In 2006, the U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG) decided to conduct an institution-wide study of their visitors—why they come to the Botanic Garden, how they utilize the space, their level of satisfaction with the experience, and overall effectiveness of the USBG’s exhibitions and interpretation—in order to provide input to a strategic planning process that will align its living collections with its educational mission. To date, the only existing data characterizing USBG visitors was gathered in the early 1990s. Since then, the USBG has undergone a major transformation, including complete renovation of
Bio Med Tech: Engineering for Your Health was a 2,750 square foot exhibition at the Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) that dealt with issues related to biomedical technology. Partially funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Awards program (NIH/SEPA), the project was developed through a partnership between GLSC and Case Western Reserve University. The SEPA grant also funded a variety of programming activities, including informal Exploration Cart activities in the exhibition, presentations in the exhibition's theater space, and teacher training
The goal of the study was to inform an interpretive and master planning process at Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site by documenting visitor motivations, interests, experience, and learning outcomes of four key audiences identified by Eastern State: walk-in visitors (adult only), walk-in visitors (groups with children), prearranged adult tour groups, and school groups. Specifically, the report focuses on the following evaluative questions: 1) Who are the visitors to Eastern State and why do they come? (e.g., entry conditions such as demographics, motivations for their visit, expectations
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jill SteinEastern State Penitentiary Historic SiteJes A. Koepfler
This evaluation study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of two design strategies used in Beyond the X-Ray: personal stories which were a part of the Five Windows on the Body and a separate kid area which was implemented in Kid Radiology. Evaluation Questions: 1. How do visitors interact with and use the exhibits in Beyond the X-Ray that were created with the instructional design strategies that are the focus of this evaluation? 2. In what ways, if any, are the exhibits that are designed with the targeted strategies effective at achieving their stated goals? 3. What are the visitors'
This summative evaluation report aims to examine the impact of Travels in the Great Tree of Life, a temporary exhibition at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. The 1000-square-foot exhibition seeks to convey concepts of phylogenetic relationships based on recency of common ancestry. In addition, its goal is for visitors to come away with an understanding of the vast scope and complexity of the Tree of Life (herein referred to as ToL) and some practical applications of ToL research. Data collection employed a mixed methods approach. Structured exit interviews were conducted with 102
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ellen GiustiYale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Liberty Science Center (LSC) received National Science Foundation (NSF) funding to develop, install and evaluate a 12,800-square foot, two-story permanent exhibition about skyscrapers. Skyscraper! is meant to showcase the architectural design and engineering, physics, and urban-related environmental science of skyscrapers. The Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI), a Maryland-based research and evaluation organization that focuses on lifelong learning in informal or free-choice settings, was contracted to conduct the summative exhibition evaluation. The purpose of the summative evaluation
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kerry BronnenkantLiberty Science CenterClaudia Figueiredo
Sugar from the Sun was managed by the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance (GPCA) and funded, in part, by the National Science Foundation. For this project, a 6,400 square foot living exhibition was built at Garfield Park Conservatory. This exhibition, comprised of five sections, depicted plants' production of sugar from water, air, and sunlight. The exhibition also featured a printed Exhibit Guide and hands-on activities. This study used a naturalistic inquiry methodology. The research question for this study was, As visitors engage with the immersive environments and interpretive messages in
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Eric GyllenhaalGarfield Park Conservatory Alliance