Researching Evaluation Capacity Building Using a Complex Adaptive System Lens

This presentation reports the results from a three year research project examining evaluation capacity building in a complex adaptive system (CAS) and using CAS as a lens for the analysis. The NSF funded Complex Adaptive Systems as a Model for Network Evaluations (CASNET) project provides new insights on (1) the implications of complexity theory for designing evaluation systems that promote widespread and systemic use of evaluation within a network, and (2) complex system conditions that foster or impede ECB within a network. The complex adaptive system used was the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net); a network that has been continuously operating for ten years and is currently comprised of close to 400 science museum and university partners.