Abstract
Science museums are expected to play a significant role to foster the public's science literacy. Various educational programs have been developed and offered; however, they do not necessarily aim at fostering the public's science literacy. This article has two parts: development of a program evaluation framework, and a test of the framework using an educational program for the young generation. The program evaluation framework was developed for the educational programs offered at science museums based on science literacy proposed by the National Museum of Nature and Science. Foreign literature such as PISA2006, Pan Canadian Protocol, Generic Learning Outcomes and Iowa Assessment Handbook was examined in developing the framework. The framework was then tested in a program targeted at the young generation to see its effectiveness to measure the extent of science literacy fostered in the participants. This study showed that the evaluation framework resulted in an explicit program evaluation instrument, providing both the program developer and the evaluator with a common assumption about program evaluation. The evaluation framework was also consistent with the evaluation viewpoints. Two implications-the need to examine general-use of the evaluation framework and the need to show validity of the evaluation viewpoints-were made from the results.
