A developmental evaluation of the University of South Australia’s STEM Showdown program
Reports on a developmental evaluation undertaken of the University of South Australia’s STEM Showdown program, funded via a 2025 ACSES Capacity Building Grant.
Reports on a developmental evaluation undertaken of the University of South Australia’s STEM Showdown program, funded via a 2025 ACSES Capacity Building Grant.Reports on a developmental evaluation undertaken of the University of South Australia’s STEM Showdown program, funded via a 2025 A Read more
Author
Devis, D., Smith, L., MacGillivray, M. & Leonard, S.N.
Published on
November 30, 2025
Read time
20
min
This formative evaluation report is intended to inform the ongoing design and development of the University of South Australia’s outreach program, STEM Showdown.
Program Overview: STEM Showdown is an outreach program delivered in the pre-access student life stage as outlined in The Student Equity in Higher Education Evaluation Framework (SEHEEF) (Johnstone et al., 2021). The program is designed to engage Year 5 and 6 school students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
The primary purpose of this evaluation is to construct a clear, testable Theory of Change (ToC), which sets out the pathways through which change is anticipated to occur.
By setting out this logic clearly, the evaluation provides a shared framework for our stakeholders by clarifying the purpose of the program activities, identifying the intended outcomes, and making the assumptions underpinning the work transparent.
The clearly articulated ToC allows us to test whether the program is achieving what it set out to do, adapt the design in response to the evidence in future iterations, and ensure that the program continues to serve equity goals in STEM education.
