Reports on a study designed to identify and measure family learning in science museums. Findings indicate that families do learn from exhibits and the level of learning is related to specific observed behaviors. Grouping these behaviors as performance indicators provides a useful measure of exhibit learning. Appendixes include a demographic…

Presents a research and exhibit development aimed at increasing the understanding of family learning in science museums and identifying the characteristics of successful family learning exhibits. Concludes that using the seven characteristics of successful family exhibits as a guide to exhibit development proved to be an effective strategy for…

Contains an annotated bibliography of literature that addresses understanding the family-learning process. The material relates to the definition of family, why families visit museums, how they behave in museums, how they learn in museums, and how this type of learning is measured. Contains 39 references. (DDR)

A series of studies of explanatory label reading and comprehension by visitors of various age groups was conducted at The Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia. A single large, complex exhibit (the Gravity Tower) was selected for case study. Adult visitors were found to read an average of only 18 percent of the labels in the exhibit…

The Philadelphia-Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative Family Learning Project (PISEC) is comprised of three phases aimed at increasing understanding of family learning in science museums. Describes the results of a formative evaluation conducted during phase two. Successful family-learning exhibits include characteristics such as:…

Cognitive and affective outcomes of a class visit to a participatory science museum were examined by comparing responses of 416 fifth and sixth graders randomly assigned to four conditions (control, exhibit, lesson, exhibit followed by lesson) and two tests (verbal and visual). Results and implications for science education are presented.…

Cognitive and affective outcomes of class visits to two participatory science museums were examined by comparing responses of fifth- and sixth-grade students randomly assigned to four conditions (control, exhibit only, lesson only, and exhibit followed by lesson) and two tests (verbal and visual). Students visiting a simple machines exhibit scored…

This paper reports results of a study designed to determine people's preferences for different types of Web-based educational activity. The primary research question was: How do people's preferences vary among types of Web-based learning activity? Six activity types were identified for comparison: Creative Play, Guided Tour, Interactive Reference,…

The report describes a one-year pilot study of museum effectiveness conducted at the Franklin Institute Science Museum and Planetarium in Philadelphia. The study was intended to develop models for testing visitor response, provide useable information to museum staff, and test the feasibility of a large-scale investigation of science museums.…