National Science Foundation-Ohio State University Informal Science Education Collaboration Project

This planning grant was used to bring together informal education organizations to explore the possibility of developing a program logic (program theory) model that unites the organizations. The work was conducted in two medium sized cities (Tucson, AZ and Columbus, OH) with proportionally large numbers of informal education sites and providers. The work of the planning grant was to bring the groups in each city together to initiate the logic modeling process and to have an exchange between the two community groups to develop a full proposal. The full proposal included a pilot project to design and implement a process for community informal science education organizations to create assessment and evaluation strategies, methods, and measures that can be replicated by other communities on the community scale. The results of this project will be of tremendous value to institutions in various communities to better understand how institutions can focus on their primary mission while working cohesively as a larger body to improve the educational experience for the visitor or group.