CCL Summer Institute 2009 Hybrid Format

Course meets through Blackboard 5/11-31 and 6/15-8/01

Course meets through Adobe Connect (http://connect.odu.edu/porgramevaluation/) from  5-7 pm on May 14 and May 28

Meets face-to-face during the CCL Summer Institute 6/01-05

Catalog Course Description: Overview of educational evaluation, practices, and methods. The design of an evaluation study and an evaluation report. Assessment of ethical considerations and impact of various assessment and evaluation processes for instructional and supervisory personnel. Lecture 3 hours; 3 credits

Course Competencies: The goal of this course is to provide the students with a substantive introduction to the key concepts, concerns, tools, and practices of educational program evaluation, practices, and methods in higher education settings. Students will be exposed to evaluation strategies and issues related to evaluation design.

Course Requirements and Course Overview: This course introduces students to the subject of evaluating programs in higher education settings. Within the higher education community, interest in program evaluation and assessment has increased as community colleges as well as other colleges and universities have come under increasing pressure to demonstrate the effectiveness of their programs and make themselves more accountable to a variety of constituencies both inside and outside the academy. For example, student affairs divisions are now being challenged to demonstrate the effectiveness of their programs, and universities are being asked to meet specific performance objectives that may be tied to a fixed portion of their budgets. Traditionally, higher education (along with other organizational types) has not always done a credible job of planning programs, evaluating their results, and improving them based on these evaluations.

This course will provide students with an overview of the program evaluation models and perspectives currently being applied in higher education. Toward that end, class time and assignments will emphasize how to construct program plans and perform program evaluations. We will spend some time, as a result, discussing specific evaluation models, theories, and research methods. Students will work in groups on class evaluation assignments and individually to complete an evaluation of a higher education based program and prepare a manuscript suitable for publication.