IMPACT ASSESSMENT
2020 - 2021
IMPACT PERCENTAGE SCORES (AVG)
Sample Size: 9963 students
QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT
While our programs expose students to hands-on learning to achieve high levels of leadership, problem-solving, creativity, curiosity and awareness, these skills bring about five important behavioural shifts – from saying ‘Yes to Why’, from ‘Looking to Observing’, from being ‘Passive to Learning to Explore’, from being ‘Textbook bound to Hands-on’ and from ‘Fear to Confidence’.
These behavioural shifts are captured by mapping testimonials of students using a behavioural matrix. The indicators used in the matrix are:
Persistence - To try without giving up.
Active Participation - To actively involve i.e. being able to concentrate in whatever they are involved-in.
Generation of Ideas – Ability to think-out-of-the-box
Development of Ideas – To be able to develop their ideas into models, experiments/inventions.
Linking Ideas – To be able to apply the acquired knowledge/skill(s) in their day-to-day life.
Attentive (Self-Regulative) – The ability to do something without any distraction(s).
Teamwork – The ability to carry everyone in the team (family, class, friends and community) together.
Leadership – The ability to stand-out and stand-up.
QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT
Children have a natural curiosity to learn about their surroundings, which they lose by the time they are adults. A major reason for this are the methods of teaching adopted in the educational institutions they attend as they grow up. This is where Agastya’s Science-on-Wheels, Science centres and Lab-on-a bike programs add value for the current education system. They are designed in a way that encourages children to think independently and learn by experimenting themselves.
The curriculum is also evolving to ensure that the lessons benefit children in the best way possible. This is facilitated by our in-house impact assessment team which administers periodic tests and assessments to gauge their impact.
Our reach has been consistently growing and expanding over the years, with our programs currently serving more than 21 states across India. The broadening scope has also meant that program-related data has increased exponentially. Our impact team now deals with a sample of more than one lakh every year. Recognizing the need for an evolved method of data collection, we moved from observational techniques and simple questionnaires to the Pi-Card app, which is a digital data capturing methodology that works similar to QR codes and captures responses by reading the cards via a specially developed mobile app. This new digitized way has eliminated 90% of manual data entry, 99% of manual data cleaning, and made it a much faster and efficient process. The responses of the children are immediately captured in the mobile app, increasing data accuracy. It has also reduced paper wastage, making it a more sustainable way of assessing data
We use a framework designed by IIM-Bangalore and after a lot of careful deliberation, four parameters were defined as the measurable outputs of the impact assessment framework: awareness about its teaching method, curiosity, creative problem-solving ability, confidence and scientific knowledge.
They are defined as:
Awareness
Knowledge among relevant stakeholders of alternative methods of learning and teaching science that is preferred
Curiosity
Behaviour characterized by exploration, investigation, observation, and a desire to learn more about new, incongruous, or unknown elements
Confidence
The ability to stand up and speak their mind, the consciousness of their own ability and demonstration of the same
Scientific
Understanding of scientific concepts and application of the same
CASE STORIES
Read about Agastya's impact on children in their own words.
Blazing Fireflies
Rise of the Fireflies
