The University of Pennsylvania Museum has received a grant from the Philadelphia History Exhibitions Initiative (PHEI) to plan an exhibit on human evolution. The exhibit and associated educational programs will be produced and exhibited in Philadelphia and then travel to other venues across the United States. The working title for the exhibition is Being Human: A Design in Process. The University Museum contracted with Minda Borun, Museum Solutions, to conduct and interpret a series of focus groups with significant audience segments to assess their knowledge, preferences, and feelings about
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Minda BorunUniversity of Pennsylvania Museum
This front-end evaluation assisted in design and development of the Wild About Otters special exhibition at the Monterey Bay Auqarium, which opened in 2007. The evaluation included structured interviews, both a short and a long form. This report includes short interview and long interview forms in the appendix.
This evaluation examines visitor engagement at the “Science On a Sphere” (SOS) exhibit at Pacific Science Center, Seattle, WA. Evaluators varied characteristics of the data presentation—such as topic presented, presence of a question prompt, and image rotation—and measured the resulting visitor engagement for each of the different treatments. Furthermore, the evaluation examined visitors’ interest in the SOS exhibit, as well as the extent to which visitors connect the exhibit to surrounding exhibits. This study examines different treatments to the SOS exhibit to determine the presentation
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TEAM MEMBERS:
University of Washington | Pacific Science CenterDylan HighDanielle AcheampongEllie KleinwortTravis Windleharth
As part of a grant from the National Science Foundation, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is conducting regional STEM workshops, entitled NFB STEM2U, for blind youth [youth], grades 3 – 6. During this first regional workshop in Baltimore, the NFB operated three different programs simultaneously: one program for youth, a second program for their parents/caregivers, and a third program for a group of teachers who work with visually impaired students. A fourth program, for Port Discovery museum staff, was conducted earlier to prepare the museum staff to assist with the youth program
Life on Earth is interactive software installed as a museum touchtable exhibit that uses data about over seventy thousand (70,000) species from several databases to help visitors explore and deepen their understanding of biodiversity, evolution and common ancestry, and the history of life on earth (DeepTree/ FloTree). Some installations also include a smaller exhibit that poses puzzle challenges about evolutionary relationships among species (Build-a-Tree (BAT)). The exhibit was installed at four natural history museums across the U.S. – the Harvard Museum of Natural History (Cambridge, MA)
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Harvard UnivesityJim HammermanAmy SpiegelJonathan Christiansen
This survey was used as part of the AZA research agenda process. The Visitor Studies Initiative of the CEC has been gathering information about the evaluation and visitor research work that has been conducted at AZA institutions. The goal is to develop a plan for visitor research at our institutions going forward – to identify areas where we are excelling, as well as topics needing further research attention. The survey was sent to education professionals from 77 AZA institutions, and will be used identify holes in the existing framework and/or future opportunities for research.
This report discusses a front-end evaluation that aimed to determine what physical and perceptual barriers affect visitors’ use of the Henry Art Gallery, and how visitors currently interact with museum spaces and staff. These findings will support guest service training and changes in the museum’s physical infrastructure. This study utilized three main questions for exploring the visitor experience at the museum: 1) Are there barriers affecting visitors’ use of the Henry?; 2) What motivates visitors to use certain spaces at the Henry?; and 3) What experiences are visitors having with Henry
Informal Learning Solutions and its subcontractor, Audience Viewpoints Consulting, conducted summative evaluation in 2013 of the Life Beyond Earth Exhibit. Audience Viewpoints was responsible for evaluating student response to the exhibit, with a target audience of students in 4th through 6th grades. Informal Learning Solutions conducted evaluation of weekend, primarily adult visitors response to the exhibit. The key evaluation questions were designed to find out if student visitors show gains in understanding regarding: • How extreme life on Earth is relevant for the search for life in our
Rockman et al (REA), in partnership with Marti Louw and the University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE), conducted a summative evaluation in Fall 2012-Spring 2013 of a temporary museum exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) in Pittsburgh, PA called, Stories in the Rock. The exhibition highlighted CMNH researchers’ documentation of ancient petroglyph sites in Saudi Arabia using GigaPan technology to capture high-resolution, zoomable images of the rock art. The exhibition centers around an activity called the Explorable Image, a
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University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School EnvironmentsCamellia Sanford-Dolly
Overview of Sustainability Professional Development and Evaluation: As part of the National Science Foundation funded "Sustainability: Promoting Sustainable Decision Making in Informal Education" project, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and its partners developed a professional development website and workshop. The goal of this and other project deliverables was to promote sustainable decision making by building skills that allow participants to weigh their choices and choose more sustainable practices. ExhibitSEED (Exhibit Social Environmental and Economic Development) refers
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Oregon Museum of Science and IndustryRenee B. Curtis
Overview of Clever Together/Juntos somos ingeniosos and Evaluation: As part of the National Science Foundation funded "Sustainability: Promoting Sustainable Decision Making in Informal Education" project, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and its partners developed a bilingual (Spanish/English) exhibition. The goal of this and other project deliverables was to promote sustainable decision making by building skills that allow participants to weigh their choices and choose more sustainable practices. Clever Together/Juntos somos ingeniosos is a permanent, bilingual exhibition at
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Oregon Museum of Science and IndustryRenee B. Curtis
Overview of Sustainability
Events and Evaluation: As part of the National Science Foundation funded Sustainability: Promoting Sustainable Decision Making in Informal Education project, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) project team designed and hosted seven events between September 2011 and July 2014. In line with the overall project goals: Participants will 1) capture the big idea, “We can cultivate a more sustainable community by building skills and making decisions that maximize positive impacts,” 2) practice skills necessary for making more sustainable choices that consider
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Oregon Museum of Science and IndustryRenee B. Curtis