During 2007, the Exhibits Department conducted a summative evaluation of Wild About Otters to document visitors' interest in and their responses to this temporary exhibition. This study was conducted in three parts to examine visitors' behaviors and responses to aspects of the exhibition, including conservation content, emotional reactions and bilingual graphic panels. Research questions 1. How are visitors using the exhibition? Which exhibits are they attending to and for how long? 2. What did visitors think Wild About Otters was about? 3. What conservation content did visitors remember
Ice Planet Earth (IPE) was a three-year NSF-Funded grant, with a focus on building awareness and understanding of polar processes and designed to coincide with the International Polar Year, which took place from March 2007-March 2009. A key feature of the IPE project was the development of 'Ice Worlds', a planetarium style film designed for both general audiences and for students/youth. IPE was a collaboration between the University of New Hampshire, and the following institutions: The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh; the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences; the Louisiana Art
In 2009, the Monterey Bay Aquarium began looking at new ways to interpret its Seafood Watch program. This nationwide conservation program strives to educate the public about the importance of buying sustainable seafood. As part of the program, the Aquarium publishes a printed pocket guide that lists the types of seafood consumers should buy and the types they should avoid. (For more information, visit www.seafoodwatch.org.) Over the years, several zoos, aquariums and museums that partner with the Aquarium have expressed interest in displaying an exhibit to encourage more of their visitors to
This bilingual study for the Against All Odds: Rescue at the Chilean Mine exhibition was conducted by the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI) for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). The Against All Odds exhibition was a partnership between NMNH, the Chilean Embassy in Washington, DC, and the U.S. State Department, and tells the story of the 69-day saga that ended when 33 miners were lifted to the surface as heroes. Against All Odds was one of the first bilingual exhibitions at NMNH, and the interpretive team chose to use bilingual graphics for three
Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination is a National Science Foundation funded project which developed a national traveling exhibition on science and technology themes depicted in the Star Wars movies. The Museum of Science, Boston (MOS) developed the exhibition in collaboration with Lucasfilm Ltd. and Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative (SMEC). The exhibition will travel to members of the SMEC in Los Angeles, Portland, Fort Worth, St. Paul, Columbus, Philadelphia, and Boston. Other venues will display the exhibition after the Collaborative tour. Tisdal Consulting was contracted to
The Koshland Youth Research Lab (Research Lab) began as an eight-month pilot program funded by the DEK Family Fund at the San Francisco Foundation. The project (initially implemented in 2011) used frontend and formative evaluation to develop the program in line with the needs and interests of its target audience of Hispanic youth. The summative evaluation took place in the last month of the program (December 2011). Researchers from UXR Consulting, Inc. were engaged to conduct all phases of the evaluation. This report includes the interview protocol and surveys used in the study.
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Jes A. KoepflerKoshland Science Museum
Overall, film viewers and Web site visitors responded positively to the project. Audiences of the film said they were encouraged by and learned the most about the personal stories of amateur astronomers contributing to scientific discovery and were impressed with the visuals presented in the film. Web site visitors consistently liked the design of the site and particularly enjoyed images and tools for viewing the night sky. Study participants said they would encourage further development of the project. They said that while the current design may exclude those who do not already have an
In 2011, ORG received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to develop resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning by redesigning and expanding the "Jonathan Bird's Blue World" website; adding components to enable teachers and students to search episodes for specific themes, locations, or scientific concepts; and enhancing the lesson plans to explicitly match the content standards for teaching science. One of the major grant objectives was to make the "Jonathan Bird's Blue World" website content widely accessible as an open source via an Internet
The purpose of the Handbook is to inform the co-creation of a new wave of iSaveSpecies interactives designed to deepen engagement in science and conservation at zoos, aquariums, and other living-exhibit institutions. The Handbook allows participating institutions to easily collect visitor data, to better understand how visitors currently engage at exhibits, and to apply visitor data to the development of iSaveSpecies inquiry and action tools. We describe some common methods of data collection including: timing and tracking of visitors, prototyping exhibit mock-ups, and language testing using
The University of Central Florida (UCF) received funding from the National Science Foundation through the Informal Science Education program (# 0638977) to create a series of exhibits entitled Water's Journey through the Everglades (Water's Journey). The project deliverables included ten kiosks integrated into an expansion of the Museum of Discovery and Science (MODS) in Fort Lauderdale, FL, with the new exhibition areas opening in November 2011. The kiosks model aspects of Florida's ecosystems and natural history, highlighting the natural balance of the Everglades and the interplay between
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Susan FoutzKara HershorinUniversity of Central FloridaMuseum of Discovery and Science
This study showcases the two of the most recent exhibits in the Art/Science gallery at the Museum of Science: What I Eat: Around the World in 25 Diets and Bonsai: Creating Art with Nature. By analyzing information from two different exhibits that were shown in the same space, themes emerged across both exhibit experiences that can inform the exhibit team more broadly about the gallery's audience and effect on visitors. Evaluation Questions: In what ways are visitors interacting with the exhibits? What do visitors find most interesting about the exhibits? Which connections are visitors making
In spring 2009, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (Museum) contracted with JVA Consulting, LLC (JVA) to conduct a comprehensive process and outcome evaluation of the Passport to Health (P2H) program. The Museum designed P2H, originally a three-year program funded by the Colorado Health Foundation (the Foundation), to improve health outcomes for fifth-grade students as well as their families and teachers throughout the Denver metro area. Passport to Health has seven components, designed to complement each other and help the Museum achieve its stated program goals. The seven components
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JVA Consulting, LLCDenver Museum of Nature & Science