Family Experience of Splash Zone

This exhibition was created to attract and appeal to families with children based on a major strategic planning effort targeting a specific audience. Summative evaluation was commissioned to reflect on the original goals for the exhibition as well as to inform future decisions regarding institutional and exhibition planning for family audiences. Several complementary research methods were used to address a variety of questions about family experiences in Splash Zone: two methods of exit interviews (281 family interviews where parents were asked most of the questions, and 55 interviews with children where the focus was on 7 to 9 year olds), observations of children's behavior in the exhibition (169 children for about 10-minutes each), and finally, data were analyzed from the aquarium's monthly exit surveys to provide a context for understanding the appeal of Splash Zone.