Summative Evaluation of the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Big Back Yard

This report presents the findings of the summative evaluation of the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Big Back Yard (BBY), with a specific focus on Earthscapes Miniature Golf. Mary McEathron, Amy Grack, and Stacey Grimes, graduate students in the Evaluation Studies program at the University of Minnesota, carried out the evaluation during the summer of 2004. The purposes of the evaluation were to understand visitors’ experiences in the Big Back Yard and the quality of awareness or understanding acquired as a result of that experience. The evaluation was conducted to answer the following evaluation questions: (1) How do visitors interact with the various components (exhibits, labels, holes) of the Big Back Yard? (2) To what extent does the Big Back Yard increase visitors’ awareness and understanding of the Earth’s changing surface? (3) How do experiences in the Big Back Yard vary for different types of visitors? (4) To what extent do factors such as tee times or group composition affect a visitor’s experience in the Big Back Yard? Includes observation protocol.