NSTA-­ASTC EAGER Project: Resource for STEM Education Practitioners – Front-­‐End Evaluation Report

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the Association for Science-­Technology Centers (ASTC), with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), has launched an initiative to develop and distribute two pilot issues of a new resource for STEM education practitioners in both formal and informal (out-­of-­school) settings. An aim of the new resource is to better connect practitioners across education settings and the research and knowledge base about STEM learning. David Heil & Associates, Inc. (DHA) is serving in a co-­PI role on the grant to provide NSTA and ASTC with research and evaluation services to inform the development of the pilot issues of the resource through front-­end, formative, and summative evaluation. This report summarizes the front-­end evaluation study conducted from 2014-2015 that included focus group discussions and a national survey administered to members of the target audiences. Our goal in this front-­end study was to explore the landscape of resources available in the STEM education community to identify areas where the new resource could strategically contribute. Additionally, the front-­‐end study sought to gather data regarding the interests, needs and expectations of the target audiences to provide the NSTA and ASTC with data-­driven recommendations for the development and iterative refinement of the proposed new resource.