Using Critical Appraisal to Inform Program Improvement

ABSTRACTIn 2016, the education department at the National Building Museum offered a series of Late Night programs in conjunction with the Summer Block Party installation, ICEBERGS. The museum wanted to evaluate the programs but had limited resources to do so. In the following article, we describe the use of critical appraisal, an economic method applied by professional evaluators to provide observations and judgments about Late Nights for ICEBERGS. We also discuss the benefits and challenges of critical appraisal to highlight its potential utilization for other museum educators.