Summative Evaluation of the Construction Zone Exhibition at the Miami Children’s Museum
Client: The Miami Children’s Museum | Location: Miami, FL | Funding: Institute for Museum and Library Services
We worked with The Miami Children’s Museum to conduct a summative evaluation of their Construction Zone exhibition, which aims to encourage STEM skill-building through hands-on construction and design experiences.
OVERVIEW
In 2019, we partnered with the Miami Children’s Museum to conduct a summative evaluation of the Construction Zone exhibition, which simulates a construction site environment and introduces children to the concepts of science, technology, engineering and math through hands-on experiences with construction and design.
The goal of our evaluation was to understand how visitors used the exhibition and what they took away from the experience, in general and specifically at three specific exhibits designed to promote problem-solving, experimentation with building materials, and collaboration.
APPROACH
We used two methodologies to evaluate visitors’ experiences in the exhibition:
Interviews with adults, to understand their families’ overall exhibition experiences, and
Focused observations at three key exhibits, to understand how visitors used these exhibits
We synthesized results across methodologies to surface trends and patterns and created a comprehensive report focused on how much (or how little) visitors’ experiences in the exhibition aligned with the museums’ intended outcomes. We also led a workshop to help staff unpack and learn from the findings.
CLIENT TAKEAWAYS
We found that, overall, the Construction Zone exhibition inspired interest in and excitement about building and design processes and construction careers among visitors. However, while there was promising evidence of problem solving, experimentation, and collaboration in the exhibition, there were also several opportunities to further encourage visitors to build these skills, particularly in the exhibition’s Design Studio area.
Our evaluation helped provide ideas of how to better support visitors in the exhibition and similar future initiatives.
