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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Hi Barbara,
With respect, even if someone might have different approaches toward creative development or evaluation than your experiences with Sesame Street, why characterize them as having "an unclear understanding of" or "misperceptions" about their work and choices regarding evaluation?
----------------------------------------------------------
Paul Orselli, President and Chief Instigator
Paul Orselli Workshop (POW!)
World Headquarters
1684 Victoria Street
Baldwin, NY 11510
(516) 223-1043
POW! website
<http://www.orselli.net>
Exhibit tips + tricks at the ExhibiTricks blog:
<http://blog.orselli.net>
On Oct 31, 2011, at 1:43 PM, Barbara Flagg wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> I have been reading the evaluation discussion with great interest, and I have to say that I am concerned that the developers responding in this thread appear to have had poor experiences with evaluators/evaluation or maybe an unclear understanding of how evaluation techniques can actually serve their work, their profession and their museum, whatever its size. My introduction to evaluation in the service of informal education was in the very early years of Sesame Street. This show is going into its 43rd year, and there are three major reasons for its longevity - the creativity of its producers/writers; the creativity of its evaluators and both groups' continued willingness to collaborate to make an educational - and yes extremely fun - tv series (and ancillary products) by not assuming that they can "walk out on the exhibit floor and immediately tell if they are doing this ...thing right," as Jeff phrases it. One would think after four decades, the Workshop understands how to do their thing right, but Sesame Street's ongoing formative evaluation continues to be a tool to permit the preschool audience themselves to coach and shape creative instincts and intuitions as to what will make the series educational and retain its competitive edge in the unforgiving media market. And the Sesame Street series has elicited more summative evaluations (and dissertations, mine included) than any other product in history, establishing a functional knowledge base that has provided a foundation for the successful creative development of others kids' tv series like Blues Clues and Cyberchase. Perhaps those of you reading this list who are frustrated with evaluation as you have experienced it might want to pursue a conversation of how evaluation (and evaluation professionals) can work to SUPPORT your creativity rather than squash it, as you may perceive the case to be currently.
>
>
> Barbara Flagg
> Director, Multimedia Research
>
>
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