Evaluation

Huw and his team have worked on many different Evaluation Projects looking at many specific areas. Evaluation comes in many different forms and it's difficult to get the right balance between the quantitative and the qualitative but we do our best. We evaluate many different areas, mostly in the show and presenting area but have been asked to evaluate areas outside the Science Communication world.

At the moment, we're looking at the effects that the Science Junkie Schools Show has on it's audience using the 'Generic Learning Outcome' standards. "The Generic Learning Outcomes are underpinned by a broad definition of learning which identifies benefits that people gain from interacting with museums, libraries and archives". We are now using these for touring science shows to look at what the audience member can learn or take in from a show whose effects have been crticised for being "short lived". We look at 5 key areas:
 

We have found, on a tour in March 2011 to 12 schools around Wales, with a 5% participant rate in the evaluation, of 3580 students:
 
· 86% Enjoyed the Show with the other 16% claiming it was alright, none of those asked disliked it;
· 89% Either already liked Science or thought that it was better having seen the show;
· 68% said they were more inclined to try out the sports seen in the show. With 19% wanting to try them out but not being able to;
· 97% said they would like to see a show like this again.
 
And here are some of their comments:
 
· Science is all around us;
· Science is cool;
· Science is fun;
· It was really enjoyable. The free running was really cool;
· The science and presentation was very good, interaction was very clever and good;
· I love science and it is so useful to me;
· Science is cool and amazing;

The questions in the evaluatino questionairres were designed to concentrate on the 'Knowledge and Understanding', 'Enjoyment, Inspiration and Creativity' and 'Attitudes and Values' parts of the Generic Learning Outcomes in the actual Science Junkie Show.

We are also asked to evaluate STEM Shows and how to create a show that is not only vibrant, interesting, exciting but also meaningful and saturated with quality content.

We always evaluate by categorising the type of show or talk that it might be and break it down into its constituent parts. We categorise the demonstrations in the show and look at the style of talk it actually is.

There is no 'formula' for writing STEM shows, nor is one style better than any other. But what we can do is help you look at the bits of your show that 'work' and the bits that don't. Our most recent show evaluation was for a live show for BBC 3 presented by Greg Foot.

If you'd like us to take a look at your show and work with us to make yours as good as it can be, drop us a line at info@huwjames.com. We also run demo workshops, enquire above for details.

Whether you're a seasoned presenter or brand new to public speaking, everyone's looking to improve. The ability to make coherent, well organized and clear presentations are an essential skill for business professionals and presenters everywhere.

Similar to the other performance measurement evaluation methods, the presentation criteria narrative begins with an outline of the criteria. To evaluate speakers in any field, we look at their style of presenting and how they interact with the audience. We also look at status and competance and a whole host of other attributes that we can work on to make you into the public speaker that you'd like to be.

We run presenting workshops for various people including presenters and explorers and others, please enquire at info@huwjames.com for rates and dates.