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Project Descriptions

Dimensions of Success (DoS) Observation Tool: Emerging Research- Empirical- Development of an Observation Tool for the Informal Science Field: Refinement, Field-testing and Establishment of Psychometric Properties

August 15, 2010 - July 31, 2014 | Public Programs, Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks, Informal/Formal Connections
The Dimensions of Success observation tool, or DoS, pinpoints twelve indicators of STEM program quality in out-of-school time. It was developed and studied with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) by the Program in Education, Afterschool and Resiliency (PEAR), along with partners at Educational Testing Service (ETS) and Project Liftoff. In 2014, a technical report was released, describing the tool and its psychometric properties (http://www.pearweb.org/research/pdfs/DoSTechReport_092314_final.pdf). The DoS observation tool focuses on understanding the quality of a STEM activity in an out-of-school time learning environment and includes an explanation of each dimension and its key indicators, as well as a 4-level rubric with descriptions of increasing quality. Today, over 700 people have been trained to use the DoS tool, and over 12 state networks have adopted DoS to measure the quality of their afterschool STEM programming.

Funders

NSF
Award Number: 1008591
Funding Amount: 1085482

TEAM MEMBERS

  • Program in Education, Afterschool
    Contributor
  • Dr. Ashima Shah
    Project Manager
    Program in Education, Afterschool & Resiliency (PEAR)
  • REVISE logo
    Principal Investigator
    Harvard University
  • REVISE logo
    Co-Principal Investigator
    Rutgers University
  • Discipline: Education and learning science | General STEM
    Audience: Adults | Educators/Teachers | Museum/ISE Professionals | Evaluators
    Environment Type: Public Programs | Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks | Informal/Formal Connections

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