Evaluating Single Visit School Tours

at The Noguchi Museum

The Process

The starting point:

If at first you don’t succeed…

Our Challenges:

•What data is objective?

•What do we really want to know?

•Who collects data?

•What will we do with the data? How will it be useful?

The Findings

What scored highest:

•Tour guides began by explicitly asking students to look at the work and share what they notice

•Tour guide modeled looking closely

•Tour guide asked “what makes you say that

•Tour guide demonstrated that she or he heard and understood what the students were saying

•Student comments were specific to the work of art

What scored lowest:

•Tour guides ask open-ended questions

•Tour guides challenge students to think interpretively

•Tour guides offer students the opportunity to make personal connections

•Tour guides wait for responses from at least 4 students

•Students focused on the work / were not distracted

The Implications

HIGHEST SCORING INDICATORS

CONGRATULATE THE EDUCATORS&

SHARE WITH DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

LOWEST SCORING INDICATORS

OPPORTUNITY FOR REFLECTION &

INSPIRATION FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

WHAT ARE WE STILL CURIOUS ABOUT? HOW DO WE FIND

OUT?

1. Tour guides offer students the opportunity to make personal connections

2. Students focused on the work / were not distracted

LOWEST SCORING INDICATORS

OPPORTUNITY FOR REFLECTION &

INSPIRATION FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Tour guides challenge students to think interpretively•What does this mean? •What is a “good” interpretation?

WHAT ARE WE STILL CURIOUS ABOUT? HOW DO WE FIND

OUT?