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Evaluation Identifying plants of grassy ecosystems of the ACT region Canberra & Mulligan’s Flat Reserve, ACT, 22 & 23 November 2007 Evaluation of the course The course was a great success and was highly popular, as indicated by the waiting list, last minute enquiries and verbal feedback at the time. We turned away about 10 people additional to the waiting list. Eighty eight people attended day one and 84 attended day two. As 55 attended both days, there were actually 117 individual participants, plus two volunteer assistants. Thirteen of the participants were sponsored community volunteers. Comments and quotes The following are unedited quotes from the Evaluation Forms (Day 1 Day 2) provided to all participants (‘comments and suggestions’ section). I particularly enjoyed the approach to plant ID used at site 2 and would love to have the opportunity to do more work at that level (Landcare group). I wish I was booked in for day 2. Presenters were very knowledgeable and obliging (a NSW CMA). A good day – better than good (Student). Each course with tutor was well organised. Each course and tutor had different skills, gifts, manner of teaching. (Government agency). Some reflective comments were useful: The site quality assessment was explained too quickly – more time was needed for this complicated method. (Private landholder). I expected to learn more about weeds – to identify them from natives – still useful though. (Interested individual). Would have liked more basic description of physical properties of identification. (Community group). The ecology and management implications of sites were interesting but could have been more emphasised. (NGO). [Another respondent didn’t want that component]. Below are two unedited quotes that were emailed after the course: Thanks to you and all those who organised & presented the course. It was wonderful - diverse and useful information, well presented, tightly packaged - no wasted time. You deserve some applause. (Sponsored volunteer). Thank you for yesterday's workshop, which was very rewarding. My morning walk on Mt Majura today was made even more enjoyable by the insight I gained yesterday. I really appreciated the range of aspects covered and the superb organisation. (Interested individual). Evaluation analysis: A summary of the analysis of the evaluation forms returned by the participants is provided below. 40 forms from day 1 (45%) were returned and 44 (52%) from day 2. The 2-5 questions/statements in each section of the form (course structure, introductory session content, field activities, ongoing benefits) have been combined. The form provided five response choices for each question/statement: Strongly agree/ Agree/ Neither agree nor disagree/ Disagree/ Strongly disagree. Analysis of the returned forms is summarised below in Table 1 and Figs 1-3. Table 1: Summary of evaluation analysis (both days) For question details, refer to the Evaluation Forms (Day 1 Day 2)
The evaluation form also sought information on the respondent’s group or organisation. The final graph in Figs 2 & 3 below shows that the respondents were from (data from both days combined): - 10% Commonwealth Government - 25% State Government - 5% Local Government - 5% Educator/researcher - 5% Environmental consultant - 15% Landcare - 5% Community Group - 10% Private Landholder - 15% Interested individual - 5% Student From the above, 45% of respondents (Landcare, community groups, private landholders and interested individuals) work voluntarily in the conservation management of grassy ecosystems. This reinforces the value and high degree of commitment of volunteer workers, a key focus group for this project. Fig 1: Days 1 and 2 combined
Fig 2: Day 1 only
Fig 3: Day 2 only
Analysis done by Merryl Bradley Summary prepared by Sally Stephens March 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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