Science Under Sail

Science Under Sail: Russia's Great Voyages to America 1728-1867 opened in May 2000 at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art (AMHA) for a five-month run. Developed by Curator Barbara Sweetland Smith and designed by Presentation Design Group, Science Under Sail was a 5,340-square-foot exhibition consisting of 44 elements, including text and graphic panels, cases with artifacts and specimens, audio stations, ship models, dioramas, and interactive elements. Overhead banners separated the exhibition into five sections: Why did they sail? Where did they go? How did they get there? What did they find?, and What is Russia's legacy? The purpose of the summative evaluation was to find out how well the exhibition worked. We wanted to know where visitors stopped, what they did, which elements they liked most, how much time they spent, if they understood what the exhibition was about, what they learned, what impressed them, and what suggestions they had for improvements. Since the exhibition was planned to travel, we had the opportunity to make modifications to it between its run in Anchorage and its first travel site. This report includes an interview protocol and exit questionnaire.