Examining Art Museum Educators' Program Evaluation Practices and Capacities: A Pan-Canadian Study

• In Event: 66.086 - MTCC Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: 66.086-9 - Methodological Considerations in Informal Learning Environments Research

Abstract

Art museums have increasingly been called upon to engage in comprehensive evaluations of their educational programs. Despite this, research on evaluation in the context of art museums is scarce. Consequently, little is known about what such museums are doing to evaluate their educational programs or to what extent they possess the internal capacities to do so. This study examined Canadian art museum educators’ program evaluation practices and capacities across the dimensions of a literature-derived conceptual framework. Interview data were collected with 13 educators working in 11 of Canada’s largest publicly-owned art museums. As the first study of its kind this research advances knowledge on evaluation in the sector and has the potential to guide these museum’s future evaluation training efforts.

Author

• Agnieszka Chalas, Leahurst College