Evaluation materials were developed by Lloyd Barrow, Rich Lapan, Rebecca Litherland, Meera Chandrasekhar, Kathy Phillips and Carrie Ellis-Kalton.
Evaluation instruments were designed for each program, although some overlap exists between programs. Evaluations typically consist of pre and post evaluations. In several of the programs students’ and parents’ prior science experiences are surveyed. Interest, confidence and attitudes are also surveyed. The first page of each document lists all the evaluation instruments used for the program. All files are in pdf format.
Evaluation Instruments for Physics Explorations: Physics Explorations is an extra curricular program that focuses on female students in grades 5-7. The program runs for four weeks, with two 90 minute sessions per week. Students perform hands-on activities related to physics concepts, and complete about 20 activities in the four week period. The program concludes with a family night.
Evaluation Instruments used for Families Exploring Science and Technology (FEST): FEST is an extra curricular program that focuses on students in grades 6-7. The program runs for four weeks, with one two hour session per week. Students participate in the program along with a parent or adult science buddy. The goal of the program is to build a working drawbridge.
Evaluation Instruments used for Saturday Scientist: Saturday Scientists is an extra curricular program that focuses on students in grades 8-9. The program runs during the spring, with three hour sessions each of three Saturdays. Students visit local industries and participate in hands-on activities related to each site. They also receive career information and interact with scientists and engineers at the sites.
Evaluation Instruments for Newton Academy: Newton Academy is a ten-day residential summer program for female students who have completed grades 9-11. The academy integrates physics, chemistry, mathematics and engineering via a project where students build a working polymer ball factory.