Hands-on science: investigating visitors’ experiences in interactive physics exhibitions

This thesis investigates visitors' experiences at two interactive physics exhibitions in Lisbon. The objective is to gain an understanding of the effectiveness of these exhibitions in conveying physics concepts to visitors and stimulating curiosity in the subject. Additionally, the study analyses visitors' personal preferences, challenges faced, and suggestions regarding the exhibits. To achieve this goal, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 visitors from each of the two exhibitions at the end of the visit. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, and the latter were subsequently analysed by thematic analysis. The results suggest that most of the respondents did not experience a significant increase in their knowledge of physics. However, they mentioned that they felt more curious about it than before. Most visitors read the texts in the intended order and found them easy to follow. Qualitative data indicates that the visual effect of the exhibits was one of the main factors that made them attractive, along with them being beautiful, funny, and surprising. Interestingly, a high level of interaction did not appear to be a crucial factor in attraction. Finally, some suggestions for improvements included simplifying the texts, making them bigger and more appealing by incorporating multimedia elements such as images and explanatory videos. These findings contribute to the literature on visitors’ engagement with physics interactive exhibitions and provide useful advices for future exhibitions or improvements for the ones already existing.