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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010253419 | AM151 D5 2009 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
Searching... | 30000010253420 | AM151 D5 2009 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
Administrators of museums and other informal-learning centers often need to demonstrate, in some tangible way, the effectiveness of their institutions as teaching tools. Practical Evaluation Guide discusses specific methods for analyzing audience learning and behavior in museums, zoos, botanic gardens, nature centers, camps, and youth programs. This new edition incorporates the many advances in the burgeoning field of informal learning that have been made over the past decade. Practical Evaluation Guide serves as a basic, easy-to-follow guide for museum professionals and students who want to understand the effects of such public institutions on the people who visit them.
Author Notes
Judy Diamond is professor and curator at the University of Nebraska State Museum. Jessica J. Luke is director of research and evaluation at the Institute for Learning Innovation. DAVID H. UTTAL is director of the multidisciplinary program in education sciences in the Department of Psychology and School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
The second edition of this practical guide follows the themes and methods of the first edition. Updates include more recent references and examples; a brief section of Web-based surveys; and another section on the significance of the cultural, social, and political context of evaluations. The book focuses on traditional visitor-studies approaches in informal "designed" settings: science museums, zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens. It does not cover learning in family activities, on playgrounds, or through media, domains now included in "informal" science learning. Diamond (Univ. of Nebraska) again emphasizes her own ethnography background as well as early (still relevant) work by colleagues in the 1970s-80s, including some of her own at the Exploratorium during Frank Oppenheimer's directorship. Examples include recent studies at Diamond's museum and evaluation studies by her coauthors, Luke (Institute for Learning Innovation) and Uttal (Northwestern Univ.), and others from the Institute for Learning Innovation. Research from cognitive science and the broader field of evaluating human activities is referenced. Newer technologies for data collection, such as video recordings or visitor-generated electronic responses, are not discussed. Practical and thorough, this straightforward guide emphasizes that data alone, no matter how extensive, cannot substitute for careful planning and expertise in interpretation. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. G. E. Hein emeritus, Lesley University
Table of Contents
| List of Illustrations | p. ix |
| Acknowledgments | p. xiii |
| Preface | p. xv |
| Part I Evaluating Informal Learning | p. 1 |
| 1 Thinking through an Evaluation Study | p. 3 |
| 2 Informal Learning | p. 11 |
| 3 Measuring Learning | p. 19 |
| 4 Protecting Study Participants | p. 39 |
| Part II Evaluation Tools | p. 45 |
| 5 Selecting Study Participants | p. 47 |
| 6 Observational Tools | p. 55 |
| 7 Interviews and Questionnaires | p. 69 |
| 8 Presenting and Analyzing Data | p. 93 |
| Part III Evaluation as Practice | p. 109 |
| 9 Reporting Evaluation Results | p. 111 |
| 10 Translating Evaluation Findings into Practice | p. 119 |
| References | p. 123 |
| Other Recommended Resources | p. 131 |
| Index | p. 137 |
| About the Authors | p. 143 |
