Research & Evaluation Intern

Job Location:

Boston, MA 02210, Position Type:
Internship, Education Level: Graduate Degree, Salary Range: $21.00 - $21.00 Hourly, Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) is seeking a graduate-level student intern to support the Research and Evaluation Manager (R&E Manager) on the Empathy at the Heart project, which is a grant-funded initiative designed to foster the development of empathy through a multitude of projects--programs, exhibits, and other resource development--inside and outside the Museum.

The anticipated internship period will be during the school year , and all internship work will be in-person at Boston Children’s Museum.

Through hands-on training, scaffolding, and weekly supervision meetings, the intern will work with the R&E Manager to collect data with adult and child visitors and support the analysis of several ongoing evaluation projects.

• Partnering with Museum educators on prototyping and evaluating programs;
• Collecting and analyzing visitor feedback related to exhibits in different stages of development and design from prototyping through the remedial evaluation;
• Designing and prototyping methods to collect children’s feedback about their experiences with exhibits and programs.

• Participate in evaluation and applied research in an informal education setting;
• Develop mixed method data collection skills through hands-on opportunities;
• Explore the role of informal education settings in supporting family-oriented, play-based learning.

• Attend weekly supervision meetings to discuss internship goals, problem-solving, and any other topics related to professional development;
• Participate in trainings related to conducting culturally responsive and inclusive audience research, visitor interaction, data collection, and management;
• Conduct data collection directly with adult and child visitors at the Museum including, but not limited to, surveys, observations, and interviews;
• Manage data by inputting and organizing information in a timely manner;
• Participate in research or evaluation tasks related to other Museum exhibits or programs as needed.

• Prior experience and/or coursework in education, social science research, evaluation (or related experience), with some experience conducting evaluations in educational settings;
• Knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods and analytical skills;
• Interest in and experience with working with caregivers and young children;
• Understanding of issues surrounding equity, diversity, and inclusion related to research and evaluation;
• Understanding of ethical issues related to human-subjects research;
• Highly responsible and detail-oriented, with strong organizational skills;
• Familiarity with online survey platforms (e.g., Survey Monkey, Google Forms);
• Demonstrated communication skills, both verbal and written;
• Available to work some hours on either Saturday or Sunday;
• Ability to read, write, and converse in Spanish, preferred.

• The internship is in-person at Boston Children’s Museum.
• The internship requires a minimum of 21 hours/week, for approximately 34 weeks (from Nov 2026 to June 2027).
• Hours will be coordinated around the student's class and/or work schedules. The student’s schedule will also need to be set with the Museum site supervisor, and will include some weekends for data collection.
• Depending on the project, the intern may be collecting data with the RE Manager and Museum educators outside the Museum building, in the nearby communities.
• The Internship period must be completed on or before August 31, 2027.