Research on ‘Quality’ in Online Experiences for Museum Users

Introduction

Motivation and Learning on Museum Web Sites

People who visit physical museums, or who visit a museum's Web site, may become curious or interested to explore content because of 'a hook' that initially arouses their curiosity and interest (Csikszentmihalyi and Hermanson, 1995). A person might be motivated to pursue further learning when complex information is presented in a way that is enjoyable and intrinsically rewarding. The learning experience can involve the whole person - the intellectual, sensory, emotional, and spiritual faculties. Typically, intrinsic motivation rather than external reward drives people to visit an online or on-site exhibition.

'Quality' in online museum experiences depends, in part, on what motivates individuals to search for and browse a museum Web site. What engages them to explore the site more deeply? What helps them to better understand the online content after their online experience?

Genevieve Bell (2001), an anthropologist at Intel Corporation, discusses ecological studies of real and virtual museum visits. In an online interview she explained, "Museums were starting to think about how you could use the Internet, not just to replicate the museum online, but also to give people the same kind of rich experience you get in visiting a museum. They were saying, 'Okay, part of what going to a museum is about is that it is kind of a rich experience. It is an intellectual engagement, and an engagement of the senses. It is some sense of being moved past who you are.' You can use the Internet to do that in ways that are profoundly different than in real space. People had started to think really creatively about that" (p. 2).

When planning for museum experiences there are different approaches to help people understand 'rich topics' (Gardner, 1999).

• Multiple points of entry bring visitors into an on-site or online exhibition so that they want to experience and learn about the museum's objects and ideas (e.g., through narrative, numerical, logical, existential, foundational, 'hands-on,' or interpersonal entry points).
• Powerful analogies and metaphors enable visitors to make connections and associations, which make the experience personally meaningful.
• Multiple representations of core themes provide interpretation in different ways and in different media (e.g., natural language, logical analysis, graphic form, audio/video, film, arts media, or live interpretation).

At the 2001 American Association of Museums (AAM) Annual Meeting during a session called, "Setting a Course through Cyberspace" (Falk, Steinbach, Goldman, & Sayre, 2001), speakers affirmed that Web sites have been largely functional to date and little is known about the Web's potential to extend the learning reach of museums. What is particularly challenging is finding out:

What meaning online visitors are making.

• How virtual museum sites contribute to what people know and understand.
• Why people come to the Web site and what they experience.
• Tracking who is filling out, and not filling out, online surveys that are attached to Web sites.

The nature of learning online and outcomes of the virtual experience. To date, evaluation of Web sites has been based on just the basic facts of online experiences rather than the nature of learning and outcomes. The presenters in this session talked about three types of Web sites:

• Brochure or marketing sites
• Sites with a research mission
• Sites with an education mission.

Learning outcomes or expected learning after an online experience. These could be:

• New understanding, attitudes and behaviours
• Aesthetic experiences
• Critical inquiry
• Personal learning or 'museum savvy'