ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
Length of time spent at an exhibit is a very rough guide to the "depth of the engagement" which is what you really want to know. Google "Chantal Barriault" who has developed a nice behavioural rubric you can use to figure out how people are using your stuff.
David Savory
Science World Vancouver
________________________________________
From: Informal Science Education Network [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Elliker, John [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: December 6, 2010 9:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Exhibition Visitor Observation
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
Leah -
One thought about measuring observation: create your own standard and then segment the findings - for example, if you can read (moderately slowly) an entire label in 30 seconds, measuring those who give it a cursory glance and move on(less than 20 secs), read but don't think about it (20-40 secs) and read + think (over 40 secs) may give you a better result for determining if the label is effective in capturing attention.
John Elliker
Special Projects/Battleship Wisconsin Project Mgr
Nauticus, Norfolk, VA 23510
757-664-1033
-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Leah Fox
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 11:26 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Exhibition Visitor Observation
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
We are completing our first-ever extensive visitor observation for a
special exhibition that pilots many new interpretive tools including
video kiosks, illustrated tabbed booklets, flip labels, audio tours, and
touchable examples. One of the ways we are capturing how people are
using each exhibit is through observing security camera footage and
recording the amount of time visitors spend looking at the art,
conversing with each other, reading labels, audio tours, and interacting
with special interpretation.
We are all very excited to learn as much as we can from the data and
I've been analyzing it in a number of different ways. A couple of
questions for those who have done this type of evaluation:
1. Are there any benchmarks out there for the amount of time people
typically spend engaging with works of art and special interpretation?
2. When calculating the raw data of the amount of time people spend,
say, reading a label, do you measure the mean average, median, or mode?
For example, one analysis I found for an exhibit was: 53.3% read the
wall label and spent an average of 31 seconds doing so. I got to 31
seconds because most people spent between :11 and :29 seconds, but one
person spend 1:30 which raised the mean average. Thoughts?
Thank you!
Leah
Leah Fox, Director of Public Programs
Currier Museum of Art
150 Ash Street
Manchester, NH 03104
603.669.6144 x119
Visit our Online Curriculum for Educators at
http://curriculum.currier.org.
***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.
The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.
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]
***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.
The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.
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]
***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.
The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.
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]
|
