Making Meaning from Art: An Arts-Based Evaluation Case Study for Youth STEM Programs

Arts-based approaches are increasingly discussed in evaluation, but most examples stop at data collection. This workshop addresses what comes next. Using a real case study of a youth STEM program, participants will walk through the entire process of using an arts-based evaluation approach.

The workshop will introduce the program context, share examples of arts-based outputs created by youth participants and demonstrate how a coding tool was developed to make meaning from visual and creative outputs.

This session is designed to be practical and transparent, offering concrete examples and decision points that evaluators can adapt to their own work.

Presenter: 

Scarlett Kingsley is the State Evaluation Specialist for Cooperative Extension and Research at Oklahoma State University and a faculty member in the Agricultural Education, Communication, and Leadership department. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Social Foundations and Qualitative Inquiry and received her evaluation training as an AEA GEDI scholar. An artist herself, Scarlett is interested in bridging the gap between art, science, and better evaluation practice through effective arts-based methods.