Evaluation

To determine the effectiveness of the Worldviews Network approach, a summative evaluation was performed at the events. Copies of the executive summary or full summative evaluation report are available as PDFs:

Worldviews Network Summative Evaluation – Executive Summary (.pdf)
‍Worldviews Network Summative Evaluation – Full Report (.pdf)

Key Findings

Looking across all of the events, the following outcomes were reported by participants:

New Knowledge

  • An overwhelming majority (93%) of respondents reported they learned something new at the presentation.
  • The majority of those reported learning about key ecological knowledge, either general facts, changes occurring over time, or the expansive scale of ecological systems.
  • Other learning related to human interactions with natural systems.

Understanding Complex Systems, Scale, and Evolution

When selecting their top three takeaways of the effect of the presentation, respondents tended to feel the presentations helped them:

  • Think about the complex interrelations in Earth systems (41%).
  • This was selected as the #1 takeaway by 15% of the total sample.
  • Visualize certain concepts of time and scale (35%).
  • Learn or be reminded how the Earth is always changing and evolving (28%).
  • Feel a sense of how small the Earth is compared to the greater universe (27%).

Perceiving Relationships

Looking at just the items respondents ranked as their #1 takeaway from a Worldviews Network event:

  • 15% selected “Think about complex interrelations in Earth systems”.
  • 13% selected “I felt a need to take better care of the Earth”; people who selected this item felt it very strongly.

Shifting Perspectives

  • More than three-fourths of respondents (79%) reported the dome changed the way they understand the material in some way.
  • They primarily sited the medium as giving “perspective” or providing a visually-focused experience (“seeing” things).

Affective Responses

  • For the last four events, visitors reported how the show made them feel, and results showed reactions were split between hope, concern, and feeling informed. Individuals responded very differently in what they connected with – some reacted to positive messages of hope for change, others to more negative feelings of concern and being overwhelmed, and others to a neutral sense of having learned more about an issue.

Evaluation Questions

Four big questions about the process, outcomes, and lessons learned from this project were asked:

  1. To what extent were short- and medium-term outcomes achieved with each of the target audiences: science education professionals, advisors, and members of the public?
  2. In what ways did the Worldviews Network process, approach, and model work well to support ISI professionals and public audiences in achieving these goals?  In what areas could the model be further strengthened?
  3. How have the processes, strategies, and approaches promoted by the Worldviews Network been sustained within institutions after the project?
  4. How did contextual factors at each site relate to or influence implementation, outcomes, and sustained change?

Logic Model Diagrams

Midway through the project, we constructed a logic model diagrams of the Worldviews Network’s theory of change – how its design and activities were intended to lead to learning outcomes in science educators, audiences, and collaborators.

Two versions were created and available for download:

Worldviews – Logic Model v1 (.pdf)
Version 1 is a detailed model, which includes the full range of strategies and activities intended by the project team incorporated into a single, linear chart.

Worldviews – Logic Model v2 (.pdf)
Version 2 is a summarized version of the model, focusing on the higher-order theories that drove the project, and visually emphasizing the cyclical nature of program development that the sites used.