Teacher and Older Student Evaluations

Part of our surveys for Teachers and Older Students

Hello!

I have continued to design evaluation tools for Ogallala Commons. Our first pilot study for landowners during Landowner Management Day hosted on March 24, 2011 was a success. I am happy to report that we had 16 surveys returned to us! I will share more details once the data is analyzed, but I am very optimistic after skimming the results.

Most recently I have developed two new tools for evaluating the playa festivals. The first evaluation tool was designed for teachers. The second tool was designed for high school students that have previously attended playa festivals. Both surveys asked questions about individual’s attitudes of playas and their significance in the communities. The teacher surveys also asked questions about the playa festival programming and its impact on students’ understanding of other subjects. We also asked about supplemental activities like the macroinvertebrate jar and the playa trunk to see how these programs could be improved.

The student surveys not only ask about their attitudes toward playas, but also about their knowledge of playas and how their behaviors have changed since attending a playa festival. The goal of this survey is to see how playa festivals continue to impact students long after attending one. To make this successful we will need to get in touch with students who attended festival. Luckily, we have long-standing relationships with teachers who have kept in touch with students. This information will surely be exciting to analyze once we have the results!