A Method to Increase and Document the Impact of Astrobiology Education and Public Outreach

Astrobiology education and public outreach (E/PO) efforts vary widely in terms of audience, content focus, duration, intensity, and numerous other characteristics. To identify best practices and gauge impact, an evaluation model is needed that functions across a variety of activities. In 2013, the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) convened 19 astrobiology E/PO specialists for 2 days in Phoenix, AZ, with a professional evaluator to develop an evaluation model. The resulting model, termed the impact analysis method (IAM), is a series of evaluation-based practices that are tied to each phase in the “life cycle” of an E/PO project: beginning with needs assessment, which leads to the articulation of clear measurable objectives, from which design criteria for the project are developed, followed by examining the fidelity of the implementation and measuring the impacts. Data from those measurements were then used by astrobiology E/PO specialists to refine future implementation, collect evidence of impact, and support subsequent program decisions. A rubric was developed to show increasing levels of rigor of the evaluation practices in each phase of the project. Eleven astrobiology E/PO specialists who used the IAM reported increases in their understanding of evaluation and improvements in their programs.