Study of NESTA-supported science learning projects
 
NESTA have asked a team at Bath Spa University College to study their support for science learning projects. We very much appreciate your taking time to complete this questionnaire as part of the study. We have tried to reduce the number of questions on the questionnaire to the minimum and apologise if you feel that we are asking you to provide information that you have already given in the past. I'm afraid this was necessary in order to be able to include Planet Science projects in the study. The questionnaire has 41 questions in six sections and should take around 20 minutes. Please submit by Friday 17th September. Remember, everyone who completes this questionnaire will be entered into a prize draw to win a magnum of champagne!

Dan Davies, Christine Eden, Alan Howe and Kendra McMahon, Bath Spa University College
 
Section 1: basic information
 
Q1 Your name
 
Q2 Name of your project
 
Q3 Start date of your project (mm/yy)
 
Q4 End date of your project (anticipated if ongoing)
 
Q5 Current stage of your project
 
setting up
 
ongoing implementation
 
other
 
initial research
 
completed
 
 
 
Q6 Number of staff in your organisation
 
1-10
 
51-100
 
501-1000
 
not applicable
11-50
 
101-500
 
1000+
 
 
Q7 Amount of funding from sources other than NESTA (£)
 
Section 2: background and aims of your project
 
Q8 What needs does/did your project seek to address?
Need 1
  Need 2
 
Q9 How did you become aware of these needs? (tick as many boxes as apply)
 
preliminary research
 
professional experience
 
anecdotal evidence
 
other
 
Q10 Who are/were your target audience? (tick as many boxes as apply)
 
pre-school children
 
secondary age children (11-18)
 
teachers
 
other
primary-age children (5-11)
 
young adults
 
general public
 
 
Q11 To what extent does/did your project seek to reach 'disadvantaged groups'? (e.g. girls, minority ethnic groups, SEN)
 
not at all
 
to some extent
 
to a great extent
 
not sure
 
Q12 What are/were the principal aims of your project?
Aim 1
  Aim 2
  Aim 3
  Aim 4
 
Q13 Which of the following aspects of science does/did your project seek to address? (tick as many as apply)
 
knowledge and understanding
 
science and society
 
biological sciences
 
astronomy
attitudes towards science
 
controversial issues
 
physical sciences
 
environmental sciences
images of science and scientists
 
scientific enquiry skills
 
earth sciences
 
 
Q14 Does your project have measurable success criteria (if no please go to section 3)
 
Yes
 
No
 
 
 
Q15 Please list your success criteria below
Criterion 1
  Criterion 2
  Criterion 3
  Criterion 4
 
Section 3: project management
 
Q16 What helped you develop your project design? (please tick as many as apply)
 
experience
 
consultation
 
previous work
 
NESTA's help
 
research
 
sudden inspiration
 
NESTA's suggestion
 
 
 
Q17 How much commitment to the project have you had from senior management within your organisation?
 
none
 
a little
 
good
 
total
 
not applicable
 
Q18 How closely related is your project to your organisation's overall mission?
 
unrelated
 
slightly related
 
closely related
 
identical
 
not applicable
 
Q19 How has the project been managed? (tick as many as apply)
 
single manager
 
management team
 
steering group
 
other
 
not applicable
 
Q20 How closely have NESTA been involved in managing the project?
 
Not at all
 
slightly
 
quite involved
 
very involved
 
ran the project
 
Q21 How many other organisations or groups have you worked with during the project?
 
Please answer the questions in sections 4 to 6 as best you can for the current stage of the project. Feel free to omit questions which are not yet relevant.
 
Section 4: project outcomes
 
Q22 To your knowledge, approximately how many individuals in your target groups have been 'reached' by the project to date?
 
Q23 On average, approximately how much time has been spent working with each individual?
 
less than 1 hour
 
2-5 hours
 
2 days - 1 week
1-2 hours
 
5 hours - 2 days
 
more than a week
 
Q24 Is there still ongoing work with target groups that we could observe?
 
Yes
 
No
 
 
Q25 What have you done for your target groups? (tick as many as apply)
 
given them new information?
 
given them new skills?
 
Improved their learning?
given them resources?
 
changed their attitudes?
 
raised their awareness?
 
changed their professional culture?
 
 
Q26 Please expand on your answers to question 25 below:
 
Section 5: evaluation
 
Q27 Has your project been...
 
Internally evaluated (e.g. by members of your team)?
 
externally evaluated (e.g. by a team appointed by NESTA)?
 
Q28 To what extent, in your view, has your project achieved each of its principal aims? (see Q12)
Aim 1
not at all
 
slightly
 
broadly
 
completely
 
not sure
  Aim 2        
  Aim 3        
  Aim 4        
 
Q29 If applicable, to what extent, has your project met each of its success criteria? (see Q15)
Criterion 1
not at all
 
slightly
 
broadly
 
completely
 
not sure
  Criterion 2        
  Criterion 3        
  Criterion 4        
 
Q30 How much impact do you believe your project has had on your target audience in the short term?
 
none
 
a little
 
a fair degree
 
a lot
 
not sure
 
Q31 How much impact do you anticipate that your project will have on your target audience in the medium to long term? (sustainability)
 
none
 
a little
 
a fair degree
 
a lot
 
not sure
 
Q32 To what extent do you believe your project has reached 'disadvantaged groups'? (see Q 11)
 
none
 
a little
 
a fair degree
 
a lot
 
not applicable
 
Q33 To what extent do you believe your project has fed into the formal education system? (schools, colleges etc.)
 
none
 
a little
 
a fair degree
 
a lot
 
not applicable
 
Q34 Please list available evidence of impact
 
Section 6: NESTA's support and dissemination
 
Q35 To what extent do you think your project would have achieved each of its principal aims without NESTA support? (see Q27)
Aim 1
not at all
 
slightly
 
broadly
 
completely
 
not sure
  Aim 2        
  Aim 3        
  Aim 4        
 
Q36 To what extent did NESTA support facilitate new contacts, or your involvement in new networks?
 
not at all
 
slightly
 
to quite an extent
 
hugely
 
not applicable
 
Q37 How should NESTA develop its support for science learning projects in the future?
 
Q38 How have the messages from your project been disseminated? (tick as many as apply)
 
meetings
 
website
 
published resources
conference presentations/papers
 
radio/television
 
other
articles
 
press
 
 
Q39 Please provide details of dissemination products that we could access (e.g. website addresses, publication details)
 
Q40 Who else should we contact to ask about your project?
name, phone, email
  name, phone, email
  name, phone, email
  name, phone, email
 
Q41 I give permission for the evaluation team to use the above data anonymously for future academic publications
 
Yes
 
No
 
 
 
Thank you very much for taking the time to complete this questionnaire!