Masterclass: How to Evaluate the Impact of Science Communication

Have you ever organised or participated in science communication (scicom) projects? Have you ever thought about the impact your projects can have on a target audience and how to find out if you actually reached your target?  Or are you just curious how to actually measure impact?

Join our masterclass 

Together with researchers from Leiden University, Utrecht University and the German Impact Unit from Wissenschaft im Dialog SciComNL will organize a 3-part-series masterclass on evaluating the impact of science communication. Find your way around the variety of terms, sources, and methods for impact evaluation, no matter what your background is. Apply your new knowledge by bringing in your own projects or co-create evaluation plans together with us, hands-on. 

Insights and dialogue

At the end of this masterclass you will have gained the necessary insights to decide what’s important for measuring impact of science communication and join the ongoing discussion about what this means for you as scicom practitioners. We are part of an evolving field and we want this masterclass to be a way of sharing recent research on this topic and give you the opportunity to join a mutual learning process and contribute to the current dialogue.  

Program

Day 1 (Tuesday 18-5, 9:00-12:00): Why should I evaluate scicom projects? What exactly do I want to achieve with my project? And how do I prepare an evaluation that actually tells me what I need to know? In this session we will dive into what it means to conduct meaningful and instructive evaluations. You will be introduced to the variety evaluation practice has to offer and to a structural approach helping you to make individual decisions in order to tailor an evaluation to your needs. This session will also provide examples, tips and templates in order to define goals and measurable objectives as the basis of a strategically planned evaluation.

Day 2 (Wednesday 2-6, 9:00-12:00): Bring your own scicom project(s) or join your fellow participants in discussing their ongoing or past endeavours. This part of the masterclass is hands-on and lets you experience the ins and outs of measuring impact first-hand. On this day you will - in a small group - start drafting an evaluation plan for an actual project. You will learn how to use, adapt and master new tools that are currently being developed to evaluate scicom impact. While doing this, you are guided by experts and practitioners from Leiden University, Utrecht University and Wissenschaft im Dialog. You will put your new knowledge and skills to use right away and - at your own pace - work together with others to design your evaluation plan over the next following days.

Day 3 (Tuesday 29-6, 9:00-12:00): Participants will present their evaluation plans discuss the process, recap their ‘AHA’ moments and reflect on how they tackled hurdles and (hopefully) overcame obstacles. This session is meant as an opportunity to openly exchange experiences and learn from each other. It will allow you to see how others conceptualised their evaluation plans and what they think about the overall design. We will end the day with a round-table discussion on the sense and nonsense of impact measurements in scicom and recap the lessons learnt as a group.

Impact unit at Wissenschaft im Dialog: Imke Hedder, Liliann Fischer and Ricarda Ziegler

University Leiden: Ward Peeters, Anne Land

University Utrecht: Madelijn Strick

Between day 2 and day 3 members of the Utrecht, Leiden and WiD research groups will be available to answer participants' questions and help out with problems you encounter. The setting of this 3-part masterclass is confidential so that participants are encouraged to freely share details of their projects relevant to the assignment. We will work with the Chatam House Rules for open but confidential conversations.

Language: English

Dates:  

Day 1: Tuesday 18-5 9:00-12:00

Day 2: Wednesday 2-6 9:00-12:00

Day 3: Tuesday 29-6 9:00-12:00

Participants: Maximum 30

Location: online via Zoom

Costs: €150 for the whole workshop (non-members*); SciCom NL members get a 50% discount and pay €75. 

*Note that if you aren’t yet a member, you can combine 2021 SciCom NL membership and workshop participation for a total of €125. You can cancel your membership at the end of each year.

Register

We have a limited number of spots available for this masterclass. In case of high demand, SciComNL members will get priority to join during the first three days of registration. Please make sure to indicate if you are a member or want to become a member when registering. Register here.

Deadline to register is Tuesday 11. May 2021 18:00