The Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts is one of the world’s largest science centers and the most visited cultural institution in New England. Located in Science Park, a piece of land that spans the Charles River, the museum is conveniently situated close to Boston and Cambridge. The museum has more than 700 interactive exhibits and a number of live presentations offered daily. One of these daily shows include live animal presentations, where museum visitors can learn more about some of the many animals that the museum cares for in its live animal center. An evaluation of these live
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sarah RosenthalKristina OhlSadia Sehrish IslamMaría José Brito Páez
This observational framework can be used with different group types (e.g. family, school group, adult couple, individual, etc.) and across diverse settings such as with public program audiences, camps, or guests at animal exhibits. The framework includes expressions of empathy and related emotions, such as curiosity or appreciation.
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
With funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ (IMLS) Museums for America program, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (Zoo) undertook a process of improving the interpretive experience of its Wings of the World exhibit, which concluded in summer 2018. The updated exhibition sought to enhance families’ connections to nature and inspire them to become better bird neighbors, in direct alignment with the Zoo’s strategic planning.
In collaboration with the Zoo, the Lifelong Learning Group (LLG) conducted formative and summative evaluation in spring and summer 2018. The
With funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ (IMLS) Museums for America program, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (Zoo) undertook a process of improving the interpretive experience of its Wings of the World exhibit. This effort seeks to enhance families’ connections to nature and inspire them to become better bird neighbors, which is in direct alignment with the Zoo’s strategic planning.
In collaboration with the Zoo, the Lifelong Learning Group (LLG) conducted a formative evaluation. Formative evaluation was framed by an overarching question: does Wings of the World
Federal support for museums through the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is based on the premise that museums are valuable community organizations providing rich opportunities for learning and civic engagement. Yet, until recently, there has been a paucity of systematic and evidence-based research on the public impact of museums. Therefore, since 2005, the IMLS Office of Museum Services has funded research projects under the auspices of the National Leadership Grant program. These grants support projects that ‘raise the bar’ in museum research and practice. Funded projects have
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TEAM MEMBERS:
John H FalkKerry BronnenkantCynthia VernonJoseph Heimlich
The goal of this formative study was to assess the implementation and visitor engagement with the Quarters for Conservation (Q4C) program at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ). The program was launched in the fall of 2011, with the goal of providing zoo visitors with the opportunity to take an action during their visit and directly contribute to wildlife conservation by choosing where to allocate a portion of their zoo admission. Evaluation questions include 1) how are visitors engaging with this program; 2) what are participating visitors taking away in terms of understanding of WPZ
The iSaveSpecies project was created by Project Dragonfly at Miami University, in partnership with a national consortium of zoos and aquariums. A central goal of the project was designing and implementing a socially-networked exhibit system to engage family visitors to zoos and aquariums in inquiry and conservation, and the inquiry and action tools created under iSaveSpecies resulted in an evolving library of exhibit interactives adapted by partner institutions to suit the particular needs of their visitors. This report focuses on the two waves of networked exhibit kiosks: the first wave
The iSaveSpecies project, created by Project Dragonfly at Miami University and a consortium of zoos and aquariums, designed and implemented a socially-networked exhibit system to engage family visitors to zoos and aquariums in inquiry and conservation. The second wave of the iSaveSpecies exhibit stations focused on Sustaining Life, allowing families to conduct research and learn about conservation efforts. The Toledo Zoo incorporated three research and/or action-based touchscreen kiosks in their Tembo Trail (elephant) exhibit.
In this report, we describe the impact of the kiosks to engage
The iSaveSpecies project, created by Project Dragonfly at Miami University and a consortium of zoos and aquariums, designed and implemented a socially-networked exhibit system to engage family visitors to zoos and aquariums in inquiry and conservation. The second wave of the iSaveSpecies exhibit stations focused on Sustaining Life, allowing families to conduct research and learn about conservation efforts. The Oregon Zoo incorporated three research and/or action-based touchscreen kiosks in their Predators of the Serengeti exhibit. In this report, we describe the impact of the kiosks to