Learning from museum exhibits : the influence of sequence, verbal ability, field dependence, and perspective-taking instructions

260 Pages·1993·6 MB·English

by  Ellis, James F.

LEARNING FROM MUSEUM EXHIBITS: THE INFLUENCE OF SEQUENCE,
VERBAL ABILITY, FIELD DEPENDENCE, AND PERSPECTIVE-TAKING
INSTRUCTIONS
By
JAMES F. ELLIS, JR.
A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
-DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
WSVBSITY OF FLORIDA LIERARiR
Copyright 1993
by
James F. Ellis, Jr.
The work published herein is dedicated to my wife,
Georgeann A. Ellis, and to my parents, J. Frank Ellis and
Dorothy A. Ellis.
"For the people, for education, for science"
Motto of the American Museum of Natural History, 1869
(Ramsey, 1938, p. 2)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This dissertation would not have been possible without
the support and help provided by many individuals. Foremost
in my life and in support of my pursuit of this dissertation
has been Georgeann, my wife. Without her support and
constant encouragement none of this would have been
possible.
Acknowledgement is also due to my committee and in
particular my chairman, Dr. John J. Koran, Jr., who made it
possible for me to enter a nontraditional, interdisciplinary
program and who continuously encouraged me to go beyond what
I thought were my limits of knowledge. Drs. Mary Lou Koran,
Eugene Todd, David Miller, and John Eisenberg also deserve
strong recognition for without their continuous support and
advice none of this would have been possible.
The Florida Museum of Natural History and in particular
Mrs. Betty D. Camp, museum programs coordinator, deserve my
grateful acknowledgement as well. I must also thank the
museum as well for providing me with the use of the exhibit
and Betty for her continued interest and practical comments
as well as help in the development of outcome measures and
in data collection. - I also wish to thank Virginia Lawrence,
the museum security guard, who for days on end provided me
iv
with tremendously invaluable information on visitor behavior
and constant support on the long days I spent at the museum
collecting the data reported in this dissertation.
Acknowledgement is also due the American College Testing
Service for providing me with copies of the ACT Science
Reasoning instrument utilized in this study.
In the end much of the deserved credit must also go to
my parents, who provided my brother and I with a rich
childhood that included uncountable visits to museums and
r
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES xi
ABSTRACT xii
CHAPTERS
1 INTRODUCTION 1
Statement of the Problem 5
Definition of Terms 7
Importance of the Study 9
2 LITERATURE REVIEW 12
Exhibit Characteristics 14
Visitor Processing Activities 28
Sequence Implications for Museums from
Cognitive Psychology 3
Sequence Implications from Museum Based
Learning Research 42
Museum Visitor Characteristics 52
Outcomes — 59
Perspectives Research A Unifying Theme for
Museum Studies 72
. .
Summary 80
3 METHODOLOGY 86
Research Hypotheses 86
Main Effects 86
Two-way Interactions 86
Three-way Interaction 87
.
Experimental Design 87
Exhibit Conditions 90
. .,
Treatment Conditions 91
Instructional Materials 92
Subjects 94
vi
Measures 95
Subject Background 95
Aptitudes 95
Posttest 97
General Procedures 101
Method of Analyses/Scoring 102
RESULTS 104
Criterion—Referenced Outcome Measure 104
Subjects Descrip—tive Statistics 106
Aptitude Measure Descriptive Statistics 112
. . .
Regression Analysis 123
Findings 125
Zoology Subscore (Yl) 125
Geology Subscore (Y2) 13
Unrelated/Other Subscore (Y3) 133
Total Score (Y5) 135
Mainpoints Score (Y4) 136
Zoology Free Recall Rating (Y6) 141
Time in Exhibit (Y10) 144
Nonsignificant Findings 144
Hypotheses 145
Main Effects 145
Two-way Interactions 147
Three-way Interaction 148
Review of Findings 149
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS 150
To What Extent is Exhibit Sequence Important
in the Acquisition of Cognitive and
....
Affective Material in the Exhibit? 152
To What Extent can Learners be Influenced by
Perspective-Taking Instructions Given Prior
to Visiting an Exhibit 154
To What Extent do Visitor Characteristics such
as Verbal Ability, Field Dependence/
Independence, and General Science Knowledge
Interact with Learner Acquisition of
Cognitive and Affective Exhibit Outcomes? 159
.
Implications 161
APPENDICES
SAS RANDOM NUMBERS PROGRAM FOR ASSIGNMENT TO
TREATMENT CONDITIONS 165
...
CRITERION REFERENCED MEASURE ITEM ORDER 172
....
EXHIBIT LABELLING SEQUENCE ASSIGNMENT 176
D FOSSIL STUDY CENTER SEQUENCE OF EXHIBIT PANELS
AND CASES 178
— ....
E SUBJECT INSTRUCTION SHEETS SEQUENCED 180
—
F SUBJECT INSTRUCTION SHEETS NON-SEQUENCED 184
. .
G SAMPLE OF EXHIBIT/CASE LABEL 188
H INTRODUCTORY PROJECT INFORMATION FOR SUBJECTS 189
....
I SUBJECT INFORMED CONSENT RELEASE FORM 190
J FREE RECALL MEASURE 191
K CRITERION REFERENCED OUTCOME MEASURE AND
ANSWER KEY 193
L SUBJECT BACKGROUND SURVEY 205
M AFFECTIVE INSTRUMENT 208
—
N REGRESSION ANALYSIS RESULTS SAS PRINTOUT 211
. .
REFERENCES 221
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 242
—
LIST OF TABLES
Table page
2-1 Learning Categories 60
3-1 Design of Study 88
3-2 Treatment Conditions 93
3-3 Subscore and Total Score Correlations and
....
Internal Consistency Reliabilities 100
4-1 Exhibit/Criterion Referenced Measure Content 105
.
—
4-2 Item Difficulty 75 Item Criterion Referenced
Measure 107
4-3 Summary of Item Difficulties by Zoology,
Geology, Unrelated/Other and Mainpoint
Content 108
4-4 Replies by Treatment Group to Affect Item A22 111
....
4-5 Gender of Subjects by Treatment Group 113
4-6 Overall Unadjusted Means 114
4-7 Unadjusted Means by Treatment Conditions 117
. . .
4-8 Correlations between Independent and Dependent
Variables 120
4-9 Correlations between Independent Variables 121
. .
4-10 Variables in the Regression Model 124
4-11 Summary of Significant Findings 126
—
4-12 Criterion Referenced Outcome Measure Zoology,
Geology, Unrelated/Other, and Total Score
Significant Findings 127
IX
—
4-13 Criterion Referenced Outcome Measure Mainpoints
Score, Fr—ee Recall Zoology, and Time in
Exhibit Significant Findings 128
4-14 Main Effect Mean Differences for Total Score by-
Treatment 137