Papers: The On-line and the On-site Holocaust Museum Exhibition as an Informational Resource

Introduction

The museum in recent years has come to be regarded as an information utility and as a repository of knowledge rather than of objects. The technological revolution has impacted museum culture so that visitors can now view and benefit from actual as well as virtual exhibitions. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is America’s national institution for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history and provides both on-site and on-line exhibitions. Although researchers have focused attention on models of museum learning theory and on the educational value of museum Web sites, few studies have attempted to compare learning benefits associated with an on-line museum visit vs. an on-site museum visit.

Despite the scarcity of studies undertaken thus far to determine the comparable value of on-line vs. on-site museum exhibitions, several researchers have offered suggestions for further investigation. Kravchyna (2004) studied real and virtual information needs of museum visitors and recommended that additional research be undertaken regarding the educational component of virtual exhibits and that further studies should be done focusing on teachers’ use of exhibits. Stinson (2001) studied the effect of a Web-based museum tour compared to an actual museum visit on the social studies achievement of fifth grade students and recommended that additional research be done focusing on students at a different grade level and in reference to different subject matter. Stinson (2001) also suggested that subsequent studies might look at how educators use a museum Web site in conjunction with a field trip to enhance achievement.

In response to this research need, an opportunity presented itself to study secondary school students’ comparative use of an on-line Holocaust museum exhibition vs. an on-site Holocaust museum exhibition. The Art Center of Battle Creek, Michigan was chosen by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to receive a traveling museum exhibition Life in Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust for a three-month period beginning in September 2005. The USHMM Traveling Exhibitions program allows institutions nationwide to bring the history and the lessons of the Holocaust into their community. Using the latest research methodology and innovative design and production, Museum exhibitions encourage diverse audiences to learn about the events of the Holocaust and to reflect on its meaning for people today.

The Battle Creek Art Center was selected as a suitable venue for Life in Shadows following a successful 2003 project whereby the city’s local synagogue (Temple Beth El) hosted the USHMM traveling exhibition Oskar Schindler (Lincoln, 2003). Life in Shadows explored the remarkable history of children who went underground to escape Nazi persecution and destruction. The exhibition was scheduled to travel to only two other locations in the United States: The Spertus Museum in Chicago and the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City where the exhibition is currently on display until June 24, 2006. Funding for the Battle Creek exhibition was secured from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Battle Creek Community Foundation, the Marshall Community Foundation, and the Battle Creek Rotary Club, and from contributions given by individual donors and local businesses. An Ad Hoc Art Center Committee was in place for 18 months and oversaw all aspects of fundraising, publicity, organization of supporting events and educational outreach for Life in Shadows. For example, an Art Center Website was designed at http://www.artcenterofbattlecreek.org/shadows/index.html

Fig 1: Battle Creek Art Center Web site promoting exhibition

The research component of the Life in Shadows project has been made possible through my involvement in an interdisciplinary information science doctorate program of the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton ( http://web2.unt.edu/isdocs/IMLS.php). Supported by an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant, ten librarians drawn from the school and public library fields were chosen to begin their studies in June 2004. The IMLS grant of $350,000 has covered two years tuition, travel to campus, and digital connectivity for students in this unique distance-independent education experience. The current research project thus came about through a fortuitous combination of circumstances which saw Life in Shadows on display in Battle Creek, Michigan and which permitted the formulation of a study guided by UNT’s School of Library and Information Sciences.

The purpose of this study was to better understand the informational value of a Holocaust Museum exhibition in its on-site vs. on-line format by converging quantitative and qualitative data. Using student responses to questions on an on-line exhibition survey, an analysis of variance was performed to determine which scenario of a museum exhibition visit promoted the greatest content learning. Using student responses to closed-ended and open-ended questions on the same survey, data were analyzed to discover the impact on students of each scenario of a museum exhibition visit. By means of an empathy testing instrument, data were analyzed to determine any differences among student responses according to the scenario of exhibition visit. The traveling version of Life in Shadows (considered the on-site exhibition in this study) included original artifacts, archival documents, photographs, video documentary and recorded audio. The Web-based version of Life in Shadows (considered the on-line exhibition in this study) presented these same objects and used characteristics of Web media to support varied types of learning experiences (O’Dowd, 2004).

The study addressed the following research question:

How does a visit to an on-line Holocaust museum exhibition prepare students for a trip to an on-site Holocaust museum exhibition?

Three sub-questions were considered:

1. How do topic assessment responses differ among middle school students who view a Holocaust museum exhibition only on-line, vs. only on-site, vs. both on-line and on-site?
2. How does exhibition evaluation feedback differ among middle school students who view a Holocaust museum exhibition only on-line, vs. only on-site, vs. both on-line and on-site?
3. How do empathy test scores differ among middle school students who view a Holocaust museum exhibition only on-line, vs. only on-site, vs. both on-line and on-site?

Subsequent sections of this paper will describe how the study was carried out and will address: (1) research design; (2) identification of participants; (3) development and procurement of materials; (4) treatment; (5) data collection and analysis procedures; (6) preliminary results and (7) continuing research.

Research Design

A mixed-method design, using both qualitative and quantitative approaches to gathering, interpreting and reporting data, was selected for this study (McMillan 2004). This mixed-methods study employed a survey and empathy testing instrument to address the stated research questions. The survey created was based upon an experimental design characterized by the comparison of two or more groups, at least one experimental and at least one a control or comparison group. The experimental group was given a new or innovative program/intervention in the form of access to the on-line version of a museum exhibition prior to visiting the on-site exhibition. One control group was given an alternative program in the form of a single visit to a traditional or on-site museum exhibition while a second comparison group viewed only an on-line museum exhibition. The empathy testing instrument used for the study was based on Albert Mehrabian’s research on emotional empathy, defined as the vicarious experience of another's emotional experiences (Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972).

The study was planned to consider three groups or scenarios of classes that viewed various combinations of the on-site and on-line versions of Life in Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust in the fall of 2005. Each group included two separate classes of approximately 23 students. In group one, teachers provided an introductory lesson on the Holocaust that focused on the topic of hidden children; students visited the on-site Life in Shadows exhibition; students were assessed by means of the on-line survey and completed the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES); and as an optional event, students visited the on-line Life in Shadows exhibition but were not assessed again. In group two, teachers provided an introductory lesson on the Holocaust that focused on the topic of hidden children and that utilized the on-line Life in Shadows exhibition; students were assessed by means of the on-line survey and the BEES; and as an optional event, students visited the on-site Life in Shadows exhibition but were not assessed again. In group three, teachers provided an introductory lesson on the Holocaust that focused on the topic of hidden children and that utilized the on-line Life in Shadows exhibition; students visited the on-site Life in Shadows exhibition; and students were assessed by means of the on-line survey and the BEES. Figure 2 graphically summarizes the design of the study:

Fig 2: Scenarios of classroom visits to on-line and on-site Holocaust exhibition

Identification of Participants

An identification of participants in the study took place in spring 2005 when a Holocaust Educators’ Workshop was held in Battle Creek, Michigan. Prior to this date, teachers from around the state of Michigan were notified of the traveling exhibition and a schedule of classroom field trip visits to the exhibition was developed. The traveling exhibition and workshop were publicized through an announcement flyer posted on the Web sites of the Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME), Michigan Teacher Network (MTN) and the Council of Holocaust Educators (CHE).

The Holocaust Educators’ workshop was offered to secondary school teachers who had signed up to bring classes to the exhibition so that these teachers might better prepare their students for viewing Life in Shadows. The workshop took place at the local Willard Public Library on May 18, conducted by Stephen Feinberg, head of National Outreach in the Museum’s Education Department, assisted by Dr. Joyce Witt, USHMM Regional Educational Corps Member. The workshop was provided at no charge to attendees. These educators received professional development (PD) credit and stipends for purchases of instructional materials recommended by USHMM. Lesson plans focusing on the topic of hidden children were shared with workshop participants. These lessons had been developed by master teachers from USHMM teacher education programs to specifically support the Life in Shadows exhibition.

During the course of the workshop, identification was made of a group of teachers to participate in the study from among all teachers attending the workshop. In turn, an identification of students in classes of these selected teachers was made. Participants would include six eighth grade language arts classes that typically studied the Holocaust through reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Students involved in the study were thus chosen by means of a nonprobability sampling method or convenience sample of a group of individuals who are readily available (Fink, 2003).

School and class demographics were reviewed to determine the extent to which participating classes were comparable with regard to school enrolment, ethnicity, socio-economic level, school size, student teacher ratio, students with disabilities, and reading and writing proficiency scores on the MEAP (Michigan Education Assessment Program). Table 1 presents findings from the Michigan School Information Online Service at http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/mischoolinfo/ (Michigan.gov 2005).

Variable	Madison	Springfield	Harper Creek
School Size (Enrollment)	344	435	469
White (%)	73.0	63.0	92.5
Black (%)	3.0	21.0	3.8
Hispanic (%)	22.0	8.0	2.2
Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	1.3	4.0	1.3
American Indian/Alaska Native (%)	.2	4.0	0.2
Multi Racial (%)	NA	NA	NA
Students receiving free or reduced lunch (%)	42	65	20.6
Students with disabilities (%)	21	14	13.6
Student/teacher ratio	15.2	14.2	18.1
Grade 7 Reading Proficiency 2005 MEAP (%)	84.7	62.5	79.6
Grade 7 Writing Proficiency 2005 MEAP (%)	47.3	39.3	54.1

Table 1: Demographic characteristics of participating middle schools

Development and Procurement of Materials

The development and procurement of materials used in this study were accomplished with input and support from USHMM personnel, Holocaust educators and other researchers. In order to undertake this study focusing on a Holocaust Museum exhibition as an informational resource, it was necessary to obtain lesson plans, a survey instrument and an empathy testing scale.

Lesson Plans

Lesson plans related to the topic of hidden children during the Holocaust were collected and solicited from Holocaust educators so that this instructional material could be offered to teachers attending the spring 2005 workshop. As was mentioned in a description of the three scenarios of exhibition visits, teachers would employ these instructional resources in connection with the exhibition visits. Holocaust-related lesson plans had already been collected as part of an advanced funding project which I undertook for USHMM’s Museum Teacher Fellowship Program and which had been made available at http://mandelproject.us/index.html (Lincoln, 2004). Additional lesson plans were sought with an incentive award through a posting on the CHE Web site and through e-mail communications with past USHMM Museum Teacher Fellows. The lesson plans were provided on CD to May workshop attendees and also published on the Museum Fellowship Teaching Resources site. The four hidden children lesson plans included:

Children in Hiding During the Holocaust

Hidden Children and the Holocaust: A Lesson and Pledge for Action

In Hiding: A Choiceless Choice of the Holocaust

“Let me sing a carefree song once more:” Poetry of Hidden Children

Fig 3: Museum Fellowship Teaching Resources Web site

Fig 4: Hidden Children and the Holocaust: A Lesson and Pledge for Action Web site

Survey Instrument

The on-line survey used in this study as a topic assessment tool (research sub question A) and as a means to obtain student exhibition feedback (research sub question B) was designed through my participation in a survey methods course. The School of Library and Information Sciences at the University of North Texas offered this course in the spring 2005 semester with access to the University’s Zope Web server and the open-source QSurvey software.

Prior to constructing the survey, goals were established to ensure that the instrument would be properly designed and would yield useful data (Walonick, 2003). With this purpose in mind, USHMM personnel were contacted to offer advice as to what types of questions ought to be included in the survey. Lawrence Swiader, Deputy Chief Information Officer at USHMM (personal communication, November 1, 2004), pointed out that finding evaluation questions may take some work since the Museum's exhibitions creation process doesn't begin with the writing of explicit learning objectives that can be turned around into easy evaluation questions. Exhibit developers, for example, never say that given one hour in the exhibit a person will be able to describe a hidden child as one who was hidden physically or whose identity was changed. Swiader further recommended that attitudes were worth evaluating. He would be curious about the attitudes of people towards learning more about hidden children or the Holocaust after having seen the on-site exhibition as opposed to the on-line exhibition. In the long term process, would one exhibition format create a greater or lesser tendency in students towards wanting to continue their education or maintaining their relationship with the Museum (real or virtual)? How empowered to continue their learning about the Holocaust does one or the other form of the exhibition make them?

William Younglove, a colleague in the Museum Teacher Fellowship Program and organizer of the USHMM National Outreach Forums in Southern California, offered a rationale for the use of open-ended survey items as opposed to closed-ended items (personal communication, November 12, 2004). According to Dr. Younglove (a retired classroom teacher), closed-ended questions were less valuable, more tricky, and debatable at times. He often challenged students to pick the “best right answer.” When they could mount a convincing argument, buttressed particularly with evidence, he gladly accepted alternate responses. Younglove shared some possible closed-ended items to include on the Life in Shadows survey, but a quick perusal of these items made one realize that such questions would not be likely to elicit the type of affective responses described above by Swiader. An examination of such closed-ended items reinforced the belief that they should not have been included in the survey.

The only hiding place NOT specifically mentioned in the Life in Shadows exhibit was

• the city sewers
• the nearby forests
• a wardrobe
• a haystack

A number of Jewish children hid successfully because they

• learned the prayers and rituals of their assumed religion
• wore the Star of David upside down and backwards
• managed to obtain forged papers
• appeared naturally “Aryan” in appearance

Having established goals and having made some preliminary decisions about survey design and format, USHMM curators were consulted to be certain of the commonality of exhibition content in the on-site/traveling version of Life in Shadows as compared to that of the on-line version of the exhibition. The survey instrument would need to be applicable for students who had viewed the on-site, the on-line, or both versions of Life in Shadows. To this end, Associate Curator Susan Goldstein Snyder provided a list of artifacts contained in both exhibitions (personal communication, January 25, 2005). It should be mentioned, however, that there exists an underlying design variation in the exhibitions. In the traveling on-site exhibition, artifacts are not centered around the story of a particular individual but rather on circumstances, such as difficulties of hiding, circumcision, hiding with false papers, the role of rescuers, etc. In the on-line exhibition, a particularly effective portion of the Web site (“Stories of the Hidden”) allows viewers to sort through and examine the personal items and accounts of several individuals. The ‘sorting’ activity is especially appropriate to this material since the survivors described within have had to build their own lives out of fragments (O’Dowd, 2004).

Based upon input from Holocaust educators and USHMM personnel, a 36-item survey was initially constructed. Items 1-10 gathered student background information such as prior knowledge of the Holocaust history (item 4). Items 11-24 were designed as open-ended questions (research sub question A) where students responded to a visual image prompt provided by an artifact or photograph from the Life in Shadows exhibition. Items 25-36 contained closed and open-ended items (research sub question B) designed to elicit student feedback on such exhibition features as informational value, organizational layout, and ability to capture student interest (Borun, 1992; Marty & Twidale, 2004).

In order to obtain permission to conduct research involving human subjects, an on-line application and supporting documents were submitted to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of North Texas. Students gave their assent to participate in the project by completing the survey. Students were also informed that the survey was part of a research project being undertaken at the University of North Texas to determine the educational and informational value of a museum exhibition in the on-line vs. on-site or traveling version. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was interested in knowing how this exhibition impacted them and appreciated the students’ willingness to respond to questions and to share their comments.

Following receipt of IRB approval, the survey was piloted with students in the Language Arts classes taught by Mrs. Betty Faircloth and Mrs. Cindy Cable at Harper Creek Junior High School in Battle Creek, Michigan on March 22-23, 2005. The teachers had first used the lesson “Hidden Children and the Holocaust: A Lesson and Pledge for Action” at http://mandelproject.us/Durham.htm to provide an opportunity for their students to access the on-line version of Life in Shadows and to supplement the reading of Anne Frank: the Diary of a Young Girl. Students were guided by a group exploration activity sheet at http://mandelproject.us/LifeShadowsExplorationSheet.doc. The data collected from 52 Harper Creek Junior High School students thus represented group scenario 2 as outlined in Figure 2.

The pilot test allowed students to be observed in the computer lab as they responded to the survey. Students were attentive, focused, and did not try to rush through the survey. The survey was designed so that students would not feel that they were completing an on-line quiz, testing their knowledge of the Holocaust. Rather there was an interest in learning how students were affected by the exhibit and in discovering how a historic topic was made real to them. Closed-ended items were used sparingly. The survey steered away from an overabundance of likert-type questions so that students would not be bored or blow off the experience as just another survey.

Subsequent feedback from David Klevan, Education Manager for Technology and Distance Learning Initiatives in the Division of Outreach Technology at USHMM, also led to a modification of original survey items 11-24 to elicit more evidence of cognitive learning (personal communication, June 15, 2005). The total number of survey items was reduced from 36 to 32 items so that the entire survey could be completed during a typical 40-minute class period. The review of survey items by qualified Museum educators and resulting revisions imparted a measure of face validity to the survey instrument. In other words, the survey appeared to ask needed questions and to use appropriate language (Fink, 2003). The revised on-line survey represents the final version of the survey accessed by students participating in this study in the fall of 2005.

Fig 5: Life in Shadows survey

Empathy Testing Scale

Empathy testing materials (research sub question C) were obtained from the developer of the BEES (A. Mehrabian, personal communication, November 1, 2004). Purchase agreements with the developer preclude the reproduction of any items of the BEES in any medium for distribution to others (e.g., dissertation, written report, journal article or any Internet-based communication). Permission is only given to make hard-copy reproductions of the BEES for use with participants being tested. It is allowable, however, to present the following two sample items from the BEES:

___ Unhappy movie endings haunt me for hours afterward.

___ I cannot feel much sorrow for those who are responsible for their own misery.

Treatment

When the Life in Shadows exhibition officially opened at the Battle Creek Art Center on September 6, 2005, a full schedule of 72 separate classroom visits had been organized. Included among these visits were two student groups from Madison Middle School in Adrian, Michigan; three student groups from Springfield Middle School in Battle Creek, Michigan; and two student groups from Harper Creek Middle School. Teachers from these three schools had attended the May 2005 Holocaust Educators’ Workshop and their students had been selected as participants for the study.

In preparation for student visits to the on-site Life in Shadows exhibition, a group of 46 retired school teachers was identified to serve as volunteer docents. These retired teachers received official training and a guided tour of the exhibition on September 1, 2005, conducted by Life in Shadows Associate Curator Susan Goldstein Snyder with the exhibition fully mounted. Ms. Snyder led the docents through the exhibition, provided background and unique historical details about various artifacts. Docents learned, for example, the incredible story of five-year-old Frederik Steinkeller who hid by sitting on a small chair inside a wardrobe in an apartment in the Zawiercie ghetto. The wardrobe was a featured item in the exhibition.

Fig 6: USHMM Curator Susan Goldstein Snyder trains volunteer docents

Art Center staff (including the acting director, education coordinator and volunteer coordinator) worked with me to plan the logistics of each school group visit. A typical busload of 55 students was greeted upon arrival by Art Center staff and divided into two groups. One group assembled in a basement classroom to view the film I’m Still Here, Real Diaries of Young People Who Lived During the Holocaust based on Alexandra Zapruder's book Salvaged Pages while the other group toured the main exhibition. The film downstairs was approximately one hour in length and students spent an equal amount of time engaged with the exhibition upstairs. Groups then switched activities.

Students began their tour of Life in Shadows with a brief orientation to the exhibition by the Art Center Education Coordinator. Students gathered before the opening scrim photograph of a Catholic orphanage in Poland during the war and received some general background about the historical period. Students were then further sub-divided into three groups, introduced to a docent and given a gallery sheet of exhibition items such as the Frederik Steinkeller wardrobe mentioned above. The docent guided his/her group of 6-9 students through one of the three main exhibition galleries, drawing students’ attention to some of the artifacts noted on the gallery sheet. For example, students were intrigued to see the actual green sweater worn by eight-year-old Krystyna Chiger who hid with her family and 16 others for 14 months in the sewer beneath the city streets of the Lvov ghetto. Each group spent approximately 15 minutes in a particular gallery and then rotated locations.

Fig 7: Students view exhibition guided by volunteer docents

During the final 10-15 minutes of the Life in Shadows tour, the Education Coordinator brought all three sub-groups together in the central gallery so that students could discuss items highlighted on the gallery sheet and further share impressions of the exhibition. Students were especially moved by the gift of a ‘life calendar’ or prophecy drawing that one hidden child (Tsewie Herschel) received from his father who was later deported to the Sobibór killing center.

Additionally, students recorded on cards their responses to the following questions:

• What hardships of the experience of going into hiding would have been especially difficult for you?
• How does the knowledge gained from this exhibition influence the way you think about your choices today?

The comment cards (eventually numbering in the thousands after all school groups had visited Life in Shadows) were posted on walls of the downstairs classroom and on surrounding stairways of the Art Center. Students expressed a variety of emotions and offered comments such as the following:

• Going into hiding would be extremely difficult for me. It would be nearly impossible to keep quiet and barely move for several years. Those who survived, I idolize.
• I cannot see myself in the position of hiding and enduring the immense boredom and separation from my family and friends. I would be fearful of giving away my position and endangering the lives of others.
• Imagine existing on only 300 calories each day! I hope I can take this lesson into my normal everyday life.
• I will always remember the words of the children who went through the Holocaust. And I will never forget the look on their faces, confusion and disbelief.
• This exhibit will affect the choices I make today because my brother and I fight all the time and hearing about how the girl lost her brother, I realize how much I love him.
• I felt very strongly about our visit to the Art Center. I knew a fair amount about the Holocaust but was able to still learn more. The actual artifacts made it more interesting and made the knowledge connect to us. To think that 1.6 million children died. This exhibit truly impacted my life.

The preceding description of the on-site exhibition tour is applicable to the experience had by student groups from Madison, Springfield and Harper Creek Middle Schools. Meetings were held with teachers from these schools to plan the sequence of instructional activities and participation in the Life in Shadows exhibition study as outlined in Table 2:

School Teacher Visit Scenario	Activities	Time Frame
Madison Hogle on-site	Holocaust unit in place at Madison + May workshop materials Visit to Art Center exhibition Completion of on-line survey and BEES	September 12-23, 2005 September 27, 2005 September 28, 2005
Springfield Johnson on-site	Holocaust unit in place at Springfield + May workshop materials Visit to Art Center exhibition Completion of on-line survey and BEES	October 3-21, 2005 October 25, 2005 October 26, 2005
Springfield Gordon on-line	Life in Shadows exhibit on-line via hidden children lesson on-line Completion of on-line survey and BEES Visit to Art Center exhibition	October 3-21, 2005 October 24, 2005 October 27, 2005
Springfield Gordon on-line/on-site	Life in Shadows exhibit on-line via hidden children lesson on-line Visit to Art Center exhibition Completion of on-line survey and BEES	October 3-21, 2005 October 28, 2005 October 31, 2005
Harper Creek Faircloth on-line	Life in Shadows exhibit on-line via hidden children lesson on-line Completion of on-line survey and BEES Visit to Art Center exhibition	October 3-31, 2005 November 3, 2005 November 9, 2005
Harper Creek Kuipers on-line/on-site	Life in Shadows exhibit on-line via hidden children lesson on-line Visit to Art Center exhibition Completion of on-line survey and BEES	October 3-21, 2005 November 9, 2005 November 10, 2005

Table 2: Class participation schedule - Life in Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust

Data Collection and Analysis Procedures

This study required the collection of data pertaining to Holocaust learning, exhibition feedback and empathy responses. Procedures used to collect these data included obtaining approval from the University of North Texas IRB and providing participating schools with the following materials:

• Parental Consent Forms (completed on behalf of each student participating in the study)
• Designated URL on University of North Texas server (given to each school in order to access on-line survey)
• Paper copies of the survey instrument (made available in case of inability to connect to on-line survey)
• Student Assent form to participate in study (incorporated into the survey)
• Paper copies of the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale

Data were first collected from the University of North Texas server so that text and single item survey responses could be combined into Microsoft Excel files. In order to convert each set of student responses to survey items 11-20 into a numeric score, a scoring rubric provided by the New York State Education Department was utilized (New York State Education Department, 2005). To further assist in the scoring process, sample responses to items 11-20 were obtained from USHMM Teacher Fellows Dr. William Younglove, Dr. Joyce Witt and Mrs. Honey Kern (personal communications, July 30, 2005). BEES results were also input into Microsoft Excel files. Data were then analyzed using SPSS software and the open-source product WEFT QDA.

Preliminary Results

Preliminary data results became available when the above statistical procedures were run at the conclusion of the Life in Shadows exhibition. To address research sub question A, an ANOVA was performed to determine if there was a significant statistical difference among topic assessment responses from students in the three scenarios of classroom visits. Each student's responses to survey items 11-20 were converted to a numeric score using a scoring rubric. The Levene Statisitic for the Homogeneity of Variances showed a balanced design with the significance value of .260 > .05. There was a statistically significant effect of the scenario of classroom visit on the topic assessment scores, F(2, 135 )= 8.806, p < .05. Eta-squared (the percent variance accounted for in the dependent variable) was computed to be .115. This is considered to be just under a medium effect size according to Cohen (Hinkle, 2003). The ANOVA summary table is presented below in Table 3.

Source	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig	eta²
Between	256.536	2	128.268	8.806	.000	.115
Within	1966.370	135	14.566
Total	2222.906	137

Table 3: ANOVA for Content Score

Post Hoc Tests (the Tukey HSD) showed that students who viewed the on-site exhibition had means that were statistically significantly lower (p < .05) than students in the other scenario visits. Figure 8 displays a visual representation of the distribution of content scores on the topic assessment portion of the survey instrument.

Fig 8: Content scores by scenario

A Chi-Square Test was run to determine if there was a significant statistical relationship between scenario of classroom visit and an increase in perceived knowledge level of Holocaust history. SPSS calculated the Pearson chi-square score as 3.499 and degrees of freedom as 2. The p-value for this chi-square score was .174. Since this value is not less than 0.05, the null hypothesis failed to be rejected and it was not possible to conclude that a perceived increase in knowledge level of Holocaust history is related to scenario of classroom visit. The contingency coefficient was found to be .157 for the .174 significance value. Nonetheless, descriptive statistics showed that 106 students (76.8%) reported an increase in their knowledge level of Holocaust history following their experience with the Museum exhibition experience. Thirty-two students (23.2%) reported no increase.

Some differences in exhibition evaluation feedback were found among students according to the scenario of classroom visit (research sub question B). An ANOVA was performed to determine if there was significant statistical difference among usefulness evaluations for the following exhibition formats: audio, video, artifacts and photographs. The Levene Statisitic for the Homogeneity of Variances showed a balanced design with the significance value of .699 > .05 for audio format, 051 < .05 for video format, .066 > .05 for artifact format, and .871 > .05 for photograph format. There was a statistically significant difference among usefulness evaluations for the artifact format, F(2, 135 )= 6.799, p < .05 and for the video format, F(2, 135 )= 3.075, p < .05. Eta-squared was computed to be .091 for the artifact format and .044 for the video format. These values for eta² are considered to be in the small to medium effect size range according to Cohen (Hinkle, 2003).

Post Hoc Tests (Tukey HSD) revealed that the usefulness ratings of artifacts were statistically significantly lower among students who participated in the on-line classroom scenario visit and that the usefulness ratings of video were statistically significantly higher among students who participated in the on-line/on-site classroom scenario visit. Cross-tabulations helped to further analyze the breakdown of usefulness of artifacts ratings by scenario of classroom visit. For example, figure 9 shows usefulness ratings of the artifact format by scenario of visit.

Fig 9: Usefulness of artifacts by scenario

To address research sub question C, an ANOVA was performed to determine if there was significant statistical difference among BEES results from students in the three scenarios of classroom visits. While the Levene Statisitic for the Homogeneity of Variances showed a balanced design with the significance value of .842 > .05, a statistically significant effect of the scenario of classroom visit on BEES results was not found with F(2, 135 )= .737, p >.05. However, when BEES results were broken down by Battle Creek Public Schools compared to Madison and Harper Creek Schools, the mean for BEES results from the on-line/on-site classroom visit in each school district group was greater than the mean from the on-site classroom visit and from the on-line classroom visit in each school district group.

Continuing Research

A comprehensive interpretation and analysis of these preliminary data results will be forthcoming in the continuing research being undertaken at the School of Library and Information Sciences at the University of North Texas. Another promising option for extending the study and for acquiring additional data has emerged. The Holocaust exhibition survey is being used by several school groups in the New York metropolitan area who view Life in Shadows while it is on display at the Museum of Jewish Heritage from January until June 2006.

A limitation should be acknowledged, however, in the present scope of this study which included eighth grade language arts classes in three Michigan locales. It may not be possible to generalize results to other grade levels or to schools in other settings. The very powerful historical content of the traveling and virtual exhibitions that figured in this study also makes it difficult to extend generalizations about Holocaust learning to other areas of the Social Studies curriculum. Additional limitations arose from smaller sample sizes. Due to the fact that not all students turned in a Parental Consent Form, the average class size was reduced to 23 students.

The survey instrument itself posed a limitation to this study. Items 11-20 found on the on-line survey were intended to be used as a topic assessment tool. At best, the survey assessed content knowledge associated with the Life in Shadows exhibition. Although the survey was developed with input from Holocaust Museum educators, other measures of knowledge about the Holocaust may not have been assessed by the survey.

Finally, this study deliberately did not employ a pretest/post-test design so as not to sensitize students to the test. Administering a pretest can be looked upon as a benefit or as a threat to the validity of a study (MacMillan, 2004). Additional problems can arise when attempts are made to measure noncognitive traits such as attitudes on a likert scale as was done in this study. Two sources of error may occur: response set and faking. Response set is the tendency for subjects to respond in the same way, while faking involves deliberately inaccurate responses by subjects.

In spite of the above-mentioned limitations and potential problems, this study was carried out with the confidence that the research is important and that it will contribute to a better understanding of the informational value of the on-line vs. the on-site version of a Holocaust Museum exhibition. We in Battle Creek, Michigan, were also honored to be able to bring this extraordinary traveling exhibition from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to our community. The exhibition saw over 8,160 visitors, with 3,800 junior and senior high school students in attendance from all over the state of Michigan. Our attempt to share the lessons of the Holocaust did more than impart knowledge. It raised an awareness of our responsibility to protect and care for all those who are targeted by hatred, discrimination and violence. We believe that students and adults gained a heightened awareness of a most tragic period in the history of humankind.

References

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Hinkle, D.E., W. Wiersma, & S.G. Jurs (2003). Applied statistics for the behavioral sciences(5th ed.). Geneva, IL: Houghton Mifflin.

Kravchyna, V. (2004). Information needs of museum visitors: Real and virtual. Doctoral dissertation, University of North Texas, Denton.

Lincoln, M. (2003, September). The Holocaust education project: A media specialist's success story in online resource use, staff collaboration, and community outreach. MultiMedia Schools, 10(4), 32-36.

Lincoln, M. (2004). Museum Fellowship teaching resources. Consulted December 27, 2005. http://mandelproject.us/index.html.

Marty, P. F., & Twidale, M. (2004, September). Lost in gallery space: A conceptual framework for analyzing the usability flaws of museum Web sites. First Monday, 9(9). Consulted December 28, 2005. http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_9/marty/.

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Mehrabian, A., & Epstein, N. (1972, December). A measure of emotional empathy. Journal of Personality, 40(4), 525-543.

Michigan.gov (2005). Michigan School Info Online. Consulted December 27, 2005. http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/mischoolinfo/index.htm.

New York State Education Department (2005). Pre-writing rubric. Consulted December 27, 2005. http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/nyseslat/score/7-8prewriting.pdf.

O’Dowd, A. (2004). Life in Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust. Demonstration at Museum and the Web 2004, abstract available, last updated March 25, 2004, consulted December 27, 2005. http://www.archimuse.com/mw2004/abstracts/prg_265000681.html

Stinson, S. T. (2001). The effect of a web-based museum tour on the social studies achievement of fifth grade students. Doctoral dissertation, University of Houston.

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Cite as:

Lincoln M., The On-line and the On-site Holocaust Museum Exhibition as an Informational Resource, in J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds.). Museums and the Web 2006: Proceedings, Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics, published March 1, 2006 at http://www.archimuse.com/mw2006/papers/lincoln/lincoln.html

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published: March 27, 2006
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