PDQ Survey
The Undergraduate PDQ instruments are designed for undergraduate activities where time limitations or activity importance make rigorous assessment (e.g. using pre and post measures) impractical. PDQ stands for "pretty darn quick," so named because you can use them for activities that you want to assess but don't have the desire or time to do so more intensively. Both versions of the undergraduate PDQ instruments gather data on the extent to which respondents participated in the activity, their goals, and feedback from the leaders or participants on their impressions of the activity, their satisfaction with the activity, and their suggestions for how it could be improved.
Average Review: 
(4.0)
by Whitney Mims,
Research Assistant, ,
The PDQ combines Likert scales with open response questions to gauge the effectiveness of activities, particularly events and career development sessions. The strength of this survey is that it identifies key variables, such as quality of help, clarity of instructions, and the extent to which the event met the goals of participants and student leaders, that can be used to improve and redesign future events. In addition, the survey leads several questions open so it can be tailored to meet the individual needs of the program and event. The balance between the quantitative results and the qualitative data from the open response answers would provide a useful picture of the effectiveness of the events.
However, it is difficult to see how this is a tool meant to address informal STEM practices. There is a single question about STEM knowledge relating to the extent to which participation in the event furthered the student's understanding of engineering. Nevertheless, as a measure of program effectiveness, it seems strong.
