In this article, Beverly Serrell, Principal of Serrell & Associates, discusses the Excellent Judges Framework and how it is different from other methods of reviewing exhibitions. Specifically, Serrell compares the Framework to summative evaluations, exhibition critiques, reviews, The AAM Standards for Museum Exhibitions and Indicators of Excellence, and critical appraisal.
In this article, James Volkert, an independent museum consultant and former associate director of the National Museum of the American Indian, uses the return of the "King Tut" exhibit as an opportunity to review the state of exhibitions and the supporting literature. Specifically, Volkert examines three categories: exhibition design as fine art, exhibition design in the service of others and exhibition design as metaphoric expression.
A three-pronged summative evaluation of the San Francisco Zoo's new African Savanna exhibit shows it to be very well received by visitors and successful at meeting key affective and cognitive goals. Visitors to this exhibit, especially those who attend a giraffe feeding, enthusiastically demonstrate admiration and wonder towards wildlife, emotional connections to the animals, and excitement at close and unusual viewing opportunities. Visitors care deeply about the quality of life for these animals and readily state that they feel the animals have a good home in this exhibit. Respondents are
This report presents the findings of a summative evaluation of The Search for Life conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), for The New York Hall of Science (NY Hall) in Queens, New York. The Search for Life was developed by NY Hall staff and funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA and NASA Astrobiology Institute, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs with funds from the Office of the Mayor, Institute for Library Services, Anonymous and Wyeth. Data collection took place in October 2005.
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.New York Hall of Science
In June 2002,the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Visitor Center (CLO-VC) opened in the new Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity. The CLO-VC is located in theSapsucker Woods Sanctuary of Ithaca,New York. Surrounded by trails for bird watchers of all levels,the CLO-VC contains exhibits designed to enhance knowledge of birds and bird biology,and encourage participation in its Citizen Science Program. Sapsucker Woods Pond and the Treman Bird Feeding Garden are visible through walls of windows in the Morgens Observatory part of the Visitor Center.The building,pond, garden,and trails
The National Research Council, through its Board on Science Education, will carry out a synthesis study of informal science learning based on a workshop funded by a prior NSF planning grant. The intellectual merit of this project is based on the formation of a committee of experts representative of the diversity of the field who will engage in a fact-finding process on learning science in informal settings, deliberate about the evidence and produce a major report that will be published by the National Academies Press. The study will describe the status of knowledge in the field currently, articulate a common framework for the next generation of research on informal science learning and provide guidance to the community of practice. By presenting what we know about the characteristics of effective informal science learning environments across a range of outcome measures, the study will achieve broader impacts by assisting practitioners, policymakers and researchers in directing their efforts towards realizing the potential of informal science education for advancing public science literacy.
Flip It, Fold It, Figure It Out! is a 1500-sq. foot traveling mathematics exhibition with companion take-home educational materials. There are two copies of the traveling exhibit: one for the members of the North Carolina Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative reaching over 500,000 visitors, and a second for travel nationally to science centers reaching an estimated 750,000 additional visitors. Take-home activity kits were developed for visitors to continue informal mathematics explorations at home. The activities included expand and extend the exhibit themes, offering multiple levels to meet the needs of K-5 students and their families.
Explore Evolution is a three-year project that uses a combination of traveling exhibits and activity kits to introduce the concept of evolution to museum audiences and 4-H groups. Six museum partners will collaborate on the development of eleven interactive exhibit modules on the following topics: disease in humans, eye development in animals, fruit fly diversity, sexual selection, hominoid development and extinction. The museum consortium includes the Kansas Museum and Biodiversity Center, Museum of the Rockies (MT), Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Science Museum of Minnesota, University of Nebraska State Museum and the Exhibits Museum of the University of Michigan. The inquiry-based activity kits will be modeled after the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's "Wonderwise" kits, funded in part by NSF, and designed for middle school audiences. An "Explore Evolution" website will be launched to support the exhibits and activity kits. Dissemination will occur through museum education programs as well as a consortium of 4-H programs in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Michigan, Nebraska and Wyoming. It is anticipated that more than 1.8 million museum visitors and 800,000 4-H members will participate in this project.
The goal of this planning grant is to establish an innovative collaborative of arts and science institutions to enhance informal science learning in Boston. The project will create a partnership between Northeastern University, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Wang Center for the Performing Arts to enhance the delivery of informal science programming for families with children ages 5-12 using interactive programs and exhibits. The planning project will develop and prototype programs across science themes that relate to each partner's mission, while highlighting science concenpts and topics. Deliverables include a front-end evaluation, pilot programs and then preliminary design of web modules. A national advisory comittee will convene to assist with the planning process while careful study of each site will be undertaken to determine how to maximize learning opportunities for participants in the diverse learning venues.
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Arun BansilNicholas GrossMarta Hersek
The Coalition for Watershed Education, consisting of the Land Access Information Association, Great Lakes Children's Museum, Interlochen Public Radio and Northwestern Michigan College Great Lakes Studies Institute will implement a comprehensive science education project for youth and adults. The major components include: Watershed Discovery field experiences, Soundscapes radio broadcasts, Waterscapes exhibits, a project website, and the expanded Great Lakes Coalition for Watershed Education. Watershed Discovery is a field-based experience for youth ages 11-17. Teams of 6-10 youth will work with mentors who specialize in GPS, GIS, geology and geography to research and collect data on the Great Lakes watershed. These students will also use their new knowledge to produce radio segments as part of the Soundscapes component. Youth teams will be trained to interview sources, gather information and write scripts for use on the local National Public Radio affiliate. The Great Lakes Children's Museum will design a permanent, interactive watershed of 1,500 square feet, as well as a traveling exhibit of 500 square feet for visitors ages 7-12. Other deliverables include "A Community Guide to Watershed-based Science Education" (available in print and CD-ROM), a one-day regional dissemination conference, and an interactive website. Strategic impact will be realized through the development of a novel model for watershed education, its subsequent replication and summative evaluation outcomes. It is estimated that over 40,000 children will be reached by this community-wide initiative.
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Joe VanderMeulen
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will partner with The Exploratorium and with three smaller science museums that have strong connections to rural and Spanish-speaking populations in Texas: Discovery Science Place, Loredo Children's Museum, and Science Spectrum to develop TexNET, a four-year project modeled on the Exploratorium Network for Exhibit-based Teaching (ExNET). TexNET builds on lessons learned from past exhibit outreach models and addresses the needs of small, rural partners for exhibits and capacity-building workshops. Each small museum partner will host a set of ten exhibits for one year. Exhibit topics are 1) motion, 2) weather and 3) sound. Workshops focus on inquiry learning techniques, science content, programming and workshop design, as well as the institutional needs of each partner. Based on feedback from formative evaluation, the project added three additional partners in its final year, the Children's Museum of Houston, the Austin Children's Museum, and the Don Herrington Discovery Center, and focused its remaining year on building institutional capacity around tinkering. Inverness Research Associates will conduct the project evaluation. They will examine the success of this project by looking at the effectiveness of the TexNET model, the success of the individual exhibit elements to engage rural communities, the effectiveness with which this project has enhanced the abilities of local rural communities to sustain their own educational improvements and the effectiveness of the training components in increasing the capabilities of the local museums to serve their rural audiences.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Charlie WalterSamuel DeanJoe HastingsRobert Lindsey
TEAMS, an exhibit collaborative of seven small science museums, will collaborate with academic researchers to expand knowledge about learning in informal science environments and will apply that knowledge to the creation of eight (two copies of four topics) traveling science exhibitions suitable for small museums and science centers. The research investigations build on recent findings about the nature of socio-cultural learning in museums. This close working collaboration among researchers, museum evaluators and museum exhibition designers provides an innovative opportunity to examine a model for rapid transfer of research knowledge into museum practice. Through this collaborative effort the project builds capacity within the seven small museums, helping address the larger problem of under-served audiences in rural areas. One component of the research supports design guidelines to increase effectiveness for girls visiting STEM exhibitions.
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David GoudyCharles TrautmannSarah WolfMark SinclairCatherine McCarthy