Rethinking the Way You Think

Writing¹

Responses

Read through posts on #wk-1-pictures-of-evaluation and comment on at least one posting.

Postings

After going through this week’s readings, address the following in a single post on the channel #wk2-rethinking-the-way-you-think

• What social scientist habits do you exhibit that may conflict with evaluation work?

• Are you convinced that research and evaluation are inherently different?

• Which specific definition(s) or parts of definition(s) fit best with your own view of evaluation? Are there components of your view that are not addressed by any of the definitions?

Doing

Teams

It is time to start thinking about getting an evaluation team together. These are groups of 3-4 people that will work with each other through the entire real world evaluations that will be conducted in the course.

Head to the channel #wk2-talk-about-logistics discussion board and post timeslots you might be available to engage in group chat room discussions on a weekly basis. Read through others’ postings to find people who you could potentially be in a group with. You will have until the end of Week 3 to finalize your group membership. Instructions on how to accomplish this will be posted next week.

For a look at what to consider when choosing teammates, take a look at [a] Manager’s guide to evaluation by Jane Davidson.

Survey

Please take and complete the survey Considering Program Evaluation that has been sent to your e-mail. Please fill it out truthfully as there is no right or wrong answer!. This is just an initial assessment of what you may or may not know or be aware of within the field of evaluation and provides me with an initial benchmark for the class. If you did not receive an invite, please let me know as soon as possible!