Finding the Forest Amid the Trees: Tools for Evaluating Astronomy Education and Public Outreach Projects

The effective evaluation of educational projects is becoming increasingly important to funding agencies and to the individuals and organizations involved in the projects. This brief “how-to” guide provides an introductory description of the purpose and basic ideas of project evaluation, and uses authentic examples from four different astronomy and earth/space science projects to illustrate important ideas. Topics depicted include types of evaluation, selection of an evaluator, alignment of evaluation activities with project goals, and different methods of data collection in evaluation. A list of additional resources, including professional organizations and selected journals, is provided. ©2004 Janelle M. Bailey. Copyright assigned to the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.

Contents

• INTRODUCTION
  • A.What Is Project Evaluation?
  • B.Why Do It?
• EVALUATION AS PART OF AN ASTRONOMY EDUCATION OR PUBLIC OUTREACH PROJECT: A “HOW-TO” GUIDE WITH EXAMPLES
  • A.Background of the Example Projects
  • B.Selecting an Evaluator
  • C.Types of Evaluation
  • D.The Importance of Project Goals
  • E.The Evaluation Matrix: Aligning Goals with Measurable Outcomes
  • F.Evaluation Techniques
  • G.Using Evaluation Findings to Improve Education and Outreach Efforts
  • H.Common Evaluation Pitfalls to Avoid
• SUMMARY
• § 4
  • Resources
  • Notes
• Acknowledgments
• REFERENCES
• TABLES