Orientation: Interest in measuring the impact of skills development interventions has increased in recent years. Research purpose: This article reports on an outcomes evaluation under the ambit of an impact assessment with reference to a research methodology workshop. Motivation of the study: A paucity of studies could be found measuring the workshop outcomes, especially within the public service as it pertains to training interventions. Research approach/design and method: A pretest–post-test research design was implemented. A paired-sample t-test was used to measure the knowledge increase while controlling for the influence of previous training by means of an analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis. Main findings: Results indicated that the increase in research methodology knowledge was statistically significant. Previous training influenced the model only by 0.8%, which was not statistically significant. Practical/managerial implications: It is recommended that the suggested framework and methodology be utilised in future research as well as in monitoring and evaluation endeavours covering various training interventions. Contribution/value add: The study provides evidence of the impact generated by a training intervention, within the South African Public Service. Thus, addressing a research gap in the corpus of knowledge.
Reflection as educational tool to improve practice has gained impetus and is deemed critical within the context of culturally relevant pedagogy. This article provides an example of a practitioners' reflection on applied educational practices within the context of a South African tertiary institution based on the Comprehensive Assessment Method in Psychology (CAMP). A qualitative, phenomenological research design was implemented. The CAMP model was found to be useful ascribed to the ability thereof to distil and integrate the key academic focus areas with student feedback. In addition, the researcher reflected on underlying beliefs and assumptions which guide internalised interest and practice in the field of education. The significance of the study underscores the value of reflection for current or prospective career academics in terms of aligning with institutional strategic intent. Moreover, it gauges the measure of potential misalignment as well as identifying developmental areas for educators.
Objectives: This article reports on an impact evaluation of a research methodology skills capacity workshop.Method: A quasi-experimental evaluation design in which comparison groups were utilised to evaluate the impact of a research methodology skills development intervention. A pairedsample t-test was used to measure the knowledge increase whilst controlling for the influence of comparison groups by means of an analysis of variance. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed to determine how much of the variance in research methodology knowledge could be contributed to the intervention whilst controlling for facilitator effect.Results: Results indicated that the intervention had a statistically significant impact on research methodology knowledge. Furthermore, the intervention group significantly differed statistically from the control and comparison groups with respect to research methodology knowledge. Facilitator effect was found to be a moderating variable. Hierarchical regression analysis performed to isolate the impact of intervention in the absence of facilitator effect revealed a statistically significant result.
Conclusion:The study augments the corpus of knowledge by providing evidence of training impact within the South African public service, especially utilising a quasi-experimental pre-testpost-test research design and isolating the impact of facilitator effect from the intervention itself.
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