SCIENCES Evaluation Summary Report

The summative evaluation documents and articulates what SCIENCES has improved or changed, and in what ways. The final design of the summative evaluation was based on findings from the front-end and formative evaluations, including using participatory evaluation techniques to engage community members in discussing their experience with the programs and assessment of community needs and assets at the close of the project.

The goal of the summative evaluation was to address discrete program impacts in the context of the project, as well as the cross-program impact of providing a thematically aligned suite of programs within the community. The evaluator assessed whether the individual programs and the project as whole had an impact on cognitive outcomes (such as understanding, interest, and motivation related to environmental science and conservation), affective outcomes (such as attitudes toward environmental science, identity as someone who can and will use science, and concern about environmental issues), and behavioral outcomes (such as confidence, intent, and ability to use science skills in their daily lives).

Suggested citation:

Holley, L., & Livingston, K. (2018). SCIENCES (Supporting a Community’s Informal Education Needs—Confidence and Empowerment in STEM) evaluation summary report. ExposeYourMuseum, LLC.