Global STEM Projects Evaluation Overview

Evaluation research work on the Global STEM project has been undertaken as a collaboration between Global STEM project leadership and Davis Square Research Associates (DSRA), a Boston-area research firm with long experience in STEM educational innovations (all thanks and credits to Dr. Russell Faux). The first round of data collection occurred during the 2012-2013, and relied largely upon pre-post survey findings to determine whether the innovation was effective at meeting its declared objectives. The research model was a within-group, change-over-time model, appropriate, we hold, for an innovation as this early phase of its development. The over-arching research question that DSRA set about to investigate can be stated: What are the effects – cognitive, attitudinal, behavioral, and social – that can be reasonably attributed to participation in the Global STEM project?

The sample for the survey data collection included all participants in the Global STEM project. The demographic profile of the survey respondents is somewhat narrow, with 28 of the 30 respondents reported being from the USA. The methods included an extensive online survey comprising the constructs embedded in the research question. The reliability value for the survey was a very good 0.93 (Cronbach’s Alpha), indicating that the questions regarding the target constructs were of more than adequate sensitivity.

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