Origins of the Universe Final Evaluation Report

May 1st, 2005 | EVALUATION

Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted summative evaluation of Origins of the Universe, the 4-part NOVA miniseries. The Origins series chronicled the history of the earth's formation, how the universe evolved to permit the emergence of life on earth, the likelihood that there is life beyond earth, and the tools and techniques scientists use to study the universe. In June 2007, Thomas Levenson, MIT professor and Executive Producer of the series, won the inaugural Walter P. Kistler Science Documentary Film Award for his work on Origins. An extensive outreach campaign accompanied the series and was disseminated through a national network of museums, science centers, and community organizations located at ten sites across the country. The summative evaluation sought to provide information about the influence of the Origins series and outreach on the public's awareness and knowledge related to the topic of the scientific origins of the universe. It included: 1) an assessment of how the outreach materials and resources were used by the partners, 2) an assessment of the impact of the outreach programs on child and adult audiences, and 3) a pre-post analysis of the impact of the series on viewers' knowledge of and interest in the topic. The appendix of this report includes the surveys used in the study.

Document

report_268.PDF

Team Members

Jennifer Beck, Evaluator, Goodman Research Group, Inc.
Jennie Murack, Evaluator, Goodman Research Group, Inc.
Unicorn Projects, Inc., Contributor
Irene F Goodman, Evaluator, Goodman Research Group, Inc.

Funders

Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 9814643
Funding Amount: 2133410

Related URLs

ORIGINS: A Four-Part Documentary Series and Outreach Project on Cosmological and Biological Origins

Tags

Audience: Adults | Elementary School Children (6-10) | Evaluators | General Public | Middle School Children (11-13) | Museum | ISE Professionals
Discipline: Education and learning science | Geoscience and geography | Space science
Resource Type: Evaluation Reports | Research and Evaluation Instruments | Summative | Survey
Environment Type: Broadcast Media | Community Outreach Programs | Media and Technology | Public Programs