Thesis (M.Ed.)--State University of New York at Buffalo, 2008
Science centers/museums play a major role as informal science education venues. A recent development has been the use of human body exhibitions by these institutions. This thesis is meant to contribute to the understanding of the impact of these exhibits by examining the attitudes of science center visitors toward a specific example of such an exhibition
Through a mixed methods design, this thesis explores the attitudes of visitors with regard to such factors as the appropriateness, engagement, content and educational value of the exhibition experience. The attitude changes are also examined relative to detailed visitor demographics
Findings indicate that the exhibition produces a significant, though moderate, positive attitude change in visitors. Only age emerges as a relevant demographic category. Significantly, pre experience attitude scores emerge as the best indicator of post experience scores. That is, visitor expectations are the best predictor of their post experience attitudes
