Through the T523: Formative Evaluation for Educational Product Development course, our team conducted a semester-long formative evaluation for the Museum of Science, Boston (MoS) Gaia Exhibit. The Gaia Exhibit (Gaia) is a new, temporary art installation located in the MoS’s Blue Wing exhibition hall. Gaia that strives to inspire appreciation for the earth and climate change awareness. The exhibit displays imagery of the Earth’s surface on a twenty feet diameter, three-dimensional globe. Additional exhibit elements include projected questions on the floor to prompt reflection and exhibit-
Engaging Faith-based Communities in Citizen Science through Zooniverse was an 18-month pilot initiative funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Any opinions, findings, or recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sloan Foundation. The goals of this initiative were to broaden participation in citizen science (aka people-powered research) among religious and interfaith communities by establishing pathways for them to engage with science using the online Zooniverse platform, and to build positive, long-term relationships with these
This NOVA multiplatform media initiative consisted of a 2-hour nationally broadcast PBS documentary, Polar Extremes; a 10-part original digital series, Antarctic Extremes; an interactive game, Polar Lab; accompanying polar-themed digital shorts, radio stories, text reporting, and social media content; a collection of educational resources on PBS LearningMedia; and community screening events and virtual field trips for science classrooms. Across multiple media platforms the project’s video content had nearly 13 million views.
The research explored the potential for informal STEM learning
Are you interested in an innovative approach to collecting a large amount of formative data via Facebook? RMC Research Corporation conducted a formative evaluation for Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) to ensure the social media tag lines and clips created by OPB engage the target audiences. The primary target audience for the Hacking Your Mind (HYM) television series is the PBS primetime television viewing audience. According to the PBS Research Audience Insight 2016 Annual Report, the PBS primetime audience is older (median age of 65) and college educated (43% have a 4-year degree). To
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jean Hiebert LarsonChandra LewisCorynn Del Core
This study addressed the questions of whether or not the IMAX/OMNIMAX film "Tropical Rainforest" contributes to a positive attitude towards, and and increase in knowledge about, the tropical rain forests of the world. Results indicate that there are statistically significant increases in knowledge gained as well as an increase in positive attitudes towards the tropical rain forests. All three specific audiences (grades 1-6; grades 7-12; adult general) tended to increase overall.
In its program, “Maximizing Lifelong Learning Opportunities: Innovative Strategies for Science Museums,” the American Museum of Natural History sought to develop, implement and assess a series of online and face-to-face adult learning courses, that shared the name “Our Earth’s Future” and focused on the topic of climate change. An external evaluation of this effort was conducted by Rockman et al, an independent evaluation firm that specializes in the evaluation of informal science learning programs. This research effort builds on prior knowledge gained from studies of adult learning programs
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jennifer BorlandRuth CohenDebra TillingerMaria Janelli
From 2013-2016, Pacific Science Center, implemented the Exploring Earth Systems Sciences (EESS) project with the purpose of developing and delivering scripted demonstrations utilizing the Science On a Sphere (SOS) technology in order to promote understanding of and increase interest in Earth systems sciences. Specifically, the grant allowed the Science Interpretation team to research and write 20-minute presentations, targeted towards visitors aged 11 and older, about nine unique topics such as: climate change, weather, seasons, or the Polar Regions. Staff were then provided training in
Under a subcontract with Randi Korn & Associates, who conducted a study of the on‐site museum exhibit, RMC was engaged to conduct an evaluation of the Places of Invention online map site for the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. The Places of Invention online map, part of the 3,500 square foot on‐site exhibit, was developed as a platform for collecting invention stories related to specific places or landscapes submitted by Smithsonian staff, Smithsonian Affiliations, and visitors to the online map. RMC investigated three key topics related to
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Science of Sharing project (SoS) was a collaboration between the Exploratorium, the Museum of Life and Science, Dialogue Social Enterprise and The Heroic Imagination Project. SoS included two major components for members of the public to engage with: a permanent collection of interactive, multi-user exhibits at the Exploratorium, and a series of social-media based activities called Experimonths. SoS exhibits and Experimonths were designed to allow visitors to experiment with cooperation, trust, and social dilemmas, connect those experiences to
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is one of the world's largest experimental facilities, where thousands of scientists and engineers from over 100 countries collaborate to shed new light on the workings of our universe. As LHC research, such as the discovery of the Higgs boson, continues to hit the news in future years, it will be important for educators in informal science institutions to understand how to engage their visiting public's interests and curiosities and shape their understanding regarding this leading edge research. Funded by
This evaluation reports on the Mission: Solar System project, a 2-year project funded by NASA. The goal of the Mission: Solar System was to create a collection of resources that integrates digital media with hands-on science and engineering activities to support kids’ exploration in formal and informal education settings. Our goal in creating the resources were: For youth: (1) Provide opportunities to use science, technology, engineering, and math to solve challenges related to exploring our solar system, (2) Build and hone critical thinking, problem-solving, and design process skills, (3)
This report includes six separate formative evaluations conducted to inform the design and development of the deliverables for the 3D Visualization Tools for Enhancing Awareness, Understanding and Stewardship of Freshwater Ecosystems project. Deliverables were tested with both students and general visitor groups, with a focus on groups including late elementary and middle school children. Many different components were tested, including prototype versions of 3D visualizations, high-tech interactive experiences, apps on tablets and phones, and table top exhibits. Results are reported in each of