ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
Eric and Chuck,
Great posts. We are finishing a judging process for student proposals for science exhibits, and so many good questions have come up from the judges. One question a judge asked yesterday, 'is an ideal exhibit targeted for certain ages, say ages 4-12?' My reply was some exhibits do appeal to distinct age groups, while others appeal to a wide age range, yet both can be defined as successful.
Something I've found interesting is that many people often associate the exhibits at science centers with this age range of 4-12. For me, I never see it that way, science centers can appeal to a variety of age groups when it comes down to it. Yet, the 'just for kids' and 4-12 age range is the perspective I get from most every conversation I have with an 'adult.'
--Jeff--
________________________________________
From: Informal Science Education Network [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Eric Siegel [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2011 8:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Exhibit evaluation in Dimensions magazine
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
maybe the conversation would be different if we started with the question:
"wouldn't it be great to know how our audiences react to the stuff we do?"
and work backwards from there. What are the best ways to find that out?
what are the best times to find that out? how do we respond to what we
learn?
External evaluators might work best in some settings for some problems, but
they are fundamentally consultants who can advise and then leave you to
your own devices. Internal evaluation staff aligned with the practices and
flavor of the institution is probably a good idea, but a bit out of reach
for most institutions. I like what Pittsburgh Children's Museum has done
(in just about every respect) by connecting deeply with the informal
learning group at U Pitt. In some ways that seems like the best of both
worlds, independent but steeped in the values of the institution.
In any case, I can't imagine any of us saying..."ahhh, I don't care how the
audience responds to our work"...so the only real question is what is the
best way to find that out.
If you want to see an exhibition in which the curators could care less
about the audience, you have a week to see "talk to me" at MOMA. It was
almost funny how wrong they got so much stuff, from aesthetics to tone to
"interaction design." Definitely going to write this up for exhibit files
when I get a chance. Sharpening my virtual pencil....
eric
On Thu, Nov 3, 2011 at 7:50 PM, Chuck Howarth <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
> *****************************************************************************
>
> One reason evaluation in museums is so challenging is the diversity of our
> audiences. Most science center mission statements that I have seen include
> language such as "serving the broadest possible audience...". I can't
> think off hand of any other industry that makes that claim. Most are
> focused on a particular age or demographic. Take for example Barbara
> Flagg's comments about formative evaluation for Sesame Street. The
> audience for that show is sharply defined and very narrow, making it much
> easier to state and measure learning outcomes.
>
> Attendance at science centers, by contrast, is extremely varied —a fifth
> grade class studying the laws of motion, a group of parents with toddlers,
> adults who are interested in art, science, whatever... professional
> scientists and engineers, and so on and so on. All of them use the same
> set of exhibits, but they have widely varying agendas. What learning
> outcomes could we propose that capture that enormous range? The answer is
> that we can't, unless we segment the audience: one set of objectives for
> the fifth graders, another for the toddlers, still others for adults.
> Seems to me that there is no way to measure impact on an average visitor
> because there ARE no average visitors. The best we can do is measure
> impacts on subsets of visitors.
>
> Or put another way, imagine an exhibit that powerfully effects 10% of the
> audience in measurable ways, but is of little interest to the other 90%.
> Is that exhibit successful? Or unsuccessful? Do all exhibits need to
> work for a majority, or is it o.k. to have some that are targeted? And
> what are the implications for evaluation?
>
>
> Chuck Howarth, Vice President
> ____________________________________
>
> G Y R O S C O P E I N C
> 283 Fourth Street, Suite 201
> Oakland, CA 94607
>
> tele: 510.986.0111
> web: www.gyroscopeinc.com
> blog: http://museums-now.blogspot.com
> ____________________________________
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ***********************************************************************
> 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]
|
