Celebrating 5 Years of Improved Insights
Scrabble tiles on a wooden surface spell “Investment”
In honor of our fifth anniversary, I’d like to close out 2023 by reflecting on the year behind us with 5 things we’re grateful for at Improved Insights, and thinking ahead to the future with 5 things we’re excited about for 2024.
Gratitude List for 2023
We’re grateful for many things in the past year. Among them:
Working with many dynamic clients this year, all of whom are dedicated to significant and impactful work in the world of STEM learning. Improved Insights was privileged to work on projects relating to the evaluation of outcomes for many environmental and wildlife conservation programs; capacity building and instrument design for nearly a dozen cultural heritage and environmental stewardship organizations; evaluating the landscape of STEM learning in the state of Ohio; conducting a landscape analysis on Great Lakes environmental education resources across several states; and evaluating teacher professional development in place-based STEM education programming. One highlight of this work was collaborating with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to evaluate environmental education organizations and resources in the Great Lakes region and produce this Facilitator’s Guide to MWEE (Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences) Training for the Great Lakes region.
Dozens of conversations with friends and colleagues on topics like the development of artificial intelligence technologies, the ins and outs of small business ownership, and promoting equity within informal STEM learning and evaluation. One of my favorite things about the informal STEM learning and evaluation fields is how collaborative and supportive everyone is, seeking together to create positive change in our spaces, and helping each other along the way.
The opportunity to research evaluation policy and equity within informal STEM education. For the past two and a half years, I have been involved in a Doctor of Education program at the University of Pittsburgh focused on out-of-school learning. Facilitated by a faculty-student research grant, I’ve been working with my advisor, Dr. Kevin Crowly, to examine the evaluation policies of informal STEM education funders to understand what priorities they push forward and how these priorities impact the field. I’m grateful to be contributing to an important area of research and am excited to share our findings with you soon.
Your positive reception to our newsletters. Improved Insights currently publishes two newsletters: (1) the Improved Insights newsletter, which aims to provide our audience (you!) with a place to learn more about how to measure and communicate the impacts of informal STEM education; and (2) the Informal STEM Education Opportunities newsletter, launched in June of this year, which focuses on providing a collection of opportunities, funding, and other programs of interest for folks in the informal STEM learning world. In 2024, we’re looking forward to relaunching the newsletters with an eye on enhancing the content to align with what you most value and to bring you more of what you already love!
Attending the STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice Convening in Jacksonville, Florida. While I attended “on the job” for a client project, it was wonderful to be surrounded by a massive community of people committed to advancing STEM learning and equity.
Looking Forward to 2024
The good vibes don’t stop there! We’re looking forward to the year ahead (after a long break, of course) for the following five reasons:
I'll be writing a quarterly column for the NSTA journal Connected Science Learning focused on the importance of evaluation in both formal and informal learning environments. I’m thrilled to participate in building a culture of evaluation at STEM learning organizations.
As mentioned, I’ve been researching evaluation policy in informal STEM learning funding organizations. This work seeks to increase transparency, access, and equity for informal STEM education (ISE) organizations seeking grant funding. It also seeks to explore the underlying values that guide the ISE community. I look forward to finishing this work and sharing it with the ISE community in 2024. Stay tuned for articles, research briefs, useful lists and guides, and other resources about what organizations support ISE, what funding priorities they set, what evaluation policies they enact, and what those priorities and policies mean in terms of steering the field of ISE.
Continuing project work with Improved Insights’ incredible and dedicated clients. We are so excited to continue the good work that is already being done and to see what innovative approaches to informal STEM learning you all bring to the table in 2024! We’re booking up quickly and scheduling into the second half of 2024, so reach out soon if you’d like to connect.
We are currently hard at work developing a new website and various public resources on the Improved Insights website. Stay tuned in 2024 for these new developments. We aim to build a culture of evaluation in informal STEM education evaluation and pass along helpful tools and resources to you.
Exploring the use of A.I. tools in a thoughtful, ethical manner. There are huge opportunities around A.I. to increase efficiency and impact. However, there are also potential ramifications on equity if these tools are used inappropriately. As the field of evaluation (and really the working world at large) grapples with how and when to use A.I. technologies, we’re cautiously optimistic. Our team at Improved Insights will continue to participate in conversations around ethics and equity regarding A.I. and its impact on evaluation practices specifically.
Thank you to all who have supported us in our work this year. We have learned and grown so much in 2023 and had some incredible experiences along the way. Here’s looking forward to more opportunities to connect and learn alongside the ISE community in 2024. Happy and safe holidays to all, and see you in January!
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