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Ten Years of Evaluating Science Theater at the Museum of Science, Boston
Author(s) -
BAUM LYNN,
HUGHES CATHERINE
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
curator: the museum journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.312
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2151-6952
pISSN - 0011-3069
DOI - 10.1111/j.2151-6952.2001.tb01175.x
Subject(s) - conversation , foundation (evidence) , psychology , visual arts , history , art , communication , archaeology
This paper is a meta‐analysis of a series of theatre program evaluations carried out at the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts over ten years. The evaluations, conducted independently of each other, had varying goals and used a range of methodologies. Nonetheless, looked at together, the aggregate results of these evaluations reflect a compelling, positive theatre experience for visitors. There is collective evidence of cognitive gain for visitors attending performances. In summary, the overview of ten years of evaluations portrays theater as a successful format for communicating information and ideas on many levels, which visitors enjoy and remember. Much remains to be learned about the effectiveness and impact of theater in museums. It is the intention of this paper to use the collective results of these studies as a foundation, and to move the conversation from basic evaluation to further research examining the learning potential of this medium in greater depth.