Opportunities to Make Science Museum
Visits More Meaningful:
Results from a Real Time Earthquake Exhibition
Summative Evaluation
Meagan Smith
Masters of Museum Studies, University of Toronto
2005 Candidate
Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
The IRIS/USGS Earthquake Display
1) 51-inch plasma monitor that displays the
locations of earthquakes
2) Computer monitor that lists the times,
magnitudes, and geographic locations of the
displayed earthquakes
3) Mechanical triple drum – records four days of
continuous ground motion at three remote
locations
4) Associated text and visuals (varies by museum)
Evaluation Methodology
Museums
1) Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH)
Plate Tectonics Gallery (PTG)
2) American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)
Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth (HoPE)
Method
Phase 1 – Gallery & IRIS/USGS Display
 Tracking & timing (n=100)
 Sweeps (n=100)
 Open-ended exit interviews (n=34) (PTG only)
Phase 2 – IRIS/USGS Display
 Focused observations (n=100)
 Open-ended post experience interviews (n=50)
Gallery Space
NMNH Plate Tectonics Gallery
AMNH Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth
 46 elements
 32 elements
IRIS/
USGS
display
Display Layout
NMNH Plate Tectonics Gallery
AMNH Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth
Quantitative Evaluation Results
Attracting Power – Tracking and Timing
NMNH - 38% of visitors stopped (1 of 46 elements)
AMNH - 41% of visitors stopped (1 of 32 elements)
Holding Power – Tracking and Timing
NMNH - 0:46 or 0.8 minutes median stop time/visitor (6 of 46)
AMNH - 1:23 or 1.4 minutes median stop time/visitor (1 of 32)
Cumulative Stop Time – Tracking and Timing
NMNH - 30.8 minutes (1 of 46 by 5+ minutes)
AMNH - 64.2 minutes (1 of 32 by 22 minutes)
Total Number of Stopped Visitors – Sweeps
NMNH - 210 visitors or 11% of all stops (1 of 46)
AMNH - 283 visitors or 15% of all stops (1 of 32)
Most Liked or Interesting Part of the PTG – Exit Interviews
NMNH - 27% of all responses (1 of 46)
Understanding the Display’s Success:
Real Time Information
Interview Results
What attracted you to the display?
What Attracted Visitors to the IRIS/USGS Display
Interest in earthquakes
10%
Other
29%
22%
15%
Real time information
(11% at the NMNH
& 20% at the AMNH)
Plasma monitor
(22% at both the NMNH
& AMNH)
13%
11%
Triple drum
Location of home
Interested in earthquakes
Plasma monitor/map
Triple-drum seismograph
Location of home
Real-time information
Other
Understanding the Display’s Success:
Real Time Information
Interview Results
What did you like best about
this
display?
What did
you like
best about this display?
Other
Make your own
earthquake*
Global information
2%
Easy to understand 2%
Interactive 3%
Triple drum
Overall presentation
9%
6%
Real time / up to date
information (31% at both
the NMNH & AMNH)
31%
7%
9%
10%
20%
Map of recent earthquakes/
(plasma monitor)
Small monitor with
updated list
* Only present in the PTG at the NMNH
Understanding the Display’s Success:
Real Time Information
Examples of Visitor Responses
“[It was] very interesting to see what just happened only a few minutes ago.”
“I recognized [the drum, but had] never seen one actively working.”
“[I like that it is] up to date, and I heard in the news this morning that there
was in earthquake in Illinois this morning and there it was.”
“[The] way they were able to bring [the information] to you in real time.”
“I was surprised at the number of earthquakes it showed, and how it was
able to show all the locations”
Understanding the Display’s Success:
Real Time Information
Interview Results
What
Visitors
Found
themost
Most Interesting
or or
Surprising
What information
did
you find
the
interesting
surprising?
Other
19%
Real time / up to date
6%
52%
Frequency of earthquakes
16%
Particular event(s)
8%
Where earthquakes occur
Frequency of earthquakes
Real-time/up-to-date
“[That the] Earth is
Where earthquakes occur
Other
moving
even though
Particular event(s)
we don’t notice it.”
“That there are so many minor earthquakes every day.”
“That they had earthquakes clear across the United States.”
What Makes Science Interesting?
• Practicing Scientist
Herbal Medicines
• Current / Hot Topic
Climate Change
• Sexy / Popular Culture
• Science in action
Relevant to our lives
Cloning
Stem Cell Research
Euthanasia
Space Exploration
Genetically Modified
Foods
Relevance and Museum Displays
“Most important, the link between the museum and the visitor’s life needs to be
made clear.” (Csikszentmihalyi and Hermanson, 1995)
“In order to make meaning of our experience, we need to be able to connect it
with what we already know.” (Hein, 1999)
“…we must find ways to reach visitors, building bridges to their past experiences
and knowledge.” (Jeffrey, 1998)
Do real time displays offer more opportunities for connections between visitors
and the display? Do they increase relevance for visitors?
Didactic Earthquake Displays
Did You Know?
 Earthquakes are the geological forces of the Earth that build mountains and
create ocean. They are nature’s reminder that we are living on the thin outer
crust of a planet that is cooling.
 Each year, approximately 800,000 earthquakes are recorded worldwide. Most
are too small to be felt, but typically at least one is a great earthquake.
 The Earth’s outer crust is divided into plates.
Earthquakes occur when plates move under
over, or slide past each other.
 Earthquakes typically occur along plate
boundaries
Interactive / Hands-On Earthquake Displays
Activities:
 Shake a city in a pan of sand and water
 Watch video footage of the Great Alaskan Earthquake, 1964
 Use a slinky to visualize how seismic waves travel through the Earth
 Use a computer to simulate an earthquake.
Choose the magnitude and epicentre
 Record your own seismic waves by jumping in
front of a seismograph
Real Time Earthquake Displays
Watch Earthquakes Occur
Real Time Earthquake Displays
Watch Earthquakes Occur
Earthquake Displays
Didactic
Interactive/Hands-On
Transmission
Discovery and constructivist
Visual learning
Visual / auditory / tactile / social learning
Museum as authority
Museum as discovery center / edutainment
Real Time
Discovery and constructivist
Visual / social learning
Museums providing current science information
Increases relevance / connection to the visitor
BEST RESULTS: Combine all three
Learning Theories
Falk & Dierking’s
Contextual Model of Learning
Learning as an integrated experience
• Personal, sociocultural,
and physical contexts
• Time
Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Experience
Hook
Opportunities for involvement
• sensory, intellectual, emotional
Conditions for flow
• clear goals
• challenges that match a wide
variety of visitor skill levels
• choice
• a supportive environment
Growth of complexity in consciousness
• sensory, intellectual emotional
Piaget’s Learning Theory
Accommodation and Assimilation
Challenges Facing Real Time Exhibits
 Technology
 Cost ($ and staff resources)
 Maintenance
 Need scientific expertise
 Need dynamic subjects
Possible Topics:
Weather
Exhibits Must:
Population clock
Be active / change continually
Deforestation clock
Present new or interesting ideas to visitors “a-ha”
Live video feeds
Allow visitors of all skill levels to understand content
Provide on-going learning opportunities inside and
outside of the museum
Acknowledgements
Ellen Giusti
Coordinator of Exhibit Evaluation, American Museum of
Natural History
Paul Kimberly
Computer Specialist – Global Volcanism Program, NMNH
Dr. James Luhr
Geologist & Mineral Sciences Department Chairman,
AMNH
Dr. Ed Mathez
Chairman, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
& Curator, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences,
AMNH
Barbara Soren
Graduate Coordinator, Museum Studies, University of
Toronto
John Taber
Education & Outreach Program Manager, IRIS