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The Science of Museums

Tapping the social sciences to make exhibits fathomable and fun

Evaluation of visitor reactions improves museum exhibitions.

 

Further Readings:

Dierking, L.D., and W. Pollock. In press. Questioning Assumptions: An Introduction to Front-end Studies in Museums. Washington, D.C.: Association of Science-Technology Centers.

Hayward, J. 1998. Evaluation and museums: Audience research and evaluation — from ‘curiosity’ to standard practice. Nema News 21(Summer).

Falk, J.H., T. Moussouri, and D. Coulson. 1998. The effects of visitors' agendas on museum learning. Curator 41:106.

Falk, J.H. 1997. Testing a museum exhibition design assumption: Effect of explicit labeling of exhibit clusters on visitor concept development. Science Education 81:679.

Falk, J.H., and L.D. Dierking. 1997. School field trips: Assessing their long-term impact. Curator 40:211.

Sources:

Sue Allen
The Exploratorium
3601 Lyon Street
San Francisco, CA 94123

Sue Blake
Monterey Bay Aquarium
886 Cannery Row
Monterey, CA 93940

Lynn D. Dierking
Institute for Learning Innovation
166 West Street
Annapolis, MD 21401

John H. Falk
Institute for Learning Innovation
166 West Street
Anapolis, MD 21401
E-mail: falk@ilinet.org

Alan J. Friedman
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, NY 11368

Jeff Hayward
People, Places & Design Research
4 Allen Place
Northampton, MA 01061

Patty McNamara
Adler Planetarium and Astronomical Museum
1300 S. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60605

Johanna Miller
National Museum of Natural History
Constitution Avenue & 10th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20560

National Science Foundation
Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Room 885
Arlington, VA 22230

Wendy Pollock
Association of Science-Technology Centers, Inc.
1026 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20005-3516

From Science News, Vol. 154, No. 12, September 19, 1998, p. 184.
Copyright Ó 1998 by Science Service.

Back to Table of Contents - 9/19/98