To add to this thread, emotional stimulation (or whatever you want to call
it) is only one of many things a visitor may be looking for at our museums.
  We really need to believe that if a visitor feels their visit was
successful, then it was successful.  This means that if a parent is just
glad to watch his kid enjoying herself, or if a teen feels content watching
but not participating in a demonstration, both visitors still had the
experience they wanted.  As an evaluator it's only too easy for me to focus
on content transfer or meeting other linear objectives.  But what I really
want to know is:  Did we meet or exceed their expectations?  What kind of
experience did they have with this exhibit?  How did we fail to provide
what they were expecting?  And then follow up those questions with:  Why?
Was this the type of experience *we* were expecting?  Do we need to change
anything?

I have no problem with exhibits or programs that want to draw out a
particular response or emotion or whatever.  But we need to understand that
sometimes people aren't ready for what we feel they might want to know or
experience.  Not every exhibit is for everyone.  What I'm getting at, in a
convoluted manner, is that we need to recognize our visitors' (and
non-visitors') expectations in order to begin to understand their
experiences.

I'm not disagreeing with this thread, just adding a thought to spur comment,
Bill

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William H. Stirrat  (Bill)
Evaluator/Market Researcher              ? !
Our Minnesota Science Hall                  o
Science Museum of Minnesota          /( )\
30 East 10th Street                                    /\
St. Paul, MN  55101
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As always, opinions expressed are my own.
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