Summative Evaluation of Earth & Sky Radio Shows on Nanoscale Science and Engineering

April 2nd, 2008 | EVALUATION

Earth & Sky (E&S) is a short-format science radio series airing daily on more than 1,000 commercial and public radio stations and translators in the U.S. as well as on satellite and Internet radio outlets. The series is also widely heard beyond U.S. borders. Produced by a small non-profit, Earth & Sky, Inc. of Austin, TX, the series is hosted by Deborah Byrd and Joel Block and consists of 90-second programs on a wide variety of topics mostly drawn from environmental sciences, earth sciences and astronomy but also including emerging technologies like nanotechnology. Over the previous three years, National Science Foundation has supported the development, broadcast and Internet archiving of more than 80 shows on nanoscale science and engineering. This evaluation utilized a web-based explanatory survey design to explore the impact of Earth & Sky nanotechnology shows on listeners, comparing groups with different exposures to E&S and comparing E&S listeners with historical control groups. Although the study design does not permit a conclusion that E&S “causes” changes in nanotechnology awareness, knowledge and attitudes, the results reveal that exposure specifically to E&S nanotechnology shows relates significantly to higher awareness and knowledge about nanotechnology.

Document

EarthSky_SummEval_Nano2008.pdf

Team Members

Barbara Flagg, Evaluator, Multimedia Research

Funders

Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: ISE
Award Number: 0426417

Related URLs

Earth & Sky Nanoscale Science and Engineering Radio Shows

Tags

Audience: Educators | Teachers | Evaluators | General Public | Museum | ISE Professionals | Scientists
Discipline: Engineering | Materials science | Technology
Resource Type: Evaluation Reports | Summative
Environment Type: Broadcast Media | Media and Technology | Websites | Mobile Apps | Online Media