Picture a
typical science museum on a busy Saturday.
It is probably filled with highly-engaged children and their
families. But what about those parents
and caregivers with the children? And
those adults without children? Are they
engaged?
In our
recent study of science museum visitors, we delved into the engagement of
adults. We found that only a third of
respondents felt the museum made them, as adults, feel better informed about
current science issues, while half said sometimes. The remainder said no, it did not.
When we
examined these respondents, we found that those who said yes were generally
more engaged with the museum. They were
more curious about science, more positive about the museum, joined for more
philanthropic reasons, and were much more likely to say the museum met their
needs.
In
contrast, those who said no were less engaged with the museum, less curious
about science, and more negative about the museum. They were only half as likely to say the
museum was very important to their community as those who said yes, and only 9%
of them said that the museum met their needs. (Those who said "somewhat" generally fell in the middle on these questions.)
So, like we
recently explored with moms, the engagement of adults, as well as children, is
very important to science museums. But
how do you do this? In a follow-up
question, we asked.
For some
adults, their own engagement was a new idea.
As one respondent noted, “I didn't realize one of the goals of the
science center was to enlighten adults.”
But most
adults were receptive to, or actively desired, adult content. They want “More adult only programs” and they
want time in the museum without children.
We saw several comments that echoed the frustration expressed this
one: “More grownup time. I get tired of
kids who think they can cut in front of you just because you're an adult. I
want to try stuff, too!”
They also
want exhibits to be layered with content meant for them. “Have more exhibits that work on adult
interests and have the information more adult stated. There are times that I
have felt as though I were being treated to a 'See Jane Run' explanation
of theory.”
There was a
very strong desire for current events in the science museum. A large number of respondents asked for help
understanding the science behind the headlines, such as: “There aren’t any exhibits about new &
emerging technology or new areas of science. I only ever hear about that stuff
on TV. I would LOVE to hear about it from the museum.”
Other
frequent comments were focused on the actual visitor experience. Representative comments include “place
benches generously,“ “better coffee,” and “free parking!”
Additionally,
there were a significant number of comments about the noise of the science
museum. As one mother said, “As it is
now, we can barely hear ourselves think and the whole experience gives me a
headache. I dread when my son wants to go and I put it off as long as I can,”
while another noted “I want to come to the Science Center, but I can't abide the noise . . .”
While
engaging adults at science museums is clearly important, doing so takes
thoughtful layering of content and programming, making the visit more amenable
to them (even if that means installing noise-abatement devices!), and, for
some, overcoming a perception that science museums are just for kids.
We would
love to hear how your museum successfully engages adults, or even
how you reduce noise. To share your stories, simply click on
“comments” below. (If you are reading this from your e-mail subscription
to the blog, please go to our blog's website to add a
comment.)
Even though everyone might not consider The Corning Museum of Glass as a traditional "science museum", it has a great permanent exhibition of the science of glass. The exhibition has many hands-on activities and great (short) labels that really engages not only kids but also adults. It is one of those science exhibitions that seems to target the whole family and everyone leaves with a new understanding and appreciation of glass. http://www.cmog.org/dynamic.aspx?id=198
Posted by: Amanda Rosner | January 16, 2009 at 09:42 AM