In fall 2019, the Bell Museum received funding via a NASA TEAM II grant to create Mars: The Ultimate Voyage, a full-dome planetarium show and accompanying hands-on activities that focus on the interdisciplinary roles that will be needed to send humans to Mars. This report from Catalyst Consulting Group presents the findings from the summative evaluation completed in March–May 2023.
The SciGirls in Space: Exploring the Moon, Mars and NASA Careers Implementation Evaluation Report focuses on the STEM outreach component of the project for 15 girl-serving organizations who used research-based gender equitable and culturally responsive instructional strategies,NASA-aligned media and STEM activities with a focus on integrating of NASA women role models.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, Secrets of the Universe (SOTU) is a multimedia project that has at its core a 40-minute 3D giant screen film directed by a collaboration of K2 Communications Inc., The Stephen Low Company, and University of California Davis Department of Physics. To support and extend the impact of the film for these audiences, the project features an educational website with a variety of resources, including online videos of science content and characters from the film.
The independent evaluation team from Knight Williams Inc. conducted a summative
RK&A conducted prototype testing for the Game Changers exhibition with three audiences: adults, female youth 10-17 years old, and male youth 13-14 years old. The Game Changers exhibition is being developed by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History.
This front-end evaluation study is part of Designing Our Tomorrow: Mobilizing the Next Generation of Engineers, a five-year project (2018–2023) led by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF, DRL-1811617) and project partners: Adelante Mujeres, the Biomimicry Institute, and the Fleet Science Center. The Designing Our Tomorrow (DOT) project seeks to promote and strengthen family engagement and engineering learning via compelling exhibit-based design challenges, presented through the lens of sustainable design exemplified by
The SciGirls in Space Front End Evaluation included surveys with project advisors, girls and families about the nature and extent of partner program offerings to help inform production of media and use of media in outreach. Question 1: To what extent do advisors, girls and their family members find the girls and professionals featured in the (existing) episodes and role model videos to be effective role models? Question 2: To what extent do they find episode topics and stories relevant to their everyday lives?
Program evaluators from the Education Development Center (EDC) used a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design to evaluate the impact on girls’ awareness and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). After the final year of the project, EDC delivered a summative report to Techbridge Girls (TBG), which was based on data collected during the five-year grant period, with a particular focus on the final year that grant funds supported programming (2017-18). Data included pre- and post-surveys with TBG participants and comparison students, participant focus groups, and
The independent evaluation firm, Knight Williams, Inc., developed a two-part post-program survey to gather information about the Year 1 SciGirls CONNECT2 outreach programs conducted by 14 partner organizations. The evaluation aimed for one educator from each organization to complete Part 1 of the survey, which consisted of program reporting questions. In all, one educator from 13 partner organizations completed Part 1, for a response rate of 93%. Part 2 of the survey asked for program reflections, with a focus on perceived program goals, impacts, highlights, and challenges. Given the
The independent evaluation firm Knight Williams, Inc. conducted a formative evaluation during Year 2 of the SciGirls CONNECT2 program in order to gather information about the partner educators’ use of, reflections on, and recommendations relating to the draft updated SciGirls Strategies. The evaluation aimed for two educators from each of 14 partner organizations – specifically the program leader and one educator who was familiar with the original SciGirls Seven – to provide reflections on their use of the draft SciGirls Strategies in their programs through an online survey and follow-up
The independent evaluation firm Knight Williams, Inc. administered an online survey to educators from 16 SciGirls CONNECT2 partner organizations to gather information about their anticipated use of, reflections on, and recommendations relating to the draft updated SciGirls Strategies. The evaluation aimed for two educators from each partner organization – specifically the program leader and one educator who was familiar with the original SciGirls Seven strategies – to complete the survey about the draft updated strategies after they were shared by TPT in March 2018 via an online webinar and a
The independent evaluation firm, Knight Williams, Inc., administered an online survey and conducted follow-up interviews with educators from 14 SciGirls CONNECT2 partner organizations to gather information about their use of, reflections on, and recommendations relating to the SciGirls Seven strategies. The evaluation aimed for two educators from each partner organization – specifically the program leader and one educator who was familiar with the SciGirls Seven – to share reflections on the strategies after they completed their Year 1 programs. In all, 24 educators from 13 partners completed
The independent evaluators at Knight Williams Inc. developed a front-end survey to gather background and baseline information about the 16 partner organizations selected to conduct outreach programs as part of SciGirls CONNECT2. The goal was for two people from each partner organization to complete the online survey about their background and prior use of the SciGirls Seven and related strategies. A total of 30 partner representatives completed the survey by the requested deadline, resulting in a response rate of 94%. The majority identified as program leaders, with smaller groups saying they