With funding from Atlantic Philanthropies, the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to evaluate the Traveling Through Time (TTT) program, a 90-minute fieldtrip program facilitated by museum educators that explores the early history of New York City through objects and inquiry. The study explores whether and to what extent the TTT program affects students' attitudes about history and history museums, history knowledge, and history-related skills. In the last 30 years, there has been little rigorous research that investigates the outcomes
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Randi Korn & Associates Inc.Museum of the City of New York
Throughout the year, El Museo del Barrio hosts various cultural programs that are open to the public and often free. To explore the effectiveness of the Museum's cultural programs, Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) conducted case studies for three programs Day of the Dead, Three Kings Day, and Super Sabado - Carnival. RK&A conducted naturalistic observations of visitors to the three programs. Trained data collectors unobtrusively observed program attendees and took notes on select behaviors using observation guides specific to each program. RK&A interviewed program participants 18 years and
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.El Museo del Barrio
The purpose of this summative evaluation was to find out how visitors are using and learning from the East by Northwest exhibit at the Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) in Seattle, Washington. The exhibit tells the story of Seattle's Ethiopian community, highlighting the continuity of the culture and the contribution to our shared experience. To do this, three methods were employed: 1) tracking and timing observations, 2) exit surveys, and 3) analysis of guestbook entries. A total of 188 visitors were included in this study. Data collection occurred during January, February, and March
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Marta BeyerAlex CurioJulie DoughertyJustine WalkerErin WilcoxUniversity of Wisconsin
The Minnesota Historical Society contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a summative evaluation of the Minnesota's Greatest Generation exhibition (MGG), which was on view at the Minnesota History Center. The exhibition traces the lives of a generation of Minnesotans born in the 1910s and 1920s through the Depression, War, and Boom. RK&A trained staff and volunteers to conduct 50 interviews with adult visitors to MGG; interviews were audio recorded and transcribed to facilitate analysis. The interview explored visitors' experiences with exhibit components (such as with the
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Minnesota Historical Society
The exhibit Coffee The World in Your Cup was designed by and installed at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture running from January 24, 2009 through September 7. The exhibit presents the story of one of the world's most widely traded commodities and how it has affected cultures, economies, and environments across the globe. Coffee explores the environmental and social impacts of the coffee industry and recommends ways for consumers to make socially and environmentally responsible coffee purchases at the grocery store or in a coffee shop. The exhibit space is approximately 2,000
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Nick VisscherUniversity of WashingtonSarah MartinezErin Wilcox
The summative evaluation of Yuungnaqpiallerput used two evaluation strategies--tracking and timing (T&T) and an open-ended questionnaire (CQ)--to discover how visitors used the exhibition and what they could immediately recall about it. The combined data from these methods produced a well-rounded set of evidence for the degree of success achieved by the exhibition. Yuungnaqpiallerput was designed to be engaging to both an Alaska Native American audience and non-natives. Of the 61 people in the CQ sample, 69% said that they were first-time visitors to the Anchorage Museum, and 75% had no
Introduction The American Anthropological Association contracted with Minda Borun, Museum Solutions, to conduct a summative evaluation of the website http://www.understandingrace.com/ developed by s2n Media in connection with the Race exhibit. The exhibit, created by the AAA and the Science Museum of Minnesota, will travel to museums around the country. The website complements the exhibit and also stands on its own as a rich resource on the subject of race and human variation. The summative evaluation is based on an online survey. The link was posted on the website and data was collected using
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Minda BorunAmerican Anthropological Association
This front-end evaluation study provided information about how potential visitors to the Dena'ina exhibition (scheduled to open at the Anchorage Museum in 2010) might think and feel about the exhibition's themes. Twenty interviews were conducted with a diverse group that included people with Dena'ina and other Native American cultures. The key findings were: There was a lot of diversity about what participants knew, or didn't know, about the Dena'ina, and how the Dena'ina culture was similar to others. People knew about the effects of contact on religion, education, and dress. Non-Natives (as
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a front-end evaluation to inform the reinstallation of the Ancient Latin America Hall. The study was conducted to examine visitors' experiences in the current exhibition, the nature of their connection with the objects on view, and their needs and preferences for interpretation. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 English-speaking and 20 Spanish-speaking visitor groups, using a quota sampling method. Visitors were intercepted as they exited the current Ancient Latin America Hall
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
In 2005, Independent Broadcasting Associates (IBA) received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create a series of radio programs for National Public Radio that features the Ganges river basin in South Asia. The radio programs, which are in the process of being produced, will describe the 650 million people who are supported by the river, as well as its cultural and religious significance. The programs will also describe the political and/or economic environment of the river and its surrounding areas. Each of these topics will encourage listeners to divorce themselves from U
GRG conducted summative evaluation of Ganga, a NSF-funded six-segment series of NPR radio programs about the culture and ecology of the river Ganga in India and Bangladesh and its companion Website. Through a web-based survey, GRG assessed the study participants' knowledge gain from and the satisfaction with the series and the Website. The appendix of this report includes the online survey used in the study.
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Irene GoodmanIndependent Broadcasting Associates, Inc.
The Understanding Race website is informative, varied, accessible, and appealing. It speaks to people with a wide range of ages and backgrounds. It is a clear, understandable treatment of a difficult topic. The site is a rich resource for teachers who can use the content with their classes at varying levels. There is also information for scholars who wish to delve more deeply. No educational resource can please everyone, but this one comes close.
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Minda BorunS2N MediaAmerican Anthropological Association