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resource evaluation Exhibitions

Visitor Behavior at a Constructivist Exhibition: Evaluating Investigate!! at Boston's Museum of Science

Constructivist education theory postulates (Fosnot, 1996; Hein, 1998) that visitors learn actively and create their own meanings as they interact with the world. This raises challenges for visitor studies, since it may be difficult to plan a reasonable evaluation strategy for exhibitions if visitors’ actions and outcomes cannot be determined in advance. Constructivist theory also requires an appropriate evaluation approach (Hein, 1997). This paper illustrates the use of a combination of methodologies that allow visitors’ meanings and activities to emerge as they visit an interactive, non
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TEAM MEMBERS: Elsa Bailey Kerry Bronnenkant Judith Kelley George Hein Museum of Science, Boston
resource research Exhibitions

Ocean Views: A Study of Visitors to the Ocean Planet Exhibition

In this paper, researchers from the Smithsonian's Institutional Studies Office discuss a study of the "Ocean Planet" exhibition presented at the National Museum of Natural History (April 1995-April 1996). The purpose of this study was to measure the degree to which the exhibition's message was communicated to visitors and the extent to which the exhibition goals were realized.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Andrew Pekarik Zahava Doering Adam Bickford Steven Yalowitz
resource research Exhibitions

Baloney Detection: Suggestions for Teaching Critical Thinking in Museums

In this article, Stephen Bitgood of Jacksonville State University discusses the importance of critical thinking skills and offers ten suggestions for incorporating critical thinking into exhibit design.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Stephen Bitgood
resource research Exhibitions

The Exploration Zone at The Field Museum: Front-End Evaluation

This article provides a brief summary of the findings from an evaluation study that examined what Field Museum visitors understand about the scientific research that goes on behind the scenes. Between May and September 1995, Selinda Research Associates conducted over 125 in-depth interviews with visitors, members, and museum staff, for a total of approximately fifty contact hours with respondents.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Deborah Perry Emily Forland
resource research Exhibitions

Testing a museum exhibition design assumption: Effect of explicit labeling of exhibit clusters on visitor concept development

The purpose of this study was to investigate a museum exhibition design assumption that visitors develop conceptual understanding of a science topic after utilizing a cluster of conceptually related exhibits which lack explicit concept labeling; also investigated was whether visitor concept development could be enhanced through the addition of explicit labeling about the intended conceptual messages. Two very different clusters of exhibits were selected for investigation: how transportation in Los Angeles affects air pollution (“Transportation”) and the conception and early development of
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TEAM MEMBERS: Science Learning, Inc. John H Falk