THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EXHIBIT CHARACTERISTICS AND LEARNING-ASSOCIATED BEHAVIORS IN A SCIENCE MUSEUM DISCOVERY SPACE

Researchers and evaluators have often used observation of visitor behavior as an indirect assessment of the educational impact of museum exhibits. The educational impact is often reported in terms of the exhibit's attracting power (number of visitors who stop at the exhibit) and holding power (amount of time spent by visitors at the exhibit). Occasionally, the visitor's engagement level (degree to which the visitor pays attention to the exhibit) is also used as an assessment of the exhibit's educational impact. In this study, 154 visitors to a science museum discovery space were observed as they interacted freely with the exhibits. The exhibits were categorized into five different styles based upon three criteria: (1) high or low interaction; (2) concrete or abstract presentation; and (3) simple or complex information presented. Data indicated significant differences between exhibit style and attraction, holding power, and visitor engagement levels. Attraction levels were highest for exhibits with concrete presentations. Holding power was highest for exhibits with high interaction and concrete presentations. Engagement levels were highest for high interaction exhibits. Information from this study may be of interest to museum educators and to those who design and evaluate museum exhibits. (C) 1995 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.