Making Stuff at the Museum: Observations of Family Interactions at Hands-On "Maker" Activities and the Role of Museum Relationships

• In Event: 42.072 - Observational Methodologies Across Informal Learning Spaces

Abstract

Studies of hands-on exhibits or activities at museums often include questions about how long and in what ways an individual or group uses the exhibit component and how interpretive staff aids in the experience. These questions are foundational to museum evaluation and research, but a narrow focus can leave out important contextual factors that may influence the visitor’s engagement. Using three studies recently completed by researchers at the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM), this presentation will describe how observational data collection methods were designed to integrate the intentions of the exhibition or project design, as well as how other data collection methods complemented observational data. In particular, these projects explore how families made personal connections – both to the activity and to the museum community – through persistence and iteration, guided by staff facilitation.

In each of these three projects, observational data was chosen a data collection method for several reasons. First, to corroborate visitor’s self-report data (in all of the studies, the visitors who were observed were also interviewed or surveyed). Second, for the research team to develop a common understanding of how the program/exhibit is used in reality. Third, to communicate to families that the museum is actively invested in improving programs/exhibits.

The three projects have in common a focus on hands-on “maker” or make-and-test activities intended to engage families in new experiences. In the Create.Connect summative evaluation, a new exhibit combining historical setting pieces and narratives with STEM activities at the Conner Prairie Interactive History Park, families were observed in a tracking and timing study and some families participated in a recorded conversational study. Guiding both data collection and data analysis was the intention of the exhibit to elicit connections from visitors to their personal experience and between exhibit components. Observations revealed that visitors spent more time in areas with historical objects that sparked personal memories or at STEM activities that allowed for multiple generations to collaborate, and the study has led to recommendations for how to integrate STEM into history institutions.

In SMM’s School & Family Nights, the program’s objectives included working collaboratively with schools to develop a night at the museum that will serve the purpose of fostering school community and communicating the value of STEM. Hands-on “maker” activities, facilitated by trained volunteers, were observed to be an effective way to prompt interaction within and among families, more so than museum floor exhibits.

Finally, the Making Connections project is a collaboration with families from minority populations in the Twin Cities to develop more culturally representative and sustaining “maker” activities. Observational data came from workshops where families developed personally-inspired activities and the three Saturday events where these activities were shared on the museum floor. Findings from this project have led to a set of recommendations for engaging families of color in the museum, especially through co-creating experiences.

Author

• Alice C. Anderson, Minneapolis Institute of Art