Science Museum of Minnesota

The Science Museum of Minnesota will re-examine and recreate the ways in which it gathers, analyzes, and uses data to guide its strategic planning and daily work. The Department of Evaluation and Research in Learning, in collaboration with the senior leadership team, will expand and accelerate an ongoing process to document, study, and improve data-gathering systems throughout the institution; develop and test new strategies and practices; refine and expand on the tools and practices used to elicit feedback from visitors; better document the visitors' learning experiences; and be more proactive in engaging visitors. The project team will communicate findings and solicit feedback from the entire staff, and smaller cross-departmental teams will develop and refine data collection tools and management systems to strengthen institutional evaluation capacity. The museum will form an advisory board of external museum and evaluation experts, as well as a Twin Cities, industry-based advisory board to offer perspectives from other fields.