In 2006, the U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG) decided to conduct an institution-wide study of their visitors—why they come to the Botanic Garden, how they utilize the space, their level of satisfaction with the experience, and overall effectiveness of the USBG’s exhibitions and interpretation—in order to provide input to a strategic planning process that will align its living collections with its educational mission. To date, the only existing data characterizing USBG visitors was gathered in the early 1990s. Since then, the USBG has undergone a major transformation, including complete renovation of
The EcoTeens Program is a hands-on, science based enrichment program offered by the Franklin Park Zoo. The program is open to youth in Boston Public Schools grades 9 - 11, and is designed to teach students about natural history and conservation issues, and to provide them with opportunities to develop leadership skills. Youth participate in the out-of-school time program during weekly after-school sessions, as well as every other Saturday sessions. In the 2008 program, they could choose to participate in one session (January through March, or April through early June) or in both sessions
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
Bio Med Tech: Engineering for Your Health was a 2,750 square foot exhibition at the Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) that dealt with issues related to biomedical technology. Partially funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Awards program (NIH/SEPA), the project was developed through a partnership between GLSC and Case Western Reserve University. The SEPA grant also funded a variety of programming activities, including informal Exploration Cart activities in the exhibition, presentations in the exhibition's theater space, and teacher training
The goal of the study was to inform an interpretive and master planning process at Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site by documenting visitor motivations, interests, experience, and learning outcomes of four key audiences identified by Eastern State: walk-in visitors (adult only), walk-in visitors (groups with children), prearranged adult tour groups, and school groups. Specifically, the report focuses on the following evaluative questions: 1) Who are the visitors to Eastern State and why do they come? (e.g., entry conditions such as demographics, motivations for their visit, expectations
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jill SteinEastern State Penitentiary Historic SiteJes A. Koepfler
resourceevaluationProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Nanoscale Informal Science Education (NISE) Network held Regional Workshops workshops around the country during the summer of 2008. Formative evaluation was carried out to measure the workshop's success and related improvements in 1) integrating new and existing partners into the NISE Network, 2) providing valuable networking opportunities among workshop attendees, 3) creating a foundation for strong and lasting regional partnerships within the NISE Network, 4) presenting NISE Net's catalog of existing products, and 5) providing professional development resources including knowledge, tools
Between February and June 2008, the Hall of Human Life content development team set out to create goals, messages, and content ideas for a new exhibition on human life. During this time period, the team decided that the exhibition would focus on the main message that Humans are changing and provide the visitors with three lenses for viewing the exhibition: an ecological lens, an anatomical lens, and an evolutionary lens. As an entry point to these lenses for visitors, the exhibit team generated five catalysts that correspond to the ecological lens and highlight how environmental factors can
This evaluation study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of two design strategies used in Beyond the X-Ray: personal stories which were a part of the Five Windows on the Body and a separate kid area which was implemented in Kid Radiology. Evaluation Questions: 1. How do visitors interact with and use the exhibits in Beyond the X-Ray that were created with the instructional design strategies that are the focus of this evaluation? 2. In what ways, if any, are the exhibits that are designed with the targeted strategies effective at achieving their stated goals? 3. What are the visitors'
This study was designed to assess qualitative and quantitative impacts that the enactor program has on visitor experience at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS), using two temporary exhibitions (Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World and Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition) as examples. Of interest was capturing the unique visitor experience that enactors provide by combining visitor engagement, education and interaction. In turn, this affords opportunities to better consider enactor and/or theater-based programming for other areas of the Museum (temporary and permanent) in the
This report represents the results of a summative evaluation study of visitor response to new interpretive signage in Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Tropical Pavilion. The evaluation aims to reveal the extent to which the new signage succeeds in providing the outcomes for the visitor experience identified in the Garden's Interpretive Master Plan (IMP). The IMP's overarching goal is: to create interactions and experiences with visitors of all ages and backgrounds which are rich, enjoyable, personally relevant, and communicate the key message,Plants are essential to life. The following content goals
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ellen GiustiBrooklyn Botanic GardenKathleen Condon
This summative evaluation report aims to examine the impact of Travels in the Great Tree of Life, a temporary exhibition at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. The 1000-square-foot exhibition seeks to convey concepts of phylogenetic relationships based on recency of common ancestry. In addition, its goal is for visitors to come away with an understanding of the vast scope and complexity of the Tree of Life (herein referred to as ToL) and some practical applications of ToL research. Data collection employed a mixed methods approach. Structured exit interviews were conducted with 102
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ellen GiustiYale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Liberty Science Center (LSC) received National Science Foundation (NSF) funding to develop, install and evaluate a 12,800-square foot, two-story permanent exhibition about skyscrapers. Skyscraper! is meant to showcase the architectural design and engineering, physics, and urban-related environmental science of skyscrapers. The Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI), a Maryland-based research and evaluation organization that focuses on lifelong learning in informal or free-choice settings, was contracted to conduct the summative exhibition evaluation. The purpose of the summative evaluation
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kerry BronnenkantLiberty Science CenterClaudia Figueiredo