This paper discusses the benefits of conducting long-term evaluations. It explains the rationale behind and methodology used in a study of "Bird Discovery Point," a group of interactive exhibits located in the Aquatic Bird House at the Brookfield Zoo. The author briefly describes the issues that were raised in each of the eight evaluation efforts, the lessons from both the evaluation process and findings, and how this study impacted the decision-making processes of the institution, staff perceptions, and exhibit development in other areas.
In this article, the Center for Social Design's Don Thompson summarizes a 1988 paper written by K.D. Hirschi and C.G. Screven featured in the "ILVS Review." Thompson summates findings from the researchers' investigations of the use labels which ask questions. The study was conducted with family groups of visitors to five different exhibits at the Milwaukee Public Museum.
The National Science Outreach Network will provide school children, teachers, and the general public with highly accessible interactive exhibits dealing with popular topics in science and technology. The network, initiated as a partnership between regional science centers and public libraries, will be modeled after the highly successful statewide Oregon Library Exhibits Network established in 1987. Through this smaller network, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, a nationally recognized pioneer in science exhibitry and outreach programming, circulates small hands-on exhibits to rural population centers through installations in public libraries, where school groups and families have free and convenient access. This national dissemination project will be initiated in five regional sites across the country (Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee, and Oregon) to further establish the model in rural, inner-urban, economically disadvantaged, and culturally diverse regions. With support from both the NSF and the regional networks, The National Science Outreach Network will design and duplicate six exhibits for circulation to dozens of local communities in each designated region. Over the next seven years, over six million individuals, many of whom do not currently frequent a local science center, will be introduced to popular science in a non-threatening, resource- rich setting. This will encourage further exploration and possible future visits to an accessible science center, and ultimately establish an ever-expanding network of museum and non-museum partners providing science and technology learning opportunities to millions of individuals each year.
The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) will develop an interdisciplinary national traveling exhibition about raptors (birds of prey). Created in collaboration with The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota (TRC) and the Museum Magnet School of the St. Paul School District, this exhibit and its related programs will explore themes of biodiversity, ecology, and human relationships with the natural world. It will help visitors understand raptors as diverse, charismatic, biologically-complex animals whose continued survival is linked to fundamental questions of public policy, economics, and environmental ethics. combining the perspectives of the sciences with those of the humanities, the exhibit will present science in a real-world context of human values and actions. Opening at SMM in the summer of 1944, the 5,000-square-foot exhibit will travel for five years or more to other large museums, nature centers, and zoos throughout the U.S. Using specimens, models, artifacts, dioramas, audiovisual programs, and interactive components and supported by theater, demonstrations, and a variety of other on-site programs, it will provide a compelling mix of informal learning experiences for families, school groups, and other general audiences. Beyond the museum walls, the themes of the project will reach schools and other important outreach audiences through videotapes, teacher training programs, educational materials, and other programs. SMM will also produce a scaled-down version of the exhibit that will tour to smaller museums, nature centers, and zoos.
The Austin children's Museum will develop a colorful, interactive exhibit on energy entitled GO POWER. Go Power is being created as part of a U.S. Department of Energy exhibition initiative with in-kind support from the Lower Colorado River Authority, a non-profit public power agency, and design and fabrication assistance by the Robot Group, an Austin-based consortium of engineers and artists. The partnership, advised by a panel of science, energy, and education experts, will build a 1,200 square-foot exhibit geared towards young children (pre- school and elementary-age), and their families. An Exhibit Developer with a strong scientific background will be responsible for the design and implementation of exhibit components which will highlight energy-related science and technology as a focus for developing and utilizing skills of scientific inquiry and invention. Through kinetic sculpture, computer games, participatory exhibits, and adjunct programming, visitors will learn about potential and kinetic energy and its forms: mechanical, electrical, chemical, thermal, solar. Following its test edition, designed with input from advisors, front-end evaluations, and prototypes, Go Power will become the sixth exhibit to join the Museum's popular national touring program.
The Museum of Science will design and produce an exhibition, "Two of Every Sort", whose aim is to present a scientific basis for the public's understanding of genser, reproduction and human diversity. Using interactive techniques and state-of-the-art media technology, the exhibition will debut at the Museum in Boston, tour science centers in seven other cities and reach an audience of nearly 2.5 million. The eight museums are members of the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative, which has approved "Two of Every Sort" as one of a second round of shared-cost exhibitions scheduled to appear at each of the member institutions. "Two of Every Sort" (4,000 square feet) will present introductory scientific overview, ranging among biology, anthropology, botany and biomedical technology, to make discussion of these difficult and sensitive matters more meaningful. The exhibit will offer an unusual opportunity to millions of people -- families, teachers and youngsters, to consider complex questions in a safe, friendly learning environment.
The Staten Island Children's Museum requests support for an interactive exhibition for children on the topic of water. WATER WATER EVERYWHERE will open in April 1991 and remain on view for three years; a smaller replica of the exhibition will be ready to travel in the Spring of 1992. The first year will allow an initial evaluation period during which both design and content can be improved. The exhibition has dual goals: to provide family audiences, focusing on children, with the materials and context that encourage experimentation and learning, and to educate visitors about an essential and widespread constituent of our world. WATER will present different aspects of this varied subject in six sections: the many forms of water in our world; the properties of water; how living things use water; how water works for us; experiments with water and local water issues. The exhibition will engage children imaginatively, inform, provide opportunities to experiment and learn, and stimulate creativity. Museum public programs and activities will be offered in conjunction with WATER to both extend and enrich the project. WATER will contribute to both children's and inter- generational learning. Its desired outcomes include further development of the Museum's critical thinking skills program, expansion of our renewed Informal Science Education Program, extension of our community service programs and heightening our participation in community issues, such as the environment, through the ecological aspect of the exhibition. By touring the exhibition and producing educational materials based on WATER, the Museum will extend its impact in learning skills, science education and environmental awareness to a scale that is potentially national.
Ohio's Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio, in association with the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, WA. and the Battelle Memorial Institute will create and circulate a 4,000 square foot traveling exhibition, "Mission to Mars." Interactive exhibit units will be organized into a spacecraft mission simulator. Visitors in teams will run a scientific mission to the planet Mars. Exhibits and simulation activities will cover basic and applied science and mathematics topics appropriate for middle to high school students and family audiences. Educational materials for school use will accompany the exhibition. COSI has a strong reputation for interactive science exhibitions. Their widely acclaimed "Science of Sports" exhibition will be seen in more than 15 cities. The Pacific Science Center has a similar reputation for educational exhibitions and related materials development. Their educational materials on dinosaurs have been widely used by other museums. The Battelle Memorial Institute is a world- renowned research and applied science organization. "Mission to Mars" is supported by commitments from thirteen of America's leading science museums and a major award from Apple Computer Company. The project team will deliver a timely exhibition that will be both engaging and challenging, rich with scientific detail while still appealing to family audiences. "Mission to Mars" will travel to 13 cities on a three year tour, reaching an estimated three to five million people. NSF's 43% of the project cost will be leveraged by more than $878,000 in contributions from the originating institutions, from the displaying museums and from Apple.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Charles O'ConnorJoseph WisneMichael Stanley