Drawing from EngineeringUK’s own programme evaluation surveys, this measures bank offers STEM engagement providers a number of example questions that can be included in, or provide inspiration for, their own programme evaluations. The questions in the measures bank come from:
- The Engineering Brand Monitor, an annual survey of young people, their parents and STEM secondary teachers on their knowledge, perceptions and understanding of STEM and engineering.
- The Embedded Learning teacher survey, which collects feedback from teachers whose pupils have taken part in a Big Bang event, Energy Quest or EEP Robotics Challenge.
- Pupil evaluation surveys, which assess the effectiveness of EngineeringUK’s events and activities in inspiring young people to pursue STEM education and careers.
This measures bank is intended to be a living resource and will be updated periodically based on any additional measures developed by EngineeringUK, or shared by others in the STEM community. As such, we welcome your feedback on how to improve it and invite you to share any other resources you have found helpful. Let us know here.
- Get started
- Outcomes
- Young people
- Parents
- Teachers
- Glossary
How to navigate the measures bank
The measures bank is structured in a way to help users consider the STEM engagement outcomes they aim to evaluate and find survey questions that are relevant for their own programme evaluation. The tabs and dropdown filters of this resource can be used to do the following:
- Consider the outcomes of your activity – What is the aim of your evaluation? What outcomes are you trying to evaluate? This tab provides example outcomes for STEM engagement initiatives and shows how each one can me mapped to questions in the measures bank.
- Select the audience you wish to evaluate – Who will be answering your survey questions? Through the tabs of the measures bank you can choose from young people, parents or teachers.
- Select the type of measure – What aspects of your programme do you want to measure? For each audience tab, we’ve included additional filters you can choose from:
- impact measures, which can be used to evaluate the extent to which the event or activity is successful in achieving its intended outcomes. The asterisk (*) indicates the impact measures that EngineeringUK uses as key indicators. These are a set of core metrics that we include in our surveys which allow us to compare findings across our evaluations and measure progress against our organisational mission.
- process measures, which can be used to collect feedback on the event or activity and how it was delivered.
- context measures, which can be used to measure the sociodemographic characteristics of respondents and to analyse how the impact of the event or activity differs for these sub-groups.
- Select a topic – For each audience tab, you can also use this filter to narrow down your search further so you can see questions relating to particular topics of interest for your evaluation.
- View definitions and further resources – in our glossary, we have included definitions of key terms used in the measures bank as well as further reading that you may find helpful in developing your own evaluation.
- Download the measures – you can download the table of measures for each audience in CSV, Excel or Google Sheets. Hover over the table you wish to export, right-click anywhere on the table and select 'Export'. You can also download the entire measures bank in Excel format by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.
Glossary
Context measures - these measures can be used to collect information about the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents and to analyse how the impact of the event or activity differs for these sub-groups.
Impact measures - these measures can be used to assess the extent to which the event or activity is successful in achieving its intended outcomes. The measures can be mapped on to EngineeringUK’s impact framework for engineering outreach.
Key indicators - These are a set of core impact measures that EngineeringUK includes in both our evaluation surveys and our Engineering Brand Monitor research. These measures allow us to compare findings across our work and measure progress against our organisational mission. The key indicators included in this measures bank have been reviewed and tested in 2020, with the aim to enable EngineeringUK to measure aspects of the impact framework (see further resources for more information).
Likert scale - These are typically 5- or 7-point scales that offer a range of answer options from one extreme attitude to another, like ‘Extremely likely’ to ‘Not at all likely’. They are usually used to measure respondents' opinion or feelings about a particular topic.
Matrix questions - These questions are often used when asking a series of survey questions in a row that each have the same response options. For example, you could combine a number of Likert scales with the same answer options in a matrix question, to simplify the content.
Open text - These questions allow respondents to give any answer rather than pick from a list of options. They are helpful if you are aiming to collect rich and detailed feedback or if the evaluators do not know the full range of relevant response categories.
Process measures - these measures can be used to collect feedback on the event or activity and how it was delivered.
Further reading
- EngineeringUK. 'Evaluating using surveys' - This guide was developed by EngineeringUK to help STEM engagement providers design effective surveys for evaluating their programme or activity.
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EngineeringUK 'Impact framework for engineering outreach' - This webinar provides an introduction on the impact framework, based on the latest thinking on how we believe engineering outreach activities can collectively make an impact on young people’s educational and career choices.
Download the full resource
