Using drawings to evaluate ocean literacy and awareness across grade levels
To assess the prior knowledge and immediate impact of our marine science outreach programs, we use a technique to evaluate student drawings of "what it looks like under the ocean". This approach which we call "Ocean Vision" has allowed us to use the same assessment across a wide range of grade levels from kindergarten to fifth grade.
Our team of undergraduate SVF docents are then trained to score these drawings based on three criteria, construct (what is in the drawing), centricity (presence of specific program elements addressing ocean literacy principles), and scenarios (overall tone related to the current or future status of our oceans). Our codebook and the results from independent scoring of drawings give us a measure of the repeatability of different coders and the reliability of the scoring rubric.
By comparing drawings completed before attending our programs with those completed after attending our programs, we can measure gains (or loses) in each of these three metrics. We can also relate these gains to other measures of interest include student career surveys.
First Grade ---- Pre-exhibit
In this drawing, the ocean has only marine life with no evidence of humans or human artifacts. The scenario presented is a positive tone with no negative or harmful interactions included.
Third Grade ---- Pre-exhibit
In this drawing, the ocean has marine life, humans (submarine), and human artifacts (sunken boat). The scenario presented is a neutral tone as it doesn't specify if the human artifacts are helping or harming the marine life.
First Grade
Third grade
