QUEST Regional Hubs Collaborative Final Evaluation Report

Led by KQED in Northern California, a network of seven public media organizations around the country joined to form the QUEST Regional Hubs Collaborative project. Funded with grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), this project aimed to achieve the adaptation of a successful cross-platform media production model and the creation of a content-sharing collaborative. Rockman et al (REA), an educational research and evaluation firm in San Francisco, served as the external evaluator to document the development of both the regional variants of KQED's QUEST model and the processes, relationships and outputs of the content collaborative. The evaluation approach was predominately qualitative, bringing in quantitative elements when appropriate. Using a combination of observations, site visits, interviews and surveys, researchers captured the opportunities presented and challenges faced within each hub and across the two stages of the project. The evaluation explored a complex set of challenges and opportunities emerges. The vision of KQED and the various Hubs explored a new way of working together in public media; it required the hub teams to address an additional set of challenges that ranged from the nuts and bolts of production to high-level, conceptual thought and inquiry. In dealing with these challenges, team members also experienced opportunities for learning, growth and change. These challenges and opportunities speak to the heart of how and why public media organizations create and disseminate STEM content and interact with their communities in the 21st Century.