Coach: outputs versus outcomes

coach

A reminder about the differences between outputs and outcomes:

Outputs are measures of volume: products created or delivered, people served, activities and services carried out.  Think of outputs as the “things” piece of evaluation: products, deliverables, counts.  Outputs are almost always numbers:  the number of Interlibrary Loans, the number of attendees, the number of publications, the number of grants made, or the number of times a workshop was presented. 

Outcomes are the change in the “people” or the “so what” piece – what changed in the participants because of the outputs.

Outputs

Outcomes

  • 42 staff members will complete training
  • 37 museums will participate in education training
  • 4 workshops will be held
  • 87 participants will receive 3 CEUs
  • Museum staff will know the key elements of successful education programs
  • Workshop participants report feeling less anxious about using computers

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