Understanding Producers’ Intentions and Viewers’ Learning Outcomes in a Science Museum Theater Play on Evolution

Abstract

Science museums often introduce plays to liven up exhibits, attract visitors to specific exhibitions, and help visitors to "digest" difficult content. Most previous research has concentrated on viewers' learning outcomes. This study uses performance and spectator analyses from the field of theater studies to explore the link between producers' intended aims, the written script, and the learning outcomes. We also use the conflict of didactics and aesthetics, common to the design of both educational plays and science museum exhibits, as a lens for understanding our data. "Darwin's journey," a play about evolution, was produced by a major science museum in Israel. The producers' objectives were collected through indepth interviews. A structural analysis was conducted on the script. Viewer (n=103) and nonviewer (n=90) data were collected via a questionnaire. The results show strong evidence for the encoding of all of the producers' aims in the script. Explicit and cognitive aims were decoded as intended by the viewers. The evidence was weak for the decoding of implicit and affective aims. While the producers were concerned with the conflict of didactics and aesthetics, this conflict was not apparent in the script. The conflict is discussed within the broader context of science education in informal settings.

Engaging and assessing students via a museum educational program

“…During the last decade, museums have helped visitors to come in contact with difficult and occasionally controversial scientific content such as evolution, not only through specific exhibitions, but also through theatrical plays, role plays and dramas that take place at their facilities (Evans et al, 2010;Peleg & Baram-Tsabari, 2016). As a result, many participants in museum activities relevant to evolutionary theory already seem to be able to apply evolutionary principles to some organisms, suggesting that museums can contribute to reducing naturalistic or creationist reasoning patterns and reinforcing the use of scientific evidence to explain phenomena (Spiegel et al, 2006).…”

The Concept of ‘Play’ from the Point of View of Theories of Museology

“…Taip formuojamas daugiajutiminis individualizuotas įsitraukimas ir tarpkultūrinis kontekstualusis estetinis patyrimas 61 . Madsas Daugbjergas apibendrina, kad XXI a. muzeologijos teorijoje dominuoja patyriminis, interaktyvus ir daugiajutiminis dalyvavimas 62 , kuris lemia žaismo diskurso aktualumą. Todėl sensorinė muzeologija žaismo intensyvumo muziejuje požiūriu yra vienas aktualiausių pavyzdžių.…”