Effects of Self-Guided Displays and Associated Interactive Elements on Visitor Knowledge, Attitudes, and Values

Free-choice learning environments provide visitors with unique opportunities to observe and learn voluntarily and can serve as valuable educational opportunities. Incorporating interactive elements into displays have been shown to increase visitor dwell time and, ultimately, enhance the displays’ impacts on visitor knowledge and positive attitudes. This is especially important in free-choice learning environments where the visitor controls what display to visit and for how long. Visitors may not benefit from the display if they are not engaged with some attention-holding component. Interactive elements can greatly benefit a display’s potential to strengthen a visitor’s conservation attitudes and values of non-charismatic species that are traditionally less engaging due to their lack of activity or their appearance. This study examined the effect of a self-guided display with or without the incorporation of interactive elements on a visitors knowledge, attitude, and value of rattlesnakes. In Spring 2019, university biology students took surveys before (pre-survey) and after (post-survey) visiting a live animal rattlesnake display on campus. This was repeated in the Fall 2019 except that eight interactive elements were incorporated into the rattlesnakes displays. The pre and post-surveys were designed to evaluate the effect of the displays on student knowledge, attitudes, and values towards rattlesnakes. Paired t-tests revealed that visiting the displays increased student knowledge, attitude, and value of rattlesnakes, but that this effect was not enhanced by adding the interactive elements to the display. The results also showed that visiting the displays increased visitor dwell time, positively influenced one’s interest in revisiting the displays, and, overall provided visitors with enjoyment. These results provide further evidence that self-guided, live animal displays are impactful on increasing visitor knowledge, attitude, and value. However, the results also demonstrate that interactive elements do not necessarily enhance a display’s value, so further research should be conducted to determine key traits of effective interactive elements. This data and that from future related studies can have powerful conservation implications by informing on how displays can be optimized to achieve desired objectives.