This report presents the findings of the summative evaluation of the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Big Back Yard (BBY), with a specific focus on Earthscapes Miniature Golf. Mary McEathron, Amy Grack, and Stacey Grimes, graduate students in the Evaluation Studies program at the University of Minnesota, carried out the evaluation during the summer of 2004. The purposes of the evaluation were to understand visitors’ experiences in the Big Back Yard and the quality of awareness or understanding acquired as a result of that experience. The evaluation was conducted to answer the following evaluation
This study is the first phase of a two-part summative evaluation of a National Science Foundation-funded research/development project to investigate the development of exhibits that elicit active prolonged engagement (APE) among casual museum visitors. Naturalistic methodology was used to frame the research. Methods included unobtrusive observations, depth interviews, and tracking-and-timing. Forty-six unobtrusive observations and 35 related depth interviews were conducted on site at the Exploratorium from August 5 through 10, 2003. After all observations/interviews had been completed
Going APE! is a National Science Foundation-funded research/development project to investigate how to develop Exploratorium exhibits that elicit active prolonged engagement (APE) among casual museum visitors. As part of this research/development process, Selinda Research Associates, Inc. (SRA) conducted a summative evaluation to assess how and to what extent the exhibit units developed by the Exploratorium team were in fact APE exhibits. This report is the second of two distinct phases of the summative evaluation study. The first phase of the summative evaluation compared visitor engagement at