Sense-making with data through the process of visualization—recognizing and constructing meaning with these data—has been of interest to learning researchers for many years. Results of a variety of data visualization projects in museums and science centers suggest that visitors have a rudimentary understanding of and ability to interpret the data that appear in even simple data visualizations. This project supports the need for data visualization experiences to be appealing, accommodate short and long-term exploration, and address a range of visitors’ prior knowledge. Front-end evaluation
This study was a longitudinal summative evaluation of repeat visitors’ experiences in four Math Moves! exhibitions that were developed as part of a large collaborative exhibition development project called Math Core for Museums, and mounted at four museums around the country: Museum of Science (Boston); Museum of Life & Science (Durham, NC); Explora (Albuquerque); and Science Museum of Minnesota (St. Paul). The summative evaluation purposively selected four family groups at each institution and collected naturalistic data as the 16 groups engaged with the exhibits from 4-6 times over a two
Prototype exhibits of "The Universe by the Powers of Ten" illustrated in three dimensions an exponential journey away from earth. The goal of the summative evaluation, implemented by Multimedia Research, was to assess the educational impact of the exhibits and accompanying interpretive techniques, for both non-school adult and teen samples and 6th grade school samples in the Maryland Science Center and the Montshire Museum of Science. Two interpretive conditions were compared - a printed handout and an explainer presentation. Further, the Montshire non-school sample experienced a third
Design Zone’s primary objective is to engage visitors in algebraic thinking, with a special focus on reaching a target audience of 10- to 14-year-olds and their families. The exhibition is organized into three thematic areas: art, music, and engineering. Exhibits in each area are based on real-world design challenges in which math and algebra are used. Garibay Group was contracted to conduct the summative evaluation of Design Zone. Using a mixed methods approach, data were collected at three museums hosting the Design Zone exhibition.
This report presents a project overview and findings from a formative evaluation of the Ready, Set, School prototype exhibit space at Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh, NC. This study was conducted by museum staff in consultation with Randi Korn & Associates in May 2013.
This report describes a summative evaluation of Secrets of Circles, a 2,600 square foot exhibition created by Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose and funded by the National Science Foundation. The exhibition and related programs were designed to highlight the uses of circles and wheels in everyday life. Circles have properties that make them extremely effective as an engineering tool, and they are ubiquitous in cultures around the world. The appendix of this report inclues interview and observation protocols and questionnaires used in this study.
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Sue AllenChildren's Discovery Museum of San Jose
The summative evaluation of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Geometry Playground traveling exhibition was a two-year naturalistic study to examine (a) the ways and extent to which the exhibition promoted the practice of spatial reasoning skills, and appreciation for geometry, and (b) its influence on museum professionals' thinking across three venues: the Exploratorium (San Francisco, CA), the Science Museum of Minnesota (St. Paul, MN), and the Don Harrington Discovery Center (Amarillo, TX). The study took place from December 2009 through November 2011 and included five site visits
Museums are places where visitors of all abilities and disabilities are invited to learn. This diversity offers a unique challenge how can museums ensure that everyone can benefit from the learning experience? Universal design, which is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design (Center for Universal Design, 2002), puts forward a potential solution. This paper offers an overview of universal design, including its practice in the museum, formal education, and digital media fields, and
Chicago Children's Museum (CCM) contracted with Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to evaluate Skyline a National Science Foundation-funded exhibition designed to facilitate family learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) concepts relevant to building stable structures. RK&A conducted all three phases of evaluation for Skyline front-end, formative, and summative; select findings from the summative evaluation are presented here. Skyline's target audience is families with children between the ages of 5 and 10 years of age. RK&A conducted 100 observations of children in the
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Chicago Children's Museum
This report presents findings from a summative evaluation of Go Figure! conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) for the Minnesota Children's Museum (MCM). Go Figure! is a traveling exhibition that is visiting both libraries and children's museums across the country. The exhibition was developed by the Minnesota Children's Museum in collaboration with the American Library Association through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and is intended to engage children two through seven years and their parents in exploring math through hands-on, book-based math
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Minnesota Children's Museum
This report presents the findings from a front-end evaluation of 1, 2, 3 Ready? Set. Go!, conducted by Randi Korn & Associates (RK&A) for the Minnesota Children's Museum. 1, 2, 3 Ready? Set. Go! is a traveling exhibition that will visit both libraries and children's museums across the country. The exhibition is being developed by the Minnesota Children's Museum in collaboration with the American Library Association to engage children 2 through 7 years and their parents in exploring math through hands-on, book-based math activities.
This report documents a study conducted at the Exploratorium to characterize how visitors depict the concept of small. The study looks at visitors’ drawings in order to inform the design of diagrams, animations and other visualizations that help the public visualize and learn about the nanoscale in informal learning environments.