Catching the Visitor’s Interest

Abstract

Some dioramas are more attractive to museum visitors than others. These dioramas catch the visitors’ interest and make them stop and look closer. Such situational interest is essential for learning as it can hold the visitors’ attention and render them open to accommodate new knowledge. A study was conducted in three German natural history museums with diorama galleries to find out which specific features in dioramas support the development of situational interest by attracting visitors and encouraging focused observations and continued curiosity. Interest was determined using different methods in combination: observation of visitors during their visit to the diorama galleries, post-visit interviews and children’s drawings after they had viewed the gallery. The data show that the dioramas vary hugely in how successful they are in catching and holding the attention of visitors and that the development of situational interest depends on the quality of subjective experiences and the immediate emotional feedback during the visit. The reasons for such responses are manifold as visitors differ from each other in relation to their individual interests, backgrounds, experiences or preferences. Nevertheless, if a diorama provides a variety of anchor points enabling visitors to relate their previous experiences and knowledge to the scenes or artefacts presented, viewing this sort of diorama result in visitors’ feelings of enjoyment, involvement, and stimulation which are the most typical emotional aspects of an interest-based activity.

Conclusion

We conclude that dioramas stimulate situational interest if they evoke emotional responses. The reasons for such responses are manifold as visitors differ from each other in relation to their individual interests, backgrounds, experiences or preferences. Nevertheless, if a diorama provides a variety of anchor points enabling visitors to relate their previous experiences and knowledge to the scenes or artefacts presented, person-object-engagements with this sort of diorama result in visitors’ feelings of enjoyment, involvement, and stimulation which are the most typical emotional aspects of an interest-based activity.

Some general conclusions concerning ‘successful’ dioramas can be derived from this study: Visitors appreciate ‘animal encounters’ as they are provided by dioramas because of the possibility for close observations. These are even more attractive and the visitors’ attention is maintained if unusual perspectives are offered or if there are a lot of details to discover. Visitors enjoy seeing both, exotic animals as well as familiar local animals with connection to their every day life. However differences can be determined in relation to the dioramas’ colours—visitors seem to prefer bright and colourful presentations. Some other diorama features have been identified in this study which seem to evoke emotional responses and catch and hold the visitors attention: Big, young or rare animals, animals in motion, interacting with each other or doing interesting things, realistic and detailed representations of habitats, and human traces or artefacts in the diorama. The more of these features are included in a diorama, the bigger is the chance to attract visitors and encourage them to stay and observe closer.

Educators, formal and informal, can build on the situational interest evoked at dioramas to encourage and support the learning of biological science. Further studies will be conducted to find out which sort of learning activities can be used to deepen the engendered interest and thereby optimize the educational endeavour.