See the National Academy Press for a recent overview. When I entered the field from academia more than two decades ago, a question still being asked was how to demonstrate that visitors to science centers were actually learning. It was obvious to those in the field that education was taking place, but in a form very different from the classroom, making school-based measurement tools inappropriate. The nature of the impact differs greatly from visitor to visitor and may not become obvious for weeks or months. During the coming years, science centers will need to continue to innovate and evolve.
Science centers are well positioned to play an important role in our knowledge-based economy.
Just as science itself continues to advance, science centers also must seek ever more effective ways to first attract visitors and then provide self-motivating experiences that enable them to create personal meaning. His statement encapsulates the special role that can be played by informal learning at science centers. The challenge is to engage the visitor as completely as possible in ways that make learning intrinsically enjoyable. As an example, the approach we took when creating Science City at Union Station in Kansas City was to create the totally themed environment of a city for visitors to explore, rather than exhibits. The environments and experiences within them were based on market testing to ensure audience appeal, a prerequisite to engagement and discovery.