Evaluation in service of equity
Science centres, museums and other spaces are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in their work. For some, this is purely in the interest of reaching new audiences, but for others, such work is part of their core values. But how can organisations gauge the extent to which their activities, programmes and exhibitions are experienced as equitable? How can they gain insight into whether they, as organisations, are moving in a direction that embraces these values? Can evaluation help?
This session will explore questions related to equity and evaluation, including how evaluation can be conducted in an equitable way, how to evaluate programmes and activities that serve individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, and how evaluation can help organisations move towards more equitable practises and structures.
This session is part of the Equity and inclusion conference track.
Session speakers
IOE (UCL's Faculty of Education & Society)
The Making Spaces project aims to support equitable practice among makerspaces. We have been working with young people and practitioners to develop a survey that captures participants’ experiences and is useful for supporting practitioner reflection. This tool aims to help gauge and support progress towards equity while also fitting with existing evaluation efforts. This case study will introduce the survey and touch on the tensions in using a quantitative instrument to measure equity.
Spark is a tool for collective reflection and internal evaluation. Over the past 5 years it has helped many organisations to have structured, yet difficult conversations on EDI and to measure their institutional knowledge and practices regarding social justice. Spark is not just a self-evaluation tool: it is a means to committing to and implementing change! This introduction to Spark will present how self-evaluation tools guide practitioners on paths towards making institutions more equitable.
Learning and Engagement Researcher
Through an open schooling approach (OSHub project), Science Gallery aimed to investigate and improve equity through the use of evaluation. Our approach to evaluation tried to put the learner first. Each step was informed by the learner's objectives, interests and abilities. The development of evaluation tools began through openly surveying and interviewing learners. This information was then used to develop a set of 3 tools and corresponding impact indicators based on learners’ experiences.
Producer European Projects
The create your world TOUR connects regional schools with cutting-edge concepts and processes at the intersection of art, society and technology. The programme supports experts from across the Ars Electronica network to develop their competency in translating their expertise into STEAM based educational formats for young people. We use semi-structed teacher interviews and learner journey zines as tools to evaluate if the formats are successful in making their expert knowledge more accessible.
