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To: MELANIE CAGONOT
From: Heleanor Feltham
Subject: Re: Children's Guide
Date: Tuesday 29 October 1996 9.48AM


Melanie,

I'm really ambivalent about evaluation pages.  Yes, they can be a very good
way of assessing responses to both the exhibition and your activity
sheets/guides, but.....

How are you going to get them back?  You are asking kids to do extra work,
and then hand it in before they leave (the likelihood of your evaluations
being posted back is vanishingly remote).  Are you willing to establish a
bribery scheme?  Hand it in and get a free exhibition badge or something of
the sort?  You'll probably need to, but can you afford the costs and/or time
involved in making, purchasing, administering the scheme?  Similarly,
remember that an evaluation sheet is an additional printing cost, especially
as it will probably need to be on a sheet of its own.

You also need to ask "what outcome do I want".  Remember that you are making
a lot of work for yourself.   Assuming you've bribed the kids into handing
them in, and discounted all the unutterably depressing stupid remarks that
some would-be Bart Simpsons will always make, you then need to read, record,
classify and analyse the results.  Do you have a good computer program
developed to deal with it?  Are you allowing for age, sex, school, economic
factors?  If so, how?  If not, will your results mean enough to be worth the
time, money and effort it's going to cost you?

Unless you just want a very simple response, e.g. "32% of kids who visited
like the Ming dragons and enjoyed the worksheet"  "99% can't pronounce
Qianlong" you need to discuss your ideas with your evaluation coordinator
(if you have one) and argue a good case for the value of the work you'll be
doing.  It can be really valuable if its done properly, it's just not easy.

Heleanor

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Sydney Mint Museum

Heleanor,

Thank you so much for the advice on the children's guide.  I learned a
great deal from your list of do's and don'ts.  I appreciate that you took
the time to help.

This is my first attempt at designing a children's guide.  From all the
advice that I received over the discussion list, I realize that there is
so much more to children's guides than just coloring and puzzles.  I have
been enlightened!

I have one last question, should I include an evaluation page?  I looked
at samples of other children's guides and two had an such a page:  "What
was your favorite piece?  What did you like about this guide?  What did
you like least about this guide?"

Thank you again,
Melanie Cagonot
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