Children as curators: how to incorporate young visitors’ voices into the elaboration and evaluation of a microbiology exhibition

• Main Authors: Milene Tino De Franco, Celi Rodrigues Chaves Dominguez, Glaucia Colli Inglez, Juliana Bettini Verdiani Cizauskas, Viviane Maimone Gonçalves, Alessandra Fernandes Bizerra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Casa de Oswaldo Cruz
• Series: História, Ciências, Saúde: Manguinhos
• Subjects: crianças; museu científico; avaliação de exibição; microorganismos; literatura científica
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-59702019000100085&lng=en&tlng=en

Abstract Studies of museum publics are relatively recent, and studies of child visitors are even more recent. In this paper we summarize the types of exhibition evaluations mentioned in the literature and present an evaluation process for an exhibition about microbiology developed for and with input from 4-to-6-year-old children. As a case study we analyzed an exhibition entitled “The Giant World of Microbes.” Audio and video interviews were recorded with child visitors, and the stimulated recall technique was also employed. The data indicate the importance of interactive activities in enhancing child motivation and providing pertinent routes to follow when preparing an exhibition geared toward children.