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Summative

Making Stuff Summative Evaluation

September 1, 2011 | Media and Technology, Public Programs
WGBH and the Materials Research Society (MRS) collaborated to create Making Stuff, a multi-faceted project about the all-encompassing role that materials play in shaping our lives. The project included a four-episode NOVA mini-series originally broadcast in January, 2011 that was hosted by NY Times columnist David Pogue, a large-scale national outreach campaign with collaborating partnerships funded in 20 locations, web pages on the NOVA website, and an online contest promoted and hosted on Facebook. Across all project components, the overarching goals were to enhance the general public's engagement with materials science and appreciation of its effects on society, and to enhance collaborations among professional audiences (e.g., educators, scientists, community-based organizations) such that together they would reach a broader audience of adults, youth, and underserved populations than they could individually. Goodman Research Group's (GRG) summative evaluation has focused on the process and outcomes of all of the project components, assessing the extent to which the various Making Stuff resources (e.g, television series, website, national outreach collaborations and community events) achieved their intended impacts on public and professional audiences. The multi-method evaluation study included recruiting different groups to use particular Making Stuff resources, along with surveying others after they used a particular resource on their own.

TEAM MEMBERS

  • REVISE logo
    Evaluator
    Goodman Research Group, Inc.
  • WGBH
    Contributor
  • Laura Houseman
    Evaluator
    Goodman Research Group, Inc.
  • 2013 08 09 Irene Goodman
    Evaluator
    Goodman Research Group, Inc.
  • Citation

    Funders

    NSF
    Funding Program: AISL; Materials Centers & Education; OMA
    Award Number: 0610307
    Funding Amount: 2400000
    Resource Type: Evaluation Reports
    Discipline: Chemistry | Education and learning science | Engineering | Technology
    Audience: Adults | Families | General Public | Museum/ISE Professionals | Evaluators
    Environment Type: Media and Technology | Broadcast Media | Websites, Mobile Apps, and Online Media | Public Programs | Community Outreach Programs

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