Presented by Eric Jensen, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. Dr Jensen is a world-leading expert in evaluation of public engagement and informal learning impact and quality of experience.
How do you know if you are making a difference?
This training workshop will introduce you to the fundamentals of evaluating the impacts of science communication events, activities and programmes. You will learn how to design your evaluation to collect the right information for your situation. The workshop addresses the following points:
- Why impact evaluation matters for science communication?
- What science communication impact looks like?
- Foundations for good impact evaluation: establishing measurable outcomes and logic models
- Introduction to the evaluation toolkit: questionnaires, observation, ethnographic approaches, qualitative interviews, focus groups and quantifying open-ended data
- Obtaining a representative sample for your evaluation
- Establishing a realistic evaluation plan
This workshop will be useful for any practitioners keen to understand the profile of your event audiences, their quality of experience and what effect your events are having on attitudes, interests, understanding and behaviours.
Programme
10:30 – 11:00: Registration and coffee
11:00 – 13:00: Introduction to quantitative evaluation
- Why use quantitative evaluation methods?
- How to develop measurable objectives to underpin quantitative evaluation design
- What does quantitative evaluation evidence of impact look like?
- What are the tools available for conducting quantitative evaluation?
- How can you ensure you have a representative sample?
- What does ‘good’ and ‘bad’ quantitative evaluation look like?
- Common quantitative evaluation pitfalls, and how to avoid them.
This session includes practical exercises that will help participants develop their own initial quantitative evaluation plans.
13:00 – 13:45: Lunch
13:45 – 16:00: Introduction to survey design for evaluation
(10 minute coffee break at 15:00)
This session provides top tips and guidance on developing a robust evaluation survey. This will include helping participants identify and avoid common pitfalls in impact evaluation survey design. Participants will also have the opportunity to develop their own survey questions with feedback and support during the workshop.
