Sowing Seeds of Evaluation: A Pilot Study Measuring Master Gardener Program Public Benefit

Abstract

We conducted an evaluation pilot study to measure the influence of the statewide University of California Master Gardener Program on participants who attended its public education events. We discuss (a) steps for developing a statewide evaluation and (b) findings from the event follow-up survey we used to evaluate public education participants' self-reported behavior changes. Our findings suggest that volunteer-led public education events resulted in participants improving science-based gardening practices. Our approach has implications for other states' Extension programs; sharing program evaluation measurement strategies and data across states can facilitate better communicating Extension's benefit to the public, thereby addressing a need identified in the literature.