Effective Chemistry Communication in Informal Environments (2016)
Chapter: Appendix A: Data Collection Instruments
A
Data Collection Instruments
Most chemists or chemistry organizations doing communication events will need to borrow, adapt, or develop data collection instruments that best measure the intended outcomes of the communication. Two resources of instruments to support data collection in informal science communication are the following:
- Assessment Tools in Informal Science (ATIS), a collection of researcher development instruments for measuring many types of science outcomes, available at http://www.pearweb.org/atis
- Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) Team-Based Inquiry Guide, a do-it-yourself approach to evaluating public science programs, developed for nanotechnology but broadly applicable, available at http://www.nisenet.org/catalog/tools_guides/team-based_inquiry_guide
The ATIS collection includes science assessment instruments from a diverse array of sources, organized according to age range, question format, and domain (i.e., Competence and Reasoning, Engagement/Interest, Attitude/Behavior, Content/Knowledge, Career Knowledge/Acquisition). The collection includes the Chemistry Attitude and Experience Questionnaire (CAEQ; http://pearweb.org/atis/tools/35), which is designed for first-year college students but includes some items that are potentially adaptable for other ages and settings. An example is the following scales:
| Please indicate what you think about the following: | ||||||
| Chemists | ||||||
unfit | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | athletic |
socially unaware | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | socially aware |
| Chemistry research | ||||||
harms people | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | helps people |
creates problems | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | solves problems |
Resources available from the NISE Net Team-Based Inquiry Guide website include instruments appropriate for a one-time museum visit or public event: a feedback survey, an observation form, a participant interview protocol, a question planning sheet, and a data reflection “cheat sheet.” The feedback survey, for example, includes the following instructions and items:
Help us improve the program you just saw!
Please take a few minutes to share your opinions below.
- What did you like most about this activity? Why is that?
- What are some ways this activity could be improved? Why is that?
- In your own words, what would you say this activity is about?
The following questionnaire provides another example of a simple instrument for gathering feedback from participants. It was developed by the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) for projects funded by the Ingenious grant program.
Activity questionnaire – public audiences
Please take a few moments to tell us what you thought of this activity. Your comments will help us plan future activities.
These questions are about the activity
Please tick the relevant box:
Overall, the activity was . . . | Very | Quite | A little | Not at all |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enjoyable |  | | | |
| Interesting | | | | |
| Informative | | | | |
| Interactive | | | | |
| Well-organized | | | | |
| Please comment on the activity here: | ||||
These questions are about the activity’s impact on you
Please tick the box that describes whether you agree or disagree with each statement.
For me, the impact of the activity was… | Agree | Neither | Disagree |
|---|---|---|---|
| Increased awareness of the nature of engineering | | | |
| Increased awareness of the impact of engineering on society | | | |
| I’m now more interested in engineering | | | |
| Please comment on these or any other impacts here: | |||
These questions are about you | ||
|---|---|---|
| What is your gender? | Male | Female |
| What is your age? | Under 16 (please state)…………………………………… 16-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 over 65 | |
Many other examples of instrumentation used by individual science communication projects, including chemistry projects, can be found at informalscience.org and at various project websites. Many communication providers adapt or develop tools to best match their own project goals and implementation features. For example, for a formative evaluation of Penn State’s Marcellus Matters: EASE (Engaging Adults in Science and Energy) project, the evaluation team prompted participants with a set of “reaction words” to solicit opinions about the eight weekly sessions, which were on various topics pertinent to shale gas drilling and related science concepts and community issues. These “reaction words” prompted participants to address, for each session, what they found notably important, confusing, unnecessary, interesting, boring, relevant, familiar, unfamiliar, oversimplified, and valuable.
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