The Yellowstone Park Foundation is partnering with Yellowstone National Park (YNP) to develop and build a visitor education center at Old Faithful. Selinda Research Associates (SRA) worked with staff from Yellowstone's Division of Interpretation to plan and conduct a front-end evaluation of the exhibits for the new center. The evaluation was grounded in naturalistic methodology and used a variety of methods to triangulate on park visitors understanding of and reactions to a variety of issues. These methods included in-depth interviews with visitors both before and after their visits and card
This report presents the findings from a front-end evaluation for an exhibition being developed by The Tech Museum of Innovation about genetics, health, and technology. Front-end evaluation is conducted to help planners understand visitors’ thoughts and reactions to key themes, ideas, concepts, and activities being developed for an exhibition. Since front-end evaluation highlights both common ground and gaps between visitors and the exhibition’s concept, the evaluation findings may inform the team’s decisions as exhibition development progresses. The evaluation objectives were to: (1)
This evaluation of Mysteries of Çatalhöyük was commissioned by the Science Museum of Minnesota to provide objective feedback about the character of visitors’ experiences in this exhibition. The process of investigating visitors’ experiences included assessing and analyzing the extent of their use of the exhibition, awareness and perception of the interpretive messages presented, reactions to selected exhibit features, satisfaction with the experience, and characteristics of the audience who chose to see it; of these topics, the analysis of interpretive messages was considered to have primary
This exhibition was created to attract and appeal to families with children based on a major strategic planning effort targeting a specific audience. Summative evaluation was commissioned to reflect on the original goals for the exhibition as well as to inform future decisions regarding institutional and exhibition planning for family audiences. Several complementary research methods were used to address a variety of questions about family experiences in Splash Zone: two methods of exit interviews (281 family interviews where parents were asked most of the questions, and 55 interviews with
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jeff HaywardMonterey Bay AquariumJolene Hart
The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a summative evaluation of Playing with Time, a traveling exhibition funded by the National Science Foundation. Data collection took place at SMM, the exhibition's first venue, in the spring and summer of 2002. The evaluation documents the scope of the exhibition's impact and effectiveness through timing and tracking observations and exit interviews.
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Science Museum of Minnesota
Underground Adventure opened at The Field Museum in March 1999. Covering 15,000 square feet, it continues to be a major draw in the museum. Determining the extent to which the exhibition is achieving its original goals and assessing the nature of its visitor experience will help us plan for future modifications. The Field Museum asked Selinda Research Associates (SRA) to plan, set up, and conduct such a final summative/remedial evaluation. We collected data from November 1999 through June 2000 using a naturalistic methodology and qualitative methods. A qualitative approach to visitor research
Agents of Change is a $40 million initiative that will transform more than 25% of the Ontario Science Centre's public spaces over a three-year period. This will involve renewing key exhibit spaces, creating new approaches to visitor experiences, deepening and extending partnerships province-wide, and making significant architectural improvements to the science centre's building. Seven major new areas will feature content that explores the theme "Solving 21st Century Problems." Through the compelling experiences offered in these seven new spaces, young people will be exposed to the attitudes
This report presents the findings of a summative evaluation of MarQuest, conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), for the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. MarsQuest is a traveling exhibition funded by the National Science Foundation and, as such, data collection took place at two venues: in July 2001 at the Park Place Mall in Tucson, Arizona (a temporary satellite site for the Tucson Children's Museum) and in March 2002 at the Hampton Air and Space Museum in Hampton, Virginia. The evaluation was undertaken to document the scope of the exhibition's impact and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Space Science Institute
This report presents and analyzes the findings from a front-end evaluation of an exhibition being developed by the Tech Museum of Innovation about the potential of the Internet. Front-end evaluation helps planners understand how visitors comprehend and think about themes, ideas, concepts, and activities that will be displayed in an exhibition. It seeks common ground between visitors and the exhibit. Findings demonstrate people's understanding of various concepts integral to the exhibition and will inform the Tech during the exhibition development process.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Tech Museum of Innovation
The on-line exhibition, Cloth and Clay: Communicating Culture, was a collaborative project involving the Textile Museum of Canada and Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art. The two museums with very distinct collections jointly developed the content for this Web site. The development team wanted to create opportunities to: re-unite material from common cultural origins; put objects into their context; find common themes; and, discover new relationships between the collections. They also wanted to reconnect indigenous peoples whose cultures and objects are represented with this material by having them
The Outdoor Exploratorium Project is a five-year project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF0104478), that aims to encourage and support visitors in noticing the subtleties of the outdoor environment. The study described here is one in a set of evaluation studies conducted for this project. It is a first look at what and how visitors notice in the area immediately outside the Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts. In particular, we look at visitors' experiences with a noticing toolkit, a set of simple tools we gave visitors to encourage them to explore the outdoors. The study 1)
A new exhibition at Liberty Science Center called "Infection Connection" will tell how our choices determine the impact that infectious diseases have on people around the world. A front-end evaluation was conducted to assess potential visitors' familiarity with the topic. This information will give exhibit developers ideas about how to connect with and build on visitors' interest in, understanding of and feelings about infectious diseases. This report will summarize the findings, which include the demographics of the 160 respondents; their definitions of "infectious diseases"; which diseases