Workshops
VSA presents two days of Professional Development Workshops in conjunction with the Annual Visitor Studies Association Conference. Pre-conference workshops provide a major opportunity for professional development and have been attended by students, evaluators, exhibit and program designers and museum directors alike. Leaders of these lively half- and full-day Workshops come from a broad range of fields and professions.
The 2010 pre-conference workshops will be held on July 27 and 28 in Phoenix, AZ at local museums. Below is a listing of all upcoming 2010 pre-conference workshops. Below you will find the schedule of pre-conference workshop opportunities. Click on each title to read its abstract. Download a printable copy of the workshop abstracts and conference registration form.
Tuesday, July 27
Half Day Workshops
9:00am-12:00pm Got Data? Creating "SMART" Databases
9:00am-12:00pm Literature Review in the Evaluation of Informal Learning Projects
1:00pm-4:00pm Studying Visitors Virtually
Full Day Workshops (9:00am-4:00pm)
Evaluating Visitors Studies Programs: Designing Data Collection Instruments and Analyzing Results
Experienceology: 8 Steps to Better Visitor Experiences
Accessing Impacts of Education Programs: Getting Started
Audience-Based Inquiry through Focus Groups
Wednesday, July 28
Half Day Workshops
1:00pm-4:00pm Using Data to Improve Practice
Full Day Workshops (9:00am-4:00pm)
Taking Control of Your Quantitative Data
Visitor Feedback Surveys: Developing Useful Tools for Educators
Developing Rubrics: Authentic Measures of Informal Learning
Integrating Visitor Studies into Interpretive Planning
Workshop Abstracts
Tuesday, July 27, 9am-12pm
Got Data? Creating "SMART" Databases
Claudia Figueiredo, Research Associate, Institute for Learning Innovation
Angelina Ong, Research Associate, Institute for Learning Innovation
Informal learning environments, especially Museums, often have the need to collect information from visitors. It is important that this information be organized in such a way that it can be efficiently used. This workshop is an introduction to those who find themselves with data, but unclear on how to get it organized. In this workshop, participants will learn about creating “SMART” databases, as well as have opportunities to create one.
Experience Level: Basic
Literature Review in the Evaluation of Informal Learning Projects
Carey Tisdal, Director, Tisdal Consulting
Literature reviews provide useful information for both evaluation and research studies. Yet, frameworks for standard research literature reviews have a poor fit to the practical design problems and ongoing stages of evaluation across the life of an informal learning project evaluation. In this workshop, participants will use a conceptual framework specifically focused on evaluation, increase awareness of accessible sources, practice the process of identifying important concepts to explore, define a search, develop search strategies to identify key references, and consider organizational structure to present their synthesis.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced
Studying Visitors Virtually
Saul Rockman, President, Rockman Et Al
Jennifer Borland, Research Associate, Rockman Et Al
Monnette Fung, Resarch Associate, Rockman Et Al
In this lively and interactive workshop, participants will be introduced to a wide variety of methods for studying web-based visitors in various settings and virtual venues and will discuss unique implications for studying visitors online, as opposed to in-person. The session would be appropriate for museum professionals who do not have extensive evaluation experience as well as those who are more familiar with evaluation practices that might be looking for new ideas or a quick refresher course on opportunities that exist for studying visitors online.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced
Tuesday, July 27, 9am-4pm
Evaluating Visitors Studies Programs: Designing Data Collection Instruments and Analyzing Results
Amy Germuth, President, EvalWorks, LLC
Increasingly, agencies are being asked to collect information about their activities and results as well as those of projects and agencies they fund. Because these data often are used to make crucial budgeting and planning decisions, the need for high-quality data is critical. This course will introduce participants to the basics of developing data collection instruments that provide measurable evidence of intended outcomes. This course will cover the following topics, with an emphasis on surveying and survey data: types of data (quantitative and qualitative), types of data collection instruments, question development, instrument development, sampling, analysis, and reporting.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate
Experienceology: 8 Steps to Better Visitor Experiences
Stephanie Weaver, Principal, Experienceology
This lively full-day hands-on workshop will provide you with an 8-step process you can use to analyze any informal learning site’s visitor experience and see where visitor studies could help improve it. Throughout the day you’ll work on an individual progressive exercise, discussing how each step applies to sites where you have worked. In the afternoon you’ll work in small groups to analyze the host museum’s experience and then debrief it together. The instructor will provide worksheets, handouts, and a reading list. Examples from a variety of experience-based businesses as well as great libraries and museums will be featured throughout the day.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate
So You Want to Try Video?
Dr. James Kisiel, Associate Professor, California State University, Long Beach
Dr. Shawn Rowe, Assistant Professor and Learning Specialist, Oregon State University
More and more, researchers and evaluators are turning to naturalistic or qualitative approaches to examine and assess learning in informal learning environments. Video recording is often pointed to as an effective way of documenting just what visitors are doing—yet video recording is also met with concerns and even trepidation. For this day-long workshop, participants will take a closer look at the use of video recording as a method for gathering and analyzing visitor data. This workshop will discuss rationale for using video, as well as the challenges and benefits the resulting data. Participants will also have an opportunity to shoot video and begin some basic analysis of that video as a way to familiarize participants with this approach.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate
Accessing Impacts of Education Programs: Getting Started
Jennifer Heim, Senior Research & Evaluation Associate, Saint Louis Science Center
Elisa Israel, Research & Evaluation Manager, Saint Louis Science Center
How can museums know what impacts educational programs have on their audiences? Can systems be developed to assess the impacts of multiple, ongoing programs? These questions are crucial to museum evaluators as the informal learning institutions they serve seek to secure funding, inform stakeholders, make decisions, and improve program experiences for their audiences. Through a combination of small-group activities and guided discussion, participants will engage in the process of developing an institution-wide approach to measuring the impact of educational programs. Participants will explore key issues in developing a comprehensive system for assessing impact, as well as gain hands-on experience in creating instruments and procedures to better capture, analyze, and present the experiences of participants in museum programs. Workshop leaders Jenny Heim and Elisa Israel, evaluators at the Saint Louis Science Center, bring their experience of developing and implementing the Science Center’s system for assessing the impact of its educational programs.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate
Audience-Based Inquiry through Focus Groups
Elizabeth Wood
This full-day workshop provides an introduction and overview of using focus groups as an audience-generated inquiry technique. Using hands-on and interactive strategies, participants will review basic concepts and theoretical principles behind the technique, develop skills through practice session with peers, and leave with an action plan to implement the technique into an existing or future evaluation plan.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate
Wednesday, July 28, 1pm-4pm
Using Data to Improve Practice
Ace Everett, Managing Director, Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.
Visitor study data can have value across the institution, helping to improve practice and ultimately strengthening the museum to accomplish its mission and achieve its intended impact. Data can make a difference in the way a museum operates, including what a museum does and how practitioners do their work. Visitor study data can be infused into a museum’s strategic planning and organizational decision making as well as staff’s ongoing cycle of planning, action, and reflection. Through presentations, a large group discussion, and small break out groups, participants will learn the organizational factors and strategies to successfully use visitor study data across the museum, as well as ways to overcome potential challenges. This workshop will enable participants to thoughtfully implement an institutional process of using visitor study data.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced
Wednesday, July 28, 9am-4pm
Taking Control of Your Quantitative Data
Steve Yalowitz, Senior Research Associate, Institute for Learning Innovation
Claudia Figuerido, Research Associate, Institute for Learning Innovation
In many museums there is a need to justify the existence of programs and exhibitions, and quantitative data provide a very effective way in which to do this. However, it is not always the case that museum staff or evaluators have a background in statistics and quantitative analysis. This workshop is for museum staff, internal and external evaluators and others who want to actively lead or participate in decision-making and/or conduct the actual quantitative analysis. Using data from various program and exhibit evaluations (including your own if you like) participants will gain knowledge and skills related to frequently used quantitative data analysis techniques appropriate for a variety of types of evaluation questions.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate
Participatory Evaluation: Using Interactive Techniques to Involve Stakeholders in the Evaluation Process
Amy Grack Nelson, Evaluation & Research Associate, Science Museum of Minnesota
Have you ever wanted stakeholders to be more engaged in the evaluation process? Was there ever a time when you wished evaluation data had been put to better use to improve a program or exhibit? Participatory evaluation is an evaluation approach that involves stakeholders in the evaluation process (from designing the evaluation to interpreting results), builds their evaluation capacity, and as a result increases evaluation use. The workshop will introduce participants to participatory evaluation and the benefits and challenges of this approach. Participants will participate in a mock participatory evaluation process and learn a variety of techniques to work collaboratively with stakeholders to carry out various stages of the evaluation process. Participants will leave the workshop with a plan to integrate participatory techniques into their own evaluation practice.
Experience Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Timing and Tracking 101
Kerry Bronnenkant, Research Associate, Museum of Science, Boston
Susan Foutz, Research Associate, Institute for Learning Innovation
Timing and Tracking 101 will expose museum professionals to the art and skill of timing and tracking within an exhibition or an entire museum visit. Participants will learn the history of timing and tracking as well as the variety of ways to conduct timing and tracking within their institution. They will gain hands-on experience of constructing tracking instruments, collecting and analyzing data. Participants will also learn about the ways to visualize and present timing and tracking data to their audience. After participating in this workshop participants will feel comfortable about employing this methodology in their museum (small or large) and should feel confident about collecting, entering, analyzing, and reporting this data.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate
Visitor Feedback Surveys: Developing Useful Tools for Educators
Johanna Jones, Managing Director, California Office, Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.
Museum educators are often charged with evaluating their own programs with little to no experience in developing and implementing an evaluation and no budget to support the effort. This type of program evaluation—with teachers or drop-in visitors—usually takes the form of a simple, standardized survey that is administered after the program. For many institutions, these kinds of surveys, developed and implemented by educators, are the only types of evaluation taking place. Therefore, such surveys should be as high-quality and informative as possible. In this workshop, the presenter will provide an overview of the evaluation process and its role in the life-cycle of a program. Topics covered in this proposal include the essential step of crafting measurable objectives prior to assessing a program; an introduction to survey design and systematic data collection; and an overview of analyzing and using the data collected.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate
Developing Rubrics: Authentic Measures of Informal Learning
Stephanie Downey, Managing Director, New York, Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.
In visitor studies, we are often required to provide measurable, reliable findings to demonstrate impact. Yet, measuring learning that takes place in an informal setting is extremely challenging. The impact an exhibition or program can have on one visitor may vary considerably from its impact on another visitor, and these often subtle differences in impact are difficult to measure through conventional means of evaluation. Through large and small group work, workshop participants will learn to develop and use rubrics, which provide an authentic way to measure the impact of informal educational programs and exhibitions while at the same time, abide by rigorous evaluation standards. Participants will leave with a draft of a rubric tailored to their program or exhibition as well as the skills to continue using rubrics in the future. Participants should bring to the workshop a description of a program or exhibition, including the goals and objectives.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced
Integrating Visitor Studies into Interpretive Planning
Barbara H. Butler, Retired ISE Program Director, National Science Foundation
Marcella Wells, Consultant, Wells Resources, Inc.
During this workshop, Wells and Butler will offer an opportunity for collaboration among educators, planners, evaluators, and administrators to integrate educational/interpretive planning and evaluation. This workshop will examine the interpretive planning process and demonstrate the integration of visitor’s studies using the Visitor Centered Evaluation Hierarchy. Participants are encouraged to bring an interpretive or informal learning project that is in the planning stage for the afternoon case studies exercise. The workshop will also explore the potential of the Visitor Centered Evaluation Hierarchy as a diagnostic tool, a management tool, a teaching tool, a research tool, and a communication tool for informal learning institutions.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced
Visitor Feedback Surveys: Developing Useful Tools for Educators
Johanna Jones, Managing Director, California Office, Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.
Museum educators are often charged with evaluating their own programs with little to no experience in developing and implementing an evaluation and no budget to support the effort. This type of program evaluation—with teachers or drop-in visitors—usually takes the form of a simple, standardized survey that is administered after the program. For many institutions, these kinds of surveys, developed and implemented by educators, are the only types of evaluation taking place. Therefore, such surveys should be as high-quality and informative as possible. In this workshop, the presenter will provide an overview of the evaluation process and its role in the life-cycle of a program. Topics covered in this proposal include the essential step of crafting measurable objectives prior to assessing a program; an introduction to survey design and systematic data collection; and an overview of analyzing and using the data collected.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate
Developing Rubrics: Authentic Measures of Informal Learning
Stephanie Downey, Managing Director, New York, Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.
In visitor studies, we are often required to provide measurable, reliable findings to demonstrate impact. Yet, measuring learning that takes place in an informal setting is extremely challenging. The impact an exhibition or program can have on one visitor may vary considerably from its impact on another visitor, and these often subtle differences in impact are difficult to measure through conventional means of evaluation. Through large and small group work, workshop participants will learn to develop and use rubrics, which provide an authentic way to measure the impact of informal educational programs and exhibitions while at the same time, abide by rigorous evaluation standards. Participants will leave with a draft of a rubric tailored to their program or exhibition as well as the skills to continue using rubrics in the future. Participants should bring to the workshop a description of a program or exhibition, including the goals and objectives.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced
Integrating Visitor Studies into Interpretive Planning
Barbara H. Butler, Retired ISE Program Director, National Science Foundation
Marcella Wells, Consultant, Wells Resources, Inc.
During this workshop, Wells and Butler will offer an opportunity for collaboration among educators, planners, evaluators, and administrators to integrate educational/interpretive planning and evaluation. This workshop will examine the interpretive planning process and demonstrate the integration of visitor’s studies using the Visitor Centered Evaluation Hierarchy. Participants are encouraged to bring an interpretive or informal learning project that is in the planning stage for the afternoon case studies exercise. The workshop will also explore the potential of the Visitor Centered Evaluation Hierarchy as a diagnostic tool, a management tool, a teaching tool, a research tool, and a communication tool for informal learning institutions.
Experience Level: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced