ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Eric, here are a few bits of info from COSI Columbus that may help*
I've not been involved in surveying or interviewing young children for COSI in general, but have done a bit in relation to some COSI programs.
For example, we give our Girl Scout campers (ages 7 to 14) a chance to comment on their Camp-In experience, and include some questions about food and favorite experiences. The COSI Camp-In program is huge, so this yields several hundred responses each season. The food questions are closed ended, and they don't have much choice of what to eat. (I can tell you that pizza wins out over hot dogs, and they don't like milk with pizza.) The "what was your favorite" question is completely opened ended and usually yields a mix of permanent exhibit experiences and program-specific activities. Let me know if you're interested in more detail*
As far as decision-making goes, last year we asked this question on our summer camp feedback form - who made the decision for the child to attend Camp COSI. The question was closed-ended and the largest response was "adult w/child's input" at 71%. This was followed by "adult" only at 22%. Only a few said it was the child's decision with adult input, and, as expected, no one said it was the sole decision of the child. I don't know if you can extrapolate this to general museum visits, but it gave us some insight into the need to market this program strongly to the parents.
I won't be in San Jose because I just attended the Visitor Studies Conference. But, VSA is a wealth of information on these topics! In fact, a few years ago I took a VSA workshop on how to question young children. The facilitator was Lorrie Beaumont from Selinda Research, and she might chat with you if you wanted to begin such a study.
Rita Deedrick
Senior Director for Program Evaluation
COSI Columbus
COSI will be closed September 7 - October 1, 2004.
We will reopen on Saturday, October 2, at 10:00 am.
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>>> [log in to unmask] 9/15/2004 6:00:51 PM >>>
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
Hello All:
Has anyone surveyed young visitors (like ages 5-12) about general
experiential aspects of their museum visit? What they liked best, if
they liked the food, anything that made them particularly happy or
unhappy, comfortable or uncomfortable?
On a related note, is there any research about the decision making in
families related to museum going? Who are the principal decision
makers? What is the impact of kids in family decision making? If it
appears that kids are influential (as they are, anecdotally, in my
family), then what does that imply for the marketing program?
Finally, is anyone using those kind of automated visitor response kiosks
to get feedback about the quality of the visitor experience?
See you in San Jose!
Eric Siegel
Director of Planning
& Program Development
Connections Project Director
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Queens, NY 11368
[log in to unmask]
www.nyscience.org
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Informal Science Education Network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Wendy Pollock
> Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 1:09 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: ASTC Connect fall offerings
>
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of
> Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network
> of science museums and related institutions.
> **************************************************************
> ***************
>
> New online workshops are available through ASTC Connect
> starting in late September. Check www.astc.org/connect for
> details. Among the offerings:
>
> Making Sense of Visitor Comments: How to Code Open-Ended
> Data, with Elisa Israel of the St. Louis Science Center
>
> Understanding Visitors' Ideas: Cosmic Conversations, with
> Mary Dussault of the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical
> Observatory (formerly Museum of Science, Boston)
>
> Creating Exhibition Case Studies, with Kathy McLean, author
> of Planning for People in Museum Exhibitions and editor of a
> new book about best practices in exhibition development
>
> Critiquing Your Web Site, with Andrea Bandelli, museum
> consultant based in Amsterdam
>
> During the ASTC Conference in San Jose, you'll be able to
> meet these moderators--come by the ASTC Resource Center in
> the Exhibit Hall to check our schedule. We'll also be
> offering repeat sessions of the following
> workshops:
>
> Designing Accessible Print Materials, with Sally
> Middlebrooks, formerly director of the ASTC Accessible Museum
> Practices project
>
> Mission-Based Fundraising, with Ann Mintz, now director of
> the Chester County Historical Society and long-time science
> center colleague
>
> Visit the ASTC web site to find out more.
> ___________________________ Wendy Pollock Director Research,
> Publications, and Exhibitions Association of
> Science-Technology Centers 1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 500
> Washington, DC 20005 202/783-7200 x 114 202/783-7207 (fax)
> [log in to unmask] www.astc.org
>
> **************************************************************
> *********
> More information about the Informal Science Education Network
> and the Association of Science-Technology Centers may be
> found at http://www.astc.org. To remove your e-mail address
> from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the message SIGNOFF
> ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to [log in to unmask]
>
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More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
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To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
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More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
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To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
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