How do we deepen our story reservoir by designing, developing, and writing instructional cases for teaching evaluation?

Evaluation competency frameworks identify the skills and knowledge required for the professional practice of evaluation. These competency frameworks are used, among other purposes, to craft evaluation training programs, courses, and activities. To date, the link between case-centered teaching and learning and the development of evaluation competencies has not been explored systematically. Our study sought to focus on this link through an exploratory survey of evaluation instructors. Our findings reveal that evaluation instructors recognize the potential of case-centered teaching in supporting the development of evaluation competencies and that they use cases towards competency development. However, some challenges remain, such as the accessibility and adaptability of cases to particular competency domains and instructional contexts.Evaluators require a vast array of skills, knowledge, and experience to make appropriate decisions about how best to design evaluation studies, manage them as they unfold, and make judgments about the quality and value of interventions. The skills, knowledge, and values critical to evaluation practice are articulated in various sets of evaluation competencies, published by different professional evaluation associations. These competencies include aspects related to the technical and management skills required to carry out evaluation work and the interpersonal and contextual skills necessary to adapt to changing circumstances and engage stakeholders appropriately.Linfield and Tovey (2021) define a case as: "A series of events, real or imagined, that tell an evaluation story to promote student learning, including illustrating a concept, skill development, and facilitating critical thinking, among others." (p. 13). Case-centered teaching is particularly well-suited to developing such competencies (Brock & Alford, 2015; Schafer, 2016). Case-centered teaching draws upon the existing knowledge and experiences of the learner while introducing new concepts, theories, and practices within a framework that can promote retention and retrieval (Austin & Packard, 2009). In addition, it encourages

Section: Accessing and Developing Cases To Support Competency Develop...supporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does teaching with cases support the development of evaluation competencies?

Bourgeois

Wildschut

Steinberg

2021

“…Well‐crafted cases provide realistic contexts with multiple benefits for teaching criteria. These include learners’ authentic discovery of potential domains and sources, making connections with prior experiences and learning, reasoning through potential decisions and actions, and examining and discussing their own and others’ assumptions and values (Ensminger et al., 2021).…”

Section: Integrating Criteria Specification Into Evaluation Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching specification of evaluative criteria: A guide for evaluation education

Teasdale

Pitts

Gates

et al. 2023

Evaluative criteria describe the attributes that define a high‐quality intervention and represent values about which intervention characteristics or results are desirable. There are many types of criteria, including those focused on intervention outcomes or impact, design and implementation, and relevance. Criteria may remain implicit and assumed in evaluation practice, yet they nonetheless direct evaluative inquiry and provide the value basis for evaluative conclusions. It is therefore important for novice evaluators to understand why criteria matter and how to thoughtfully consider which and whose criteria to use. We introduce an approach for teaching criteria specification to guide novice evaluators in considering, selecting, and articulating criteria. We introduce key concepts, outline an instructional approach, and provide a downloadable teaching activity for graduate students, undergraduates, and working professionals.

What are the characteristics of the cases we use to teach and learn evaluation?

Kallemeyn

Titiml

Galib

et al. 2021

Self Cite

Case‐centered teaching and learning is important for illustrating evaluation approaches, practicing professional problem‐solving and ethical decision‐making, and teaching professional skills and competencies. In this study we provide findings on a content analysis of 148 written cases used to teach evaluation and a critical analysis of five purposively selected cases. The findings demonstrate that evaluators have written many cases to teach the situational nature of evaluation practice. Most of the cases are simulations of practice, which include how the case actors’ think, decide, and act in an evaluation context. The study findings point to several areas for strengthening case‐centered teaching in evaluation, including providing clear learning objectives, developing supporting resources for instructors, aligning cases with professional competencies and/or core concepts in the field, developing cases to promote active and problem‐based learning, ensuring cases represent equity‐informed practices, and broadening the representation of diverse people and contexts.