhibition than visitors who did not use the iPads. However, many
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TEAM MEMBERS:
California Academy of SciencesJon DeuelJessica Brainard
Our project for the Seattle Aquarium was to complete an exploratory evaluation of the Harbor Seal Talks, an element of the Marine Mammal Talks programming. These talks are conducted by either staff biologists speaking from within the seal enclosure or by “dryside” interpretive staff speaking from the audience in dialogue with the biologists. This evaluation was requested by the Interpretation Department to ascertain what the general content of the talks is currently, whether specific conservation messages are being transmitted, and how engaged audiences are in the talks. Our study found that
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Lissa KramerColleen LenahanHal KramerSeattle Aquarium
Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted process and summative evaluation for the New York Aquarium (Wildlife Conservation Society) of Project POWER: Protecting Our Wetlands with Educators and Regulators. The project was designed to train teams from around the country to present wetlands workshops in their local communities to reduce the frequency and magnitude of wetlands violations by community residents. As part of their participation in Project POWER, in March 2006, teams attended a two-day Leadership Seminar where they received training and resources. The primary goal of the
What motivates kids to take multiple programs at the Minnesota Zoo? What makes Minnesota Zoo programs so comfortable and engaging that some kids just keep coming back? How do these experiences support kids’ interest in animals and wildlife conservation? The Minnesota Zoo (MN Zoo) offers over a dozen educational programs for youth tailored to encourage exploration of “what makes the MN Zoo tick.” After 10 years of programming for hundreds of youth, a cluster of youth return again and again to learn more about animal care, wild wildlife conservation, zoo work, and volunteer opportunities