Experiment Benches: Summative Evaluation Report

The Experiment Benches at Science Museum of Minnesota are a series of multiple-outcome participatory exhibits located within the Experiment Gallery. Designed to give visitors a large degree of control over their learning while promoting and guiding meaningful scientific thought, they provide an opportunity for visitors to create and set their own experiments in order to explore a given phenomenon or topic. As such, they are designed o be responsive to a visitor's curiosity, allowing them to follow a personally directed inquiry.

The purpose of this summative evaluation project was to determine the degree to which the benches are a useful paradigm for designing stand-alone exhibits that are capable of engaging visitors in meaningful scientific inquiry. Three multiple-outcome benches and two single-outcome exhibits were selected for the study.