DESCRIPTION
Summative evaluation report for the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition examining the exhibition's reach and impact on the public.
Evaluation questions included:
1) Who accessed the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition?
- How many people were reached annually?
- How was this distributed among the exhibition’s target audiences?
2) How did the public engage with the exhibition?
- How interesting and engaging was Sun, Earth, Universe?
- Did visitors feel that they learned something new at the exhibition? How did it increase their understanding of the four NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) content areas (astrophysics, planetary science, heliophysics, and Earth science)?
- How relevant was the exhibition to visitors’ everyday lives?
- How did the exhibition support visitors’ science and engineering identities?
Major Findings
- The Sun, Earth, Universe exhibitions will reach an estimated 7 million people per year from general and underserved audiences.
- Families enjoyed and were interested in the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition, engaging for longer than may be expected for a small footprint exhibition.
- Most adults felt their groups learned something new at the exhibition and reported statistically significant higher ratings of confidence when asked to share or describe each of the different NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) content areas after visiting the exhibition.
- Earth and space topics were more relevant for families after trying the activities.
- Families reported being able to engage in activities at the exhibition that may support positive science and engineering identities.
Report authors
Zdanna King, Hever Velázquez, and Sarah Robertson from the Science Museum of Minnesota
DESCRIPTION
Summative evaluation report for the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition examining the exhibition's reach and impact on the public.
Evaluation questions included:
1) Who accessed the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition?
- How many people were reached annually?
- How was this distributed among the exhibition’s target audiences?
2) How did the public engage with the exhibition?
- How interesting and engaging was Sun, Earth, Universe?
- Did visitors feel that they learned something new at the exhibition? How did it increase their understanding of the four NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) content areas (astrophysics, planetary science, heliophysics, and Earth science)?
- How relevant was the exhibition to visitors’ everyday lives?
- How did the exhibition support visitors’ science and engineering identities?
Major Findings
- The Sun, Earth, Universe exhibitions will reach an estimated 7 million people per year from general and underserved audiences.
- Families enjoyed and were interested in the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition, engaging for longer than may be expected for a small footprint exhibition.
- Most adults felt their groups learned something new at the exhibition and reported statistically significant higher ratings of confidence when asked to share or describe each of the different NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) content areas after visiting the exhibition.
- Earth and space topics were more relevant for families after trying the activities.
- Families reported being able to engage in activities at the exhibition that may support positive science and engineering identities.
Report authors
Zdanna King, Hever Velázquez, and Sarah Robertson from the Science Museum of Minnesota
Credits
Science Museum of Minnesota
Developed for the NISE Network with funding from the National Science Foundation under Award Numbers 0532536 and 0940143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this product are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US).
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NISE Network products are developed through an iterative collaborative process that includes scientific review, peer review, and visitor evaluation in accordance with an inclusive audiences approach. Products are designed to be easily edited and adapted for different audiences under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. To learn more, visit our Development Process page.