Open Forum

Original Message------

Greetings! 

It is the end of the school year and I am hoping to budget time this summer to evaluate, update and make revisions to the educational programs we present to schools.  

Over the course of the school year, I gather a lot of fodder for reflection of our programs-  including classroom teacher evaluations as well as the insights from the presenters. Do any of the museum educators out there have a system for processing year-end program reflections and making revisions before the new year begins?

Suggestions are very welcome!

Sincerely,

Deborah Boudreau

Education Director

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization

Stony Brook, NY

Hi Deborah:

When you say "a lot of fodder," is it answers to the same questions? I have found a simple way to handle that is a spreadsheet with each question a column. This consolidates like answers and makes recurring responses/patterns more visible.

If your "fodder" is more anecdotes that you recorded, I would start with some categories that you think you might see (such as navigation, length of program, favorite things, etc.), and sort the comments into those buckets. You might need to rename the buckets to fit what your finding along the way, but again, you'll see patterns start to emerge, and can revise program according to them.

This book offers some trusty guidelines that might also be helpful:

• Korn, Randi, and Minda Borun (1999), Introduction to Museum Evaluation, American Association of Museums, Washington, DC.

Good luck!

------------------------------
Kari Nelson
Curator of Education
Museum of Peoples & Cultures - Brigham Young University
Provo UT
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-20-2018 02:51 PM
From: Deborah Boudreau
Subject: Processing Evaluations and Making Program Revisions

Greetings! 

It is the end of the school year and I am hoping to budget time this summer to evaluate, update and make revisions to the educational programs we present to schools.  

Over the course of the school year, I gather a lot of fodder for reflection of our programs-  including classroom teacher evaluations as well as the insights from the presenters. Do any of the museum educators out there have a system for processing year-end program reflections and making revisions before the new year begins?

Suggestions are very welcome!

Sincerely,

Deborah Boudreau

Education Director

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization

Stony Brook, NY

Deborah-- the Team-based inquiry process has some ways to think about processing data and may be helpful to you. You can find the guide and training videos at The National Informal STEM Education Network

Nisenet		remove preview
The National Informal STEM Education Network We are a national community of educators and scientists dedicated to fostering public awareness, engagement, and understanding of current STEM. View this on Nisenet >

.

------------------------------
Elizabeth Kollmann
Manager, Research & Evaluation
Museum of Science
Boston MA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-21-2018 06:38 PM
From: Kari Nelson
Subject: Processing Evaluations and Making Program Revisions

Hi Deborah:

When you say "a lot of fodder," is it answers to the same questions? I have found a simple way to handle that is a spreadsheet with each question a column. This consolidates like answers and makes recurring responses/patterns more visible.

If your "fodder" is more anecdotes that you recorded, I would start with some categories that you think you might see (such as navigation, length of program, favorite things, etc.), and sort the comments into those buckets. You might need to rename the buckets to fit what your finding along the way, but again, you'll see patterns start to emerge, and can revise program according to them.

This book offers some trusty guidelines that might also be helpful:

• Korn, Randi, and Minda Borun (1999), Introduction to Museum Evaluation, American Association of Museums, Washington, DC.

Good luck!

------------------------------
Kari Nelson
Curator of Education
Museum of Peoples & Cultures - Brigham Young University
Provo UT

Original Message:
Sent: 06-20-2018 02:51 PM
From: Deborah Boudreau
Subject: Processing Evaluations and Making Program Revisions

Greetings! 

It is the end of the school year and I am hoping to budget time this summer to evaluate, update and make revisions to the educational programs we present to schools.  

Over the course of the school year, I gather a lot of fodder for reflection of our programs-  including classroom teacher evaluations as well as the insights from the presenters. Do any of the museum educators out there have a system for processing year-end program reflections and making revisions before the new year begins?

Suggestions are very welcome!

Sincerely,

Deborah Boudreau

Education Director

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization

Stony Brook, NY

Thank you for these suggestions!

------------------------------
Deborah Boudreau
Education Director
Rocky Point NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-22-2018 08:34 AM
From: Elizabeth Kollmann
Subject: Processing Evaluations and Making Program Revisions

Deborah-- the Team-based inquiry process has some ways to think about processing data and may be helpful to you. You can find the guide and training videos at The National Informal STEM Education Network

Nisenet		remove preview
The National Informal STEM Education Network We are a national community of educators and scientists dedicated to fostering public awareness, engagement, and understanding of current STEM. View this on Nisenet >

.

------------------------------
Elizabeth Kollmann
Manager, Research & Evaluation
Museum of Science
Boston MA

Original Message:
Sent: 06-21-2018 06:38 PM
From: Kari Nelson
Subject: Processing Evaluations and Making Program Revisions

Hi Deborah:

When you say "a lot of fodder," is it answers to the same questions? I have found a simple way to handle that is a spreadsheet with each question a column. This consolidates like answers and makes recurring responses/patterns more visible.

If your "fodder" is more anecdotes that you recorded, I would start with some categories that you think you might see (such as navigation, length of program, favorite things, etc.), and sort the comments into those buckets. You might need to rename the buckets to fit what your finding along the way, but again, you'll see patterns start to emerge, and can revise program according to them.

This book offers some trusty guidelines that might also be helpful:

• Korn, Randi, and Minda Borun (1999), Introduction to Museum Evaluation, American Association of Museums, Washington, DC.

Good luck!

------------------------------
Kari Nelson
Curator of Education
Museum of Peoples & Cultures - Brigham Young University
Provo UT

Original Message:
Sent: 06-20-2018 02:51 PM
From: Deborah Boudreau
Subject: Processing Evaluations and Making Program Revisions

Greetings! 

It is the end of the school year and I am hoping to budget time this summer to evaluate, update and make revisions to the educational programs we present to schools.  

Over the course of the school year, I gather a lot of fodder for reflection of our programs-  including classroom teacher evaluations as well as the insights from the presenters. Do any of the museum educators out there have a system for processing year-end program reflections and making revisions before the new year begins?

Suggestions are very welcome!

Sincerely,

Deborah Boudreau

Education Director

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization

Stony Brook, NY