Audience: Any member of academic or research staff from any discipline with little to no experience of evaluating public engagement activities.

Do you ever wonder ‘why should I bother to evaluate my engagement activities’? Here’s what Dr Sheena Cruickshank, Academic Lead for Public Engagement with Research, thinks about her own practice…

“I evaluate because I find it helpful to reflect on what activities or science has worked well and what people get excited about. This enables me to adapt or tweak things so they are right for different audiences. It’s also really helpful that I can now provide figures and information on the effectiveness of my events for my funders and other interested parties.”

Overview: This interactive workshop will encourage you to think about why evaluation is important, look at ways to get started, explore different techniques you can use, and consider what your findings can tell you.

Prior to the workshop, you will be asked to identify a public engagement activity or project you wish to evaluate and to briefly capture the aims and objectives for your activity. During the course, you will have the chance to develop a draft evaluation strategy for your own activity, and find out how to put it into practice.

Join us for a programme of practical activities and discussion as we demystify evaluation and find the fun in assessing your effectiveness!