Twin Cities Public Television, in association with Red Hill Studios, produced the Exploring Time television special and associated outreach material. Exploring Time consists of two, one-hour programs to be distributed on Discovery Channel’s Science Channel, promotion, outreach, and dissemination activities, and a Web site that provides access to the video materials via streaming video and a rich complex of resources to extend the programs’ contents. The goal of the materials is to increase the public's understanding of our world by revealing the unseen world of natural change — the multitude of changes that are occurring in the present but at rates too slow or too fast to be seen. Rockman will evaluate the impact of the Exploring Time television programs and the value-add of the associated Web site, specifically looking for: 1) comprehension of the programs’ content, 2) knowledge and understanding gained from viewing, and 3) further actions and outcomes that emerged in the period following viewing.

Rockman’s research approach is to recruit representative viewers and to have some of the sample view the two, one-hour shows on DVD and answer questions following their viewing, and have others view the DVDs and explore the Web site for further interaction with the content. Each of the two groups would be asked to respond to a common set of questions, and the DVD and Web participants will have a more extended set of questions presented. Part of each sample will also be interviewed by telephone.