NISE Network Bilingual Forums Formative Evaluation

The NISE Network Forums were created to provide an in-depth learning experience that would (1) enhance participants' understanding of nano and its potential impacts; (2) increase participants' confidence in participating in public discourse about nanotechnologies; and (3) build informal science educators' knowledge and ability to conduct this type of programming at their institution (NISE Network Public Forums Manual, 2007). In an effort to reach out to a more diverse audience, the NISE Network Forums Team translated into Spanish the existing NISE Net forum "Nanomedicine in Healthcare" to engage individuals within the community who spoke both English and Spanish. As part of the development of this event, focus groups were conducted to provide the Forums Team with an understanding of how the program could be improved to more effectively engage and meet the needs of a bilingual audience. Between winter 2009 and summer 2010, the Exploratorium and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) attempted to recruit bilingual individuals from the National Association of Hispanic Nurses to participate in a "Nanomedicine in Healthcare" forum. Because both institutions had significant difficulty in recruiting a bilingual audience, the actual forum did not take place and the scope of the formative evaluation was adjusted accordingly. Rather than collecting evaluation data from forum attendees, focus groups were conducted with bilingual individuals to gather feedback on the forum materials that NISE Net had translated into Spanish and to learn about Latinos. perception of the bilingual forum. The data from the resulting focus groups provide unique insight into the thoughts and reactions of potential bilingual forum attendees upon receiving an invitation to attend the event. Highlighted below are several key findings derived from participant feedback that those creating or conducting a bilingual forum may wish to consider when planning such an event. Participants felt that the Nanomedicine forum would most likely attract individuals with professional backgrounds in medicine, healthcare, and education. There was no consensus reached regarding whether to conduct the forum in English, Spanish, or both languages. Participants recommend that the language of the forum should be chosen according to what would best support learning among the attendees. For example, bilingual individuals who were equally comfortable communicating in both English and Spanish would likely prefer to attend the forum in English. Participants felt that the language used in the forum materials was too difficult. For example, even though participants were highly educated, some individuals did not know the meaning of "nanotechnology" and "forum". Participants across focus groups were generally confused about the purpose and objectives of the forum. Confusion led to speculation that the "real intent" of the program was to collect information to help companies sell products to this audience type. Participants were generally not in favor of the small group discussion format as they felt there was not enough time given to have a meaningful discussion, and that the format could make some attendees feel uncomfortable. In general, participants felt that the forum agenda did not give adequate time to any of the agenda items. The appendix of this report includes the focus group survey and protocol used in the study.

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