[LTER-education] evaluation methodologies

Fri Oct 29 11:22:30 PDT 2021

Hi All,
Wanted to throw out an evaluation resource that I helped pull together that might be helpful for anyone looking for informal science education evaluation options (many of these would work in a formal classroom context, too!) Hope this is helpful! https://www.colorado.edu/researchinnovation/research-development/other-resources/broader-impacts-network/broader-impacts-project-evaluation

See you next week,
Alex

From: education <education-bounces at lists.lternet.edu> On Behalf Of Amanda Morrison
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2021 9:35 AM
To: Haas, Kara <karahaas at msu.edu>
Cc: education at lternet.edu; Katie Gavenus (Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies) <katieg at akcoastalstudies.org>
Subject: Re: [LTER-education] evaluation methodologies

Kara and Scott,

Would you please record the meeting because I cannot attend and would like to hear what everyone’s ideas.  I am looking to evaluate teacher experiences at our site and how they are implementing what they learned in the classroom in years following the field experience.

Thanks!
Amanda

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 29, 2021, at 9:04 AM, Haas, Kara <karahaas at msu.edu<mailto:karahaas at msu.edu>> wrote:

Hi all,

Great timing, Scott and I were just finalizing the agenda for next week’s meeting. I used this email exchange to craft the Breakout rooms so we can try out that idea we pitched last month (of using half of our meeting time for smaller breakoutroom conversation on topics of interest…)

Here’s what I’ve drafted, please feel free to edit and make suggestions (on the outline and the linked slide show)!

  *   Breakout rooms - Working groups/Topics of interest

     *   November topic for Discussion: Evaluation<https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DV3mjfwbABN86JXTbXiTUoloCOSwYXhghZQMoxRTV_s/edit?usp=sharing>

        *   Break out rooms - What do you want to evaluate?

           *   K-12 student experiences
           *   Online material use
           *   On-site visitor experiences
           *   K-12 Teacher experiences
           *   Others?

        *   Discussion prompts:

           *   What are your goals (for the program, participant or product)?
           *   What does success/reaching goals look like? What can you measure?
           *   What can you collect? (participant artifacts, survey, photos, link clicks, etc.)

     *   How this is going to work: We’ll divide into smaller groups (4-6), each breakout group should nominate a ‘note taker’, a ‘facilitator’ and a ‘reporter’. We’ll try to have 20 minutes for breakout room conversations, then we’ll gather for the last 10 minutes to share out.

        *   Note taker will type the highlights of the conversation into this slide show.<https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DV3mjfwbABN86JXTbXiTUoloCOSwYXhghZQMoxRTV_s/edit?usp=sharing>
        *   Facilitator will support the group in staying on task and guiding them through today’s prompts
        *   Reporter will be in charge of sharing with the whole group the highlights of your group’s conversation.
        *   As a group we’ll make note of next steps.

Thanks!
Kara

Kara Haas
karahaas at msu.edu<mailto:karahaas at msu.edu>

From: education <education-bounces at lists.lternet.edu<mailto:education-bounces at lists.lternet.edu>> On Behalf Of Kim Eichhorst
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2021 10:42 AM
To: O'Connell, Kari Elizabeth Bisbee <kari.oconnell at oregonstate.edu<mailto:kari.oconnell at oregonstate.edu>>; Kochmanski, Elizabeth <schulth5 at msu.edu<mailto:schulth5 at msu.edu>>; Amanda Morrison <arcticlter.education at gmail.com<mailto:arcticlter.education at gmail.com>>
Cc: education at lternet.edu<mailto:education at lternet.edu>; Katie Gavenus (Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies) <katieg at akcoastalstudies.org<mailto:katieg at akcoastalstudies.org>>
Subject: Re: [LTER-education] evaluation methodologies

We are moving towards formal evaluations for our program. I would love to be a part of the conversation, both for sharing what we have and adopting things that will help us improve and collaborate.

Kim Eichhorst, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
BEMP Science and Research Director
Education and Outreach Director, Sevilleta LTER
Department of Biology - University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Office: 505-277-0758<tel:505-277-0758>
www.BEMP.org<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.BEMP.org__;!!HXCxUKc!lvj6NhrJRfKtYndb6ww9Sla1eIDP4zE-XOhILMEJfeE5xBNiVggj5fofZJ1VPoAytg$>
https://www.mypronouns.org/what-and-why<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.mypronouns.org/what-and-why__;!!HXCxUKc!lvj6NhrJRfKtYndb6ww9Sla1eIDP4zE-XOhILMEJfeE5xBNiVggj5fofZJ3dp-T2zg$>

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________________________________
From: education <education-bounces at lists.lternet.edu<mailto:education-bounces at lists.lternet.edu>> on behalf of O'Connell, Kari Elizabeth Bisbee <kari.oconnell at oregonstate.edu<mailto:kari.oconnell at oregonstate.edu>>
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2021 8:23 AM
To: Kochmanski, Elizabeth <schulth5 at msu.edu<mailto:schulth5 at msu.edu>>; Amanda Morrison <arcticlter.education at gmail.com<mailto:arcticlter.education at gmail.com>>
Cc: education at lternet.edu<mailto:education at lternet.edu> <education at lternet.edu<mailto:education at lternet.edu>>; Katie Gavenus (Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies) <katieg at akcoastalstudies.org<mailto:katieg at akcoastalstudies.org>>
Subject: Re: [LTER-education] evaluation methodologies

  [EXTERNAL]

Hi all,

I do research and sometimes evaluation for my whole job these days so I’d be glad to discuss this topic. It is near and dear to my heart!

There are valuable things you can do with even a small group. It’s just a matter of setting reasonable goals and making claims appropriate for the data you collect.

Kari

From: education <education-bounces at lists.lternet.edu<mailto:education-bounces at lists.lternet.edu>> On Behalf Of Kochmanski, Elizabeth
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2021 7:09 AM
To: Amanda Morrison <arcticlter.education at gmail.com<mailto:arcticlter.education at gmail.com>>
Cc: education at lternet.edu<mailto:education at lternet.edu>; Katie Gavenus (Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies) <katieg at akcoastalstudies.org<mailto:katieg at akcoastalstudies.org>>
Subject: Re: [LTER-education] evaluation methodologies

[This email originated from outside of OSU. Use caution with links and attachments.]

Agreed, I’d love to discuss this topic!

Liz

—
Elizabeth H. Schultheis (she/her)
LTER Education & Outreach Coordinator
Kellogg Biological Station
@KBSLTER
@data_nuggets

On Oct 29, 2021, at 9:14 AM, Amanda Morrison <arcticlter.education at gmail.com<mailto:arcticlter.education at gmail.com>> wrote:

I am definitely willing ti chat as well since we could also improve our evaluation at ARC.

Amanda

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 29, 2021, at 5:36 AM, Annette Work <abrickley.edu at gmail.com<mailto:abrickley.edu at gmail.com>> wrote:

I’d love to talk sometime, Katie! Also suggested for NES at our recent review. It’s a challenge.

I think this would be a great committee meeting topic too.

Annette

Pardon succinctness and typos. Sent from mini keyboard.

On Oct 28, 2021, at 6:45 PM, Katie Gavenus (Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies) <katieg at akcoastalstudies.org<mailto:katieg at akcoastalstudies.org>> wrote:

Hi,

I have been tasked with taking the lead on improving our (not-so-robust) evaluation plans for education and outreach at the NGA LTER and BLE LTER.

HELP!

This is a stretch for my expertise.  And it feels tough to do evaluation well given that we work with small group sizes at the BLE and NGA (other than the virtual materials available through the NGA).

It seems like "pooling" K12 students across a few similar sites for program evaluation purposes might be one way to address this?  Would any of the coastal/marine sites or other Alaska sites be interested in chatting about that?

Or does anyone have other suggestions for evaluation methods that really worked/work for their schoolyard ecology programs?

I'd love any suggestions via e-mail, or we could set up a meeting to chat if people are interested.

Thanks in advance,

Katie

Katie Gavenus

Program Director
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies

708 Smokey Bay Way
Homer, AK 99603
907-299-0983 (this is my personal cell phone, please call during 'normal' work hours during summer when I'm in frequently in the field)

907-235-1974 (this is my office phone, please leave a message if you need to contact me outside of 'normal' work hours)

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