Exploration Place, with funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), contracted RK&A to conduct a summative evaluation of Design Build Fly, an exhibition and program series that explores what happens behind-the-scenes in Wichita’s aircraft plants. The goals of the study were to identify how visitors use the exhibition, explore what meaning visitors make from Design Build Fly, and understand to what extent visitors’ meaning-making aligns with intended outcomes.
How did we approach this study? RK&A conducted timing and tracking observations of visitors to the
The Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) aims to help member institutions inform and educate the public about science through a global lens. The World Biotech Tour (WBT) was a three-year initiative designed to not only promote a greater understanding of biotechnology through public outreach and programming led by science centers and museums, but also as an opportunity for ASTC to collect useful data on the resources required and challenges encountered at different science museums around the world when implementing a long-term, multi-country program. The WBT involved students
This report presents the findings from the summative evaluation of the Multi-Site Public Engagement with Science project (MSPES), funded by an NSF AISL award. MSPES aimed to bring together public audiences and professional scientists through “Building with Biology” programming - public events and forums centered on the topic of synthetic biology. The goal was to promote meaningful, two-way dialogs around this area of science, which is rapidly advancing and raising interesting social and ethical questions. The project team sought to move beyond a traditional "public understanding of science"
In March of 2016, the Exploratorium transmitted a live webcast of a total solar eclipse from Woleai, a remote island in the southwestern Pacific. The webcast reached over 1 million viewers. Evaluation reveals effective use of digital media to engage learners in solar science and related STEM content.
Edu, Inc. conducted an external evaluation study that shows clear and consistent evidence of broad distribution of STEM content through multiple online channels, social media, pre-produced videos, and an app for mobile devices. IBM Watson did a deep analysis of tweets on eclipse topics that
As part of the Exploratorium’s Indoor Positioning System (IPS) project, we prototyped a crowd-sourced, location-tagged audio app, called Exploratorium Voices, or Open Conversation, that visitors could use on smartphones to listen to short comments from staff, experts and other visitors and to leave their own comments for others to hear. This app was developed with Roundware, an open-source framework that collects, stores, and delivers audio content, integrated with a Wi-Fi IPS that provided location data used to tag audio recordings and determine where a visitor was to play recordings left
In the summer of 2003, a survey was carried out at the At-Bristol Science Centre (UK) to determine the effectiveness of the hands-on activities of "Explore". The section evaluated included 43 interactive experiences divided into two themes. The first, "Get Connected", consisted of examples of the latest digital technologies, such as a television studio, virtual volleyball, and radars. The second, "Curiosity Zone", was dedicated to natural phenomena and subdivided into three additional groups: "Natural Forces" which presented various forces of nature, "Focus on Light", which dealt with the
In the Communities of Learning for Urban Environments and Science (CLUES) project, the four museums of the Philadelphia-Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative worked to build informal science education (ISE) capacity in historically underserved communities. The program offered comprehensive professional development (PD) to Apprentices from 8-10 community-based organizations (CBO), enabling them to develop and deliver hands-on family science workshops. Apprentices, in turn, trained Presenters from the CBOs to assist in delivering the workshops. Families attended CLUES events both at
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded funding to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and Portland State University (PSU) in Portland, Oregon to support a “Connecting Researchers and Public Audiences” (CRPA) project titled ResearchLink: Spotlight on Solar Technologies. The primary goals of CRPA projects are to communicate to the public about specific NSF research projects. This ResearchLink project promoted public awareness of two NSF-funded projects led by Dr. Carl Wamser at PSU, Integrating Green Roofs and Photovoltaic Arrays for Energy Management and Optimization of
To better understand how audiences in public spaces, in this case those in a museum setting, relate to and make sense of the phrases “Big Data” and “Data Visualizations”, this study investigated visitors understanding of these terms. This formative study used intercepts; approaching adult visitors and inviting them to participate in a very brief interview. If the person agreed, they were asked additional questions. The first question asked about awareness of the phrase, “Big Data” or for a very small comparison group, “Data Visualization.” Visitors were then asked “How would you explain “Big
This report summarizes findings from an evaluation of the NSF-funded project: Two Eyes, 3D. Through collaborations with two museums, the project sought to develop and test learning outcomes for stereoscopic (3D) resources. More specifically, the external evaluation—conducted by Rockman Et Al—sought to determine the perceived value of using stereoscopic technology within museums and planetariums, uncover best practices for implementation of stereoscopic resources, and further explore best practices for research partnerships within museum settings.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
American Association of Variable Star ObservrsJennifer Borland
The summative evaluation of the Farming for Fuels classroom program and family event was conducted over two years. Two interim reports were delivered with preliminary results about specific areas of focus. This final report described the overall evaluation study methods and results, and made recommendations for potential revisions and improvements to the program. The evaluator worked with the program team at the Creative Discovery Museum to generate a list of questions to guide the evaluation study. The questions covered each of the major audiences for the program: museum educators, teachers
One objective of the Center for High-rate Manufacturing is to increase knowledge of and interest in nanotechology among secondary and postsecondary students, educators, and the general public. The Center partners with the Museum of Science, Boston, to help carry out these goals. The Museum's CHN sub-award PI and her team provides training to graduate students to help them learn how to engage in education and outreach activities with these groups. To better understand graduate student education and outreach activities, and student participation in the Museum of Science outreach activities and
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UMass Donahue Institute Research and Evaluation GroupCarol Lynn AlpertCarol Barry