Case study: Dynamic Earth’s Mindsets + Missions Evaluation
Background
‘Mindsets + Missions’ (M+M) is a pilot learning and grants programme designed to support museums, science centres and individuals from the sector to realise new and creative approaches to serving their communities through inclusive-related projects.
Dynamic Earth was one of twelve museums and science centres which was awarded funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of the M+M initiative. There was a requirement for Dynamic Earth to evaluate the impact, success and audience reception of M+M project.
To ensure this evaluation was objective, comprehensive and actionable, Dynamic Earth opted to commission Scotinform to manage the evaluation of the M+M project, which engaged community groups in interactive and educational climate change workshops.
Purpose
Our evaluation required a comprehensive approach, not only focussing on the experiences of the community participants, but also considering the perspectives of internal stakeholders. Dynamic Earth recognised the importance of understanding how staff and trustees perceived the project’s impact on community engagement and learning.
As part of the M+M project Dynamic Earth worked with six organisations, all of whom work with a range of under-represented groups across Edinburgh. Between five and seven sessions were held with each organisation, with the aim of capturing how the groups experienced the Dynamic Earth exhibition, whether they see themselves and their lived experience reflected in the content, and what suggestions they have for future exhibitions.
Our role was to capture feedback from the community groups to ensure the project met its goals and informed strategic decisions moving forward.
Another key element of the project was to effect internal change. To capture these findings, Scotinform conducted an online survey that was distributed across all staff (including the Board of Trustees) to capture feedback at the outset of the project.
Methodology
Scotinform worked with the Community Learning Team at Dynamic Earth to devise a collaborative approach for supporting the delivery of the community workshops and activities, and gathering data to support the evaluation. The agreed research methodology for the workshops included the following tasks, delivered by Dynamic Earth with training and support from Scotinform
- Observation by a Dynamic Earth member of staff during the event, allowing us to understand attendee behaviour, engagement, interest and profiles.
- Sentence completion at the event to capture qualitative feedback from attendees
- A post-event survey distributed to group organisers by Dynamic Earth to capture feedback on the event, perceptions of engineering and demographic detail
- Artist and Illustrator, Cara Rooney, was commissioned to record the outcomes for each group. You can see her amazing work at the top of this page.
A total of 34 workshops were hosted, and involved a whopping 546 people across the delivery of 733 science engagements!
Scotinform supported data collection through providing staff training about Evaluation and Facilitation of focus groups. A Scotinform member of staff also supported one of the workshops.
In addition, Scotinform prepared an online survey to capture quantitative and qualitative feedback across all staff at both the outset of the project and at its conclusion.
Scotinform compiled all of the evaluation feedback into one report to demonstrate impact and outcomes.
Impacts
The approach allowed Dynamic Earth to design and deliver an extensive programme of activities, tailored to the changing needs of each community group. The findings are currently being used to inform the development of their community engagement programme, and support further audience development.
“It was wonderful to work with the team at Scotinform as part of Dynamic Earth’s Mindsets+Missions project. The team truly took the time to understand our needs and crucially thought about the project through the lens of our community partners and audiences. This audience centred approach to our evaluation was absolutely essential, and helped us capture meaningful and robust data that’s helping inform future practice at the centre.”
Conor Ellis, Science Learning and Engagement Director, Dynamic Earth
Why Scotinform?
Dynamic Earth recognised that Scotinform possesses the necessary expertise, tools and methodologies to carry out in-depth evaluations. We guided the team through robust data collection and analysis, and mentored them through the planning and delivery of focus groups with the community groups.
By outsourcing the evaluation, Dynamic Earth also ensured impartial feedback. Scotinform were able to provide unbiased insights, free from internal perspectives, offering a clearer understanding of the project’s successes and areas for improvement.
Understanding visitor experiences and public perspectives from diverse audiences was a priority for Dynamic Earth. Scotinform engaged directly with the community groups involved with the M+M workshop sessions through surveys and interviews to capture qualitative and quantitative data on audience engagement and satisfaction.
Dynamic Earth aimed to use the evaluation results to inform future projects, improve visitor experiences and enhance their strategic positioning with diverse community groups. Scotinform’s findings delivered actionable recommendations based on evidence-driven insights.
Finally, managing a comprehensive evaluation internally can stretch an organisation’s resources. By commissioning Scotinform, Dynamic Earth leveraged external expertise while allowing its internal team to focus on their core activities with the M+M project.
Illustration Credit: Cara Rooney