Thanks to the skill and passion of students from UNC’s Computer Science and Social Good club, EENC will collect, analyze, and share more program evaluation data than ever before.
Computer Science and Social Good (CS + Social Good) is a nation-wide organization for university students interested in using technology to create positive change. Each semester, hundreds of students across the country pair with nonprofits to advance their efforts by completing prono bono coding design projects. Last fall, students from the UNC chapter of CS + Social Good reached out to the EENC team with an invitation to be one of their 2022-2023 school year nonprofit beneficiaries, and EENC Program Coordinator Michelle Pearce knew it was the perfect opportunity to expand EENC’s evaluation and reporting toolbox.
Together, the UNC CS + Social Good and EENC teams developed a plan to build an evaluation dashboard that could synthesize and display the survey results collected from participants in EENC’s professional development courses. EENC had the data, and CS + Social Good had the technological savvy to bring it to life. Now, after a ten month build and review process, EENC is proud to announce the launch of our Evaluation Dashboard.
Access the dashboard here: EENC CS+Social Good Evaluation Dashboard
Coded in Python using the Streamlit software, the dashboard automatically imports, categorizes, and aggregates data from across program participant surveys into customized results visuals, making real-time evaluation – and therefore, timely course revisions and updates – feasible and sustainable for the EENC team. We’ll use these results to gain new, cross-program insights into our participant demographics and learning outcomes, as well as the unique and cumulative impacts of our programming. In addition to internal use for evaluation and analytics, the Dashboard is also publicly available on EENC’s website, and a summary of findings will be shared in our annual Program Evaluation Report each year.
“Working with the team from Computer Science and Social Good was completely collaborative and really enjoyable,” says Pearce. “The team listened to EENC’s need for the dashboard and we all worked together to create a tool that will be sustainable and user friendly for the organization. We’re really looking forward to watching the data roll in!”
EENC strives to be a leader in evaluation and transparency in environmental education, and this new dashboard aligns closely with other projects, including the design of a new evaluation-focused professional development course, that position EENC to understand and maximize our impact on environmental education efforts across the state. Many thanks to Prajwal Moharana, Mel Ho, and the rest of the UNC CS + Social Good team for coordinating this project and dedicating their volunteer time to supporting EENC’s mission.
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