Epsilon Open Archive

Along with eight of Sweden's naturum, the Swedish Centre for Nature Interpretation (SCNI) implemented the project Thought listing in naturum in summer 2013. The project's aim was to practically test the thought listing method for qualitative assessment of naturum interpretation. Simply put, thought listing involves conducting interviews with visitors to capture their thoughts after viewing each naturums' permanent exhibitions. Once recordeded, their thoughts were subsequently categorized and compared with a zone of tolerance which was formulated according to each exhibition’s purpose. A total of 145 thought listing interviews were conducted.

The question of what the visitor is thinking is often perceived by the visitor as a question of the visitor's evaluation or opinion of a naturum exhibition. Many visitors answer what they think of the exhibition's shape and/or its suitability for different target groups (such as children). Many comment on whether they think the exhibition is interesting or instructive. Further questions on what they perceive as the exhibition's message/theme, what they did understand was the purpose, what one would tell a friend or what emotions the exhibition evokes leads sometimes to more developed responses.

A large percentage of the responses focused on what visitors felt they "learnt" about habitats, animals, plants and geology. Thoughts on these subjects were often expressed in very general terms (e.g., about birds, life in the lake and the importance of grazing). And often they were quite specific recitations of recalled factual information (e.g., the magnitude of geologic uplift, how long a sheatfish may be, or what a wolf weighs).

Beyond factual recall, however, some visitors also reported thoughts more indicative of reflection and personal elaboration. For example, a few commented on the value of nature, habitats and biodiversity. Some were stimulated to think about relationships between past, present and future environments. Such thoughts tended to focus on human relationships to the land and how we affect nature. They also focused on variability in the landscape and the human footprint created by forestry and the harvesting of wind power. Other visitors reported thoughts related to the need for nature protection and nature conservation, as well as on their own relationship to the place.

A minority of visitors thought about being inspired to venture out into nature - which is one of the naturum's main aims. And a few others commented that they felt new motivation to arrange a nature school for their grandchildren or to take active part in nature conservation work. Thoughts in this category, however, were underrepresented compared those focused on factual recall.
These results indicate that the exhibitions studied are succeeding in stimulating naturum visitors to think, but they also suggest that much of the thinking is didactic, focused on remembering isolated facts about nature and biology. An important question for the managers of each naturum is whether they are satisfied with this kind of a didactic impact of their exhibitions or whether they would like the exhibitions to be more successful than they currently are in stimulating visitors to reflect personally about the importance nature in their lives. Answers to such questions must emanate directly from the mission of each Naturum and can be answered only by those responsible for carrying out that mission. For example, while every naturum might have its own specific themes, together as a system is there an overarching theme? Can an overall national theme for interpretation in naturum be formulated?

Our experience in conducting this formative study is that the thought listing method (Ham 2013) can be a useful tool to better understand the meaning visitors make as a result of their interactions with exhibitions and other nature interpretation products. The method works best when the producer (naturum) is clear on its objectives with the product so that responses can be understood clearly against the aims and objectives. Possibly the method works even better on specific projects (for example, an interpretive panel or a guided tour) than at larger with very broad focus like many of the exhibitions in naturum.

Naturum permanent exhibitions often have a broad ambition when it comes to presenting topics and facts about nature. Themes of the exhibitions may be difficult to articulate - and some visitor centers also express that difficulty. Often, the exhibitions attempt to say everything and would benefit greatly from thematic guidance. But what should those themes be?

The main conclusions on thought listing as a method for understanding the meaning making from this study are that the method:
1.
Based on Freeman Tilden's (1957) idea that "provocation" or stimulating visitors to think their own thoughts is the main desired outcome of nature interpretation (Ham 2013), thought listing appears to be a useful method for understanding the thoughts stimulated or enhanced by visitors during a visit to the naturum exhibitions or other nature interpretation situations.
2.
With training, thought listing interviews can be conducted by a naturum’s own staff and is therefore cost-effective compared to many other forms of evaluation.
3.
It provides the naturum a clear picture of the results achieved in relation to what it hopes visitors will think and reflect on after taking part in an exhibition (or other form of interpretation).
4.
It provides a theoretically grounded, empirical basis for making decisions about changes or improvements in nature interpretation at a given naturum.
Our study pointed to several ways we can improve our use of the method within the Swedish naturum system:
1. We must improve how we frame questions for visitors in order to avoid a preponderance of responses focused on their opinions and personal evaluations of interpretation products.
2. We must improve in our ability to understand what an interviewee is saying and be able to probe and ask for clarification or elaboration without biasing the results or steering the conversation.
3. We must improve in how to effectively and quickly categorize and analyze user responses.
4. We must improve our ability to explain to naturums the "zone of tolerance" concept and how it can be used to arrive at a practical yet meaningful evaluation of nature interpretation.