Summative Evaluation: Executive Summaries, Discussion, and Recommendations for Life Tech Gallery, Innovation Gallery, Exploration Gallery, Communication Gallery

In May 1999, Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), began a comprehensive summative evaluation of the four permanent galleries and the overall visitor experience of The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California. For this first phase of evaluation, there were four reports - one for each gallery. This document presents the discussion, recommendations, and executive summaries from Phase I.

Data for this phase were collected in July and August 1999. The evaluation was undertaken to document the scope of the galleries' impact and effectiveness as well as to identify elements in existing components that may need to be adjusted to improve their effectiveness. The specific objectives for Phase I of the summative evaluation were to determine:

• how much time visitors spend in each gallery
• how much time visitors spend at individual components
• the components at which visitors stop
• the environmental features visitors notice
• the frequency of visitors' waiting to use interactive components
• the frequency of visitors' encountering broken exhibits
• visitors' opinions of each gallery
• visitors' cognitive experiences in each gallery