Visitor Learning Research Articles

Using the contextual model of learning to understand visitor learning from a science center exhibition

Falk and Dierking's Contextual Model of Learning was used as a theoretical construct for investigating learning within a free-choice setting. A review of previous research identified key variables fundamental to free-choice science learning. The study sought to answer two questions: (1) How do specific independent variables individually contribute to learning outcomes when not studied in isolation? and (2) Does the Contextual Model of Learning provide a useful framework for understanding learning from museums? A repeated measure design including interviews and observational and behavioral measures was used with a random sample of 217 adult visitors to a life science exhibition at a major science center. The data supported the contention that variables such as prior knowledge, interest, motivation, choice and control, within and between group social interaction, orientation, advance organizers, architecture, and exhibition design affect visitor learning. All of these factors were shown to individually influence learning outcomes, but no single factor was capable of adequately explaining visitor learning outcomes across all visitors. The framework provided by the Contextual Model of Learning proved useful for understanding how complex combinations of factors influenced visitor learning. These effects were clearerest when visitors were segmented by entry conditions such as prior knowledge and interest. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 89:744–778, 2005

Learning science from museums

This article provides an overview of current understandings of the science learning that occurs as a consequence of visiting a free-choice learning setting like a science museum. The best available evidence indicates that if you want to understand learning at the level of individuals within the real world, learning does functionally differ depending upon the conditions, i.e., the context, under which it occurs. Hence, learning in museums is different than learning in any other setting. The contextual model of learning provides a way to organize the myriad specifics and details that give richness and authenticity to the museum learning process while still allowing a holistic picture of visitor learning. The results of a recent research investigation are used to show how this model elucidates the complex nature of science learning from museums. This study demonstrates that learning form museums can be meaningfully analyzed and described. The article concludes by stating that only by appreciating and accounting for the full complexities of the museum experience will a useful understanding of how and what visitors learn from science museums emerge.

Developing Effective Interpretation Through Multiple Intelligence Theory, Market Segmentation and the Interpretive Opportunity Spectrum: A case study of the preferred learning styles of Rouse Hill Regional Park visitors

As national parks face growing visitor use pressures, a more integrated approached to management is needed to ensure the sustainability of the conservation and recreation activities and objectives of parks. This paper presents the results of a research project that explored how interpretation may be presented by using learning theory market segmentation and a relevant management model. A number of management models have been created and developed over the past four decades to address issues concerning visitor management. One such model is the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS). ROS has been used as the basis for the creation of a management tool that was concerned with the ‘audience (social)’ factor of visitors using Rouse Hill Regional Park, an ‘intensive’ use management setting. The project focused particularly on how best to provide systematic interpretation through signage concerned with identifying visitor learning styles in an intensive park setting. The results of the study presented in this paper will demonstrate how the market can be targeted with appropriate interpretive material that will effectively convey the messages of management to the visitor.

Interactives and Visitor Learning

Abstract Interactives—computers and other multimedia components, physical manipulatives (including whole‐body and tabletop activities), and simulations—occur in all types of museums. There is considerable interest in the nature of the learning that happens when visitors use interactives. Museum professionals have enlisted constructivist theory to support the notion that interactive elements are invaluable components of any exhibition experience, and are effective learning tools that enable active visitor engagement. Interactives are also seen as vital to sustaining institutional image and expanding institutional popularity.Despite the increasing use of interactives in exhibitions and the substantial investments being made in their design and maintenance, there is a paucity of research as to whether these constructivist assumptions are supported. There is little work exploring visitors' perceptions of specific types of interactives, or the role of interactivity in the visitor experience generally. Museum staff thus have a limited ability to make informed decisions about the level and type of interactivity that might enhance exhibition experiences.This paper describes a collaborative effort in 2001 by researchers at the Powerhouse Museum (PHM), Sydney; the Institute for Learning Innovation (the Institute), Annapolis, Maryland; and Curtin University of Technology (Curtin) and Scitech Discovery Centre (Scitech), both in Perth, Western Australia. This study investigated two aspects of interactivity: 1) visitor perceptions of interactivity in two different contexts, a museum and a science center; and 2) the types of short‐ and long‐term learning that resulted from use of interactives in these two institutions.

Zoos as a Source of Free Choice Learning

This paper reports on an inquiry into the use of zoos as a source of informal or free choice learning. The study was contexualised within the zoo's environmental enrichment programme (an animal husbandry principle that seeks to develop species-typical behaviour for captive animals by using naturalistic enclosures or artificial items that stimulate animal interest). Visitor perceptions and actual use of the zoo were investigated using structured interviews based on an interview protocol that elicited their perspectives of the nature and character of zoo settings including the use of photographs of selected exhibits to induce stimulated recall. These data were triangulated with unobtrusive observation at the same exhibits (Bitgood et al., 1988). The visitors spent little time at a given exhibit, and rated the more naturalistic or enriched exhibits more favourably, but older visitors seemed less concerned with naturalness of exhibits. The zoo considers that it has an important role in education and provides many opportunities for learning for both general visitors and school groups. Both general visitors and school groups reported that the prime purpose of their visit was for entertainment. It appears learning of science at the zoo is limited for general visitors, however, the learning of science for school children is enhanced by pre- and post-visit activities and strong curricula links.

Leaving a Trace

(2003). Leaving a Trace. Journal of Museum Education: Vol. 28, Sociocultural Perspectives on Museums: Part 2, pp. 25-31.

Investigating the impact of prior knowledge and interest on aquarium visitor learning

AbstractMost free‐choice science learning institutions, in particular science centers, zoos, aquariums, and natural history museums, define themselves as educational institutions. However, to what extent, and for which visitors, do these free‐choice learning settings accomplish their educational mission? Answering this question has proven challenging, in large part because of the inherent variability of visitors to such settings. We hypothesize that the challenges of measuring free‐choice science learning might be diminished if it were possible to pool populations during analysis in ways that reduced this variability. Specifically, we propose grouping learners according to their entering understanding and attitudes, using qualitative categories such as minimal, moderate, and extensive. In this article, we use data collected at the National Aquarium in Baltimore to determine whether grouping makes it possible to discern more readily the nature of changes in aquarium visitors' conservation knowledge and attitudes. Although analysis revealed that there were significant changes in both conservation knowledge and attitudes, entry to exit, for all 100 visitors studied, a more detailed analysis revealed that gains were not evenly distributed across all visitors. The results support the hypothesis that the grouping of learners into minimal, moderate, and extensive conservation knowledge and attitude categories enabled a more fine‐grained and accurate understanding of changes in aquarium visitor's conservation learning. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 163–176, 2003

HERITAGE Visitor Learning at a Heritage Attraction: A Case Study of "Discovery" as a Media Product. Richard Prentice, Sinéad Guerin, and Stuart McGugan. Tourism Management, vol. 19, no. 1, February 1998, pp. 5-24. Elsevier Science Customer Support Department, P.O. Box 945, New York, NY 10010. $640 annual subscription

HERITAGE Visitor Learning at a Heritage Attraction: A Case Study of "Discovery" as a Media Product. Richard Prentice, Sinéad Guerin, and Stuart McGugan. Tourism Management, vol. 19, no. 1, February 1998, pp. 5-24. Elsevier Science Customer Support Department, P.O. Box 945, New York, NY 10010. $640 annual subscription

The Effect of Visitors ‘ Agendas on Museum Learning

AbstractIt has been argued that visitors' pre‐visit “agendas” directly influence visits. This study attempted to directly test the effects of different museum visit agendas on visitor learning. Two new tools were developed for this purpose: (1) a tool for measuring visitor agendas; and (2) a tool for measuring visitor learning (Personal Meaning Mapping). Visitor agenda was defined as having two dimensions: motivations and strategies. Personal Meaning Mapping is a constructivist approach that measures change in understanding along four semi‐independent dimensions: extent, breadth, depth, and mastery. The study looked at 40 randomly‐selected adults who were visiting the National Museum of Natural History's Geology, Gems and Minerals exhibition. Visitor agendas did significantly impact how, what, and how much individuals learned. Results are discussed in terms of the current debate about education vs. entertainment.

Animal Activity and Visitor Learning at the Zoo

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the effect animal activity had on information visitors attended to at three bear exhibits. Attention was used as an indirect measure of what information visitors are consciously processing, or learning. It was hypothesized that visitors would be more likely to attend to specific information about animal behavior when bears were active rather than when inactive or out of sight. Visitor conversations were recorded during observations of polar, sloth and spectacled bears. Conversation was coded according to its content (animal-directed, human-focused, behavior, other) and to the corresponding behavior of the bear (active, inactive, pacing, not visible). The energy level of the activity was also considered. The hypothesis was supported for the polar bears, but less so for the other two bears. Behavior conversation was highest and human-directed conversation was lowest in the presence of highly animated polar bears. Behavior content was limited in the presence of the less animated sloth and spectacled bears. However, it was still significantly less frequent, and human content more frequent, when the sloth and spectacled bears were pacing and/or not visible. Therefore, what visitors attended to was influenced by what the bears were doing. The findings suggest that animated activity (rather than the more broadly defined ‘activity’) elicits the most visitor attention to behavior, and this in turn potentially facilitates visitor learning.

Animal Activity and Visitor Learning at the Zoo

Animal Activity and Visitor Learning at the Zoo

Visitor learning at a heritage attraction: a case study of Discovery as a media product

This paper evaluates the extent tourists learn at a visitor attraction; and possible influences on this. An attraction is chosen for a case evaluation which is highly symbolic; historically, in terms of scientific endeavour, and in terms of contemporary imaging. Attentional, affective, cognitive and compensatory processes are evaluated in the context of the media of the attraction studied

Constructing a science gallery for children and families: The role of research in an innovative design process

We describe the role of research in designing ScienceWorks, an innovative gallery at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. The gallery, intended for 6–10-year-old children and their families, was constructed on the basis of existing and new research concerning how children think and learn about science. The gallery is atypical in several respects, but perhaps most fundamentally in its overarching agenda, to foster children's understanding. Each major component in the gallery contains a broad array of activities to support learning for casual visitors, but also includes opportunities for successively deeper levels of learning and engagement. Existing research on science learning was reviewed to develop the theoretical framework that guided the design process. Moreover, research informed the development of each of the major gallery components and its associated learning activities. Current ongoing research focuses on identifying effective forms of mediation in the gallery, which is more accurately conceived as a collection of tools for supporting children's learning at various levels of engagement, than as a series of stand-alone “exhibits.” © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 81:781–793, 1997.

How Do we Know what the Visitor Knows?: Learning from Interpretation

This paper presents a number of ideas for readers interested in finding what visitors learn from interpretation. First, some ideas from basic research in different fields of psychology promise applications of interest to interpreters. These ideas range from need for cognition to the newer definition of learning that emphasizes cognitive processes. I have termed these ideas a “top-down” application of knowledge from other fields to visitor studies. A second source of information about visitor learning comes from “bottom-up” efforts that are bringing forth ideas directly out of empirical research in visitor studies. Data-based studies are being used to suggest learning concepts specifically developed for visitor studies and thereby relevant to interpretation. A third source of information is the development of a process model of evaluation for exhibits and visitor-based programs. While this model is currently used to acquire information for decision making, it could hold promise for more intensive studies of visitor learning.

Building maintenance: The external fabric of museum buildings: Notes on a planned approach to museum maintenance: Introduction: ‘the principles of good practice’

The primary objective of museum management in shaping of knowledge can be achieved by a communication of meaning through quality displays of the permanent collection or temporary exhibitions, the specimens of a continent or the interactive apparatus of science. This paper looks at research derived primarily from the museum scholars and experts with academics working in the field of visitor studies towards developing exhibits that facilitated visitor learning. These findings are recast the approach in order to offer an integrated framework for visitor behavior has implications for service management of the service encounter at the museum in Malaysia.

Environmental learning of first-time travelers

A major objective in the marketing tourism services is to increase the activities and commerce of tourists within an area or location. The extent of environmental learning and knowledge exerts a significant influence on such an objective. This study addressed the factors influencing the rate and degree of environmental learning of first-time visitors to an international destination. The relative contributions of direct experience, and direct and indirect sources of information to tourists learning of a new environment, were examined in this empirical study of visitors to a European city. Implications for increasing visitors' learning of and commerce with tourist attractions and retail elements in an area through marketing and promotion are discussed.

Chapter 1: The Countenance of Visitor Studies in the 1980's

Abstract There is an evolving field of visitor research based both on evaluation and basic kinds of research studies. The occasion of a First Annual Conference in Visitor Studies along with a developing literature are two indicators of interest. Some specific approaches to studying how visitors use museums, parks, zoos and other visit settings can be identified. These approaches, while not yet reaching the status of formal theories, are yielding a continual output of investigations. The approaches include survey research, marketing analysis, visitor learning research and studies that emphasize applications of environmental psychology and sociology. Many studies entail a strong evaluation approach which emphasizes finding out how well exhibits and programs for visitors work. While these approaches can be identified in the countenance or appearance of visitor research, it is not yet clear what the dominant paradigm or approach to the field will be if indeed there is to be one dominant paradigm or approach. ...

Visitor Learning at the Ohio Historical Center

Visitor Learning at the Ohio Historical Center

The Effectiveness of Guidance Devices on Visitor Learning

The Effectiveness of Guidance Devices on Visitor Learning