Coffee & Viz Program Evaluation
Coffee & Viz is a forum for NC State researchers and others to share their visualization work and discuss visualization best practices. As the series approached its five-year anniversary and fiftieth event, we wanted to evaluate how well the program was meeting its goals of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, raising awareness of library spaces and services, and building a community of practice around visualization.
Overview
In Fall 2019, Stephanie Teeter, a graduate student in NC State's College of Education, conducted an evaluation of the Coffee & Viz event series as a project for K.C. Busch's course, Evaluation of Learning in Informal Contexts (EMS 594/794). The guiding questions for her evaluation were:
- Has going to Coffee & Viz changed how attendees use or think about the Libraries?
- Are there signs that a Community of Practice has emerged surrounding Coffee & Viz or the Libraries' data and visualization services?
Stephanie's analysis indicated that going to Coffee & Viz has raised awareness of Libraries spaces and services and changed how participants think of the Libraries. She also found evidence that people have interacted with and collaborated with people they met at Coffee & Viz events. An overview of her findings is linked under "Results."
How We Did It
Stephanie analyzed five years' worth of program evaluation data collected through paper forms distributed at every Coffee & Viz event. In addition, Stephanie conducted a survey of Coffee & Viz attendees, using the Coffee & Viz mailing list to recruit participants. Sixty-three attendees completed the survey (18% response rate). Stephanie also conducted follow-up interviews with four out of ten participants who agreed to be interviewed.
Team
Stephanie TeeterGraduate student, College of Education