Evaluation Reports

Evaluating I’m a Scientist – Ireland

Back in November 2012 we ran I’m a Scientist in Ireland for the first time. In short, it was a real success. The enthusiasm shown by teachers, students and scientists was magnificent and the students really got into the spirit of the event. The full evaluation report is up on the Irish site (imascientist.ie/2013/05/15/evaluating-im-a-scientist-in-ireland/) alongside a short summary of our findings. In summary, we would love to run more events in Ireland.

Posted on May 15, 2013 by in Evaluation Reports | Comments Off

I’m a Neuroscientist Live – Project Report

Summary: Gallomanor was approached by the Wellcome Trust to run a live version of I’m a Scientist as part of the Wellcome Trust / Barbican Wonder Season in conjunction with the BNA Festival of the Brain in March and April 2013. The deliverables were: 2 Weekender heats Final in Barbican Cinema One with a paying audience IAS Zone to accommodate questions submitted by public during weekender. Gallomanor delivered the events but a lack of questions from the public outside of the events meant we did not need the IAS Zone. The events were a great success. The Weekender heats had capacity audiences; the final was sold out. We succeeded in recruiting excellent scientists, but it was harder than expected. We had to do more cajoling and encouraging than originally anticipated. This surprised us as we expected that more scientists would be keen to join in a Wellcome Trust event. Key … Continue reading →

Posted on April 18, 2013 by in Evaluation, Evaluation Reports, I'm a Scientist - Live | Comments Off

November 2012 – Evaluation Report

In November 2012 we ran 3 zones in I’m a Scientist. We used the event to make a few changes to how we ran it. We opened the event only to teachers who had taken part before. We used a new online registration system for teachers and students. And we ran 3 themed zones which tied into what students were being taught at the time – Cancer, Cells & Genes. This short report looks at how the November event went. Offering the event just to teachers who had taken part before worked well. Using the new online registration system had a few hiccups, but despite the teething problems online registration is the way forward. Tying the themed zones into what students are learning at the time was a success. As one teacher said “I used it as an extension activity within the course they were already doing which was great. A really good idea to do … Continue reading →

Posted on March 4, 2013 by modangela in Evaluation, Evaluation Reports, News | Comments Off

November 2012 event evaluation report

In November 2012 we ran 3 zones in I’m a Scientist. We used the event to make a few changes to how we ran it. We opened the event only to teachers who had taken part before. We used a new online registration system for teachers and students. And we ran 3 themed zones which tied into what students were being taught at the time – Cancer, Cells & Genes. This short report looks at how the November event went. Offering the event just to teachers who had taken part before worked well. Using the new online registration system had a few hiccups, but despite the teething problems online registration is the way forward. Tying the themed zones into what students are learning at the time was a success. As one teacher said “I used it as an extension activity within the course they were already doing which was great. A really good idea to do … Continue reading →

Posted on December 11, 2012 by in Evaluation, Evaluation Reports | Comments Off

GM Food Zone Evaluation

For some time we’ve been wanting to expand the I’m a Scientist format and allow the general public to participate. The hysteria generated over the Rothamsted GM Wheat trials in May 2012 presented us with the opportunity to run a GM Food Zone. We’ve written up our evaluation of the project. There are 4 sections in addition to this page: Narrative Balancing the experts Questions and comments Who read what You might find this incomplete. Please ask more questions in the comments. For those who are too impatient to read the entire evaluation here is The short version… Driven by some hysterical writing in the national press we decided to run a special I’m a Scientist GM Food Zone and open it to the general public. We wanted to create a neutral space where a constructive and civil discussion could take place. We knew that we were placing ourselves in … Continue reading →

Posted on September 25, 2012 by ModShane in Evaluation Reports, News | Comments Off

2011 Evaluation

In June 2011 we came to the end of a grant from the Wellcome Trust to run I’m a Scientist in 2010 and 2011. We’ve evaluated throughout the project and the final evaluation report is available to download below, as well as a shorter executive summary and summary sheet. 2010-2011 Evaluation Report – at 75 pages long it contains a lot information including the methodology, aims, key figures and data, findings and recommendations. Executive Summary – this outlines the main findings from the 2010-2011 Evaluation Report and looks at whether the objectives set at the start of the project have been met. Summary sheet of the event in 2010-2011 – this highlights some of the key numbers and quotes from evaluations, and reasons why the event works so well. How do we evaluate? Evaluation is absolutely key to understanding what students and scientists have got out of the … Continue reading →

Posted on March 4, 2012 by modangela in Evaluation, Evaluation Reports, News | Comments Off

Sports Science Zone evaluation report

In March 2012 we ran a Sports Science Zone, funded by The Physiological Society. It was a big success. It was the most popular zone requested by teachers More than 2 sports scientists applied for each place The students asked lots of questions on sports and the human body. Keywords that poopped up a lot include Body, Blood, Brain, Cardiovascular, Cells, Exercise, Heart, Human Body, Lung, Oxygen, Performance and Running. Discussions ranged from how extra organs would effect the human body to the best way to improve personal health. Heart researcher Fiona Hatch won the zone and spent her prize money giving a sheep’s heart dissection lesson to a local school in Hull. Read the full evaluation here. As one sports scientist said “this has been a blast”.

Posted on February 13, 2012 by in Evaluation Reports | Comments Off

Evaluation

Evaluation in 2011 In June 2011 we came to the end of a grant from the Wellcome Trust to run I’m a Scientist in 2010 and 2011. We’ve evaluated throughout the project and the final evaluation report is available to download below, as well as a shorter executive summary and summary sheet. 2010-2011 Evaluation Report – at 75 pages long it contains a lot information including the methodology, aims, key figures and data, findings and recommendations. Executive Summary – this outlines the main findings from the 2010-2011 Evaluation Report and looks at whether the objectives set at the start of the project have been met. Summary sheet of the event in 2010-2011 – this highlights some of the key numbers and quotes from evaluations, and reasons why the event works so well. How do we evaluate? Evaluation is absolutely key to understanding what students and scientists have got … Continue reading →

Posted on August 8, 2011 by in Evaluation, Evaluation Reports | Comments Off

So How Was IAS2010?

In our pilot event, we did nearly all of the evaluation in-house, to save money. We tried to be as objective as possible, but of course it’s much better practice to have an independent evaluator. This year, we’ve been able to do that, and we appointed the lovely Kate Pontin to evaluate the project for us. We are publishing the evaluation report on 2010 today (and also presenting it at the Science Council). You can also read the team’s early thoughts on this year in our write up of our Science Online London session, or see our evaluation report on the pilot. Download full I’m a Scientist Evaluation Report 2010 (pdf) Summary of I’m a Scientist 2010 evaluation This report summarises the findings of the first year of formal evaluation of I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! and thus acts as an interim report. I’m a Scientist creates … Continue reading →

Posted on March 4, 2011 by modangela in Evaluation, Evaluation Reports, News | Comments Off

So how did I’m a Scientist go in 2010?

It’s important, in anything, to check that you’re doing a good job. When we’re running I’m a Scientist, we think we’re doing a good job and that the event is fun and exciting, and that students (and scientists!) learn things. But we aren’t the most impartial people to check! We’re spending lots of money on this project (given to us by a charity called the Wellcome Trust), and we’re also taking up lots of lesson time at hundreds of schools around the country. So it’s important we check that the event is doing what it’s supposed to. So a researcher called Kate Pontin has been checking for us. She visited some schools when the event was happening (maybe she came to your school?). She watched lessons and talked to students. She also talked to some of the scientists and teachers. And she looked at the surveys some of you filled … Continue reading →

Posted on November 11, 2010 by in Evaluation Reports | Comments Off

The long awaited IAS evaluation report is published!

Here is is, all 126 glorious pages of it. The I’m a Scientist Evaluation Report [pdf 1mb]. If you’re interested in how the event went and what people got out of it then look at Section 1 (findings) and Section 3 (case studies). If you’re a fellow science communication professional, and want to know more about how we did things and learn from our experience, then look at Section 2 (development) and Appendix 3 (formative evaluation findings). The key messages were:- Students said: “i learnt loads and feel much more confident to put my hand up and ask questions and know that ok sometimes i will get it wrong” Teachers said: “The pupils were looking forward to their science lessons, asking about them in the corridor etc.” Scientists said: “It engaged the kids in a way I’ve never seen before.” Every scientist and teacher surveyed said they would recommend it … Continue reading →

Posted on December 12, 2008 by in Evaluation, Evaluation Reports, IAS Event | Comments Off

What can you do?

I want to take part with my class ❯

I want to take part as a scientist ❯

I want to find out about funding I’m a Scientist ❯

What is I’m a Scientist?

I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here is an online activity where school students get to meet and interact with scientists.

It’s a competition between scientists, where the students are the judges.

Students challenge the scientists over intense, fast-paced, online live Chats. Then they Ask the scientists all the questions they want to, and Vote for their favourite scientist to win a prize of £500 to communicate their work with the public.