A Reaction to and Mental Metaevaluation of the Experiential Learning Evaluation Project

Abstract

Many professors of program evaluation courses look for ways to merge their students' theoretical understanding of program evaluation with practical experience. In this scenario, a professor arranges for his students to evaluate a series of workshops in campus residence halls sponsored by a university diversity center (DC). What follows in this article is a reaction to and mental metaevaluation of both the professor's and students' actions as they engage in this evaluation experience. Their actions are assessed within the context of the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (JCSEE) and the American Evaluation Association (AEA) guiding principles. It concludes with implications this experience has for teachers of program evaluation.

Navigating Theory and Practice Through Evaluation Fieldwork

“…To explore the relationship between theory and practice in evaluation, we focus on the perspectives and experiences of student evaluators, as they move from the classroom to engagement with the social, political, and cultural dynamics of evaluation in the field. While there has been prior research related to evaluation training and practice, the focus of this published literature was not explicitly on the relationship between theory and practice (Trevisan, 2004) but on teaching evaluation in the classroom and in the field (e.g., Buitrago et al, 2015; Hurley, Renger, & Brunk, 2005; Gredler & Johnson, 2001; Perry, 2008), on the design of evaluation training courses (e.g., Altschuld, 1995; Darabi, 2002; Kelley & Jones, 1992; Morris, 1994; Sanders, 1986), and on the pedagogical strategies used to teach evaluation, such as role-play (Alkin & Christie, 2002), problem-based learning (Lee, Wallace, & Alkin, 2007), experiential learning (Kelly & Kaczynski, 2008), self-reflection (Jewiss & Clark-Keefe, 2007), and mentoring (Levin-Rozalis & Rosenstein, 2003).…”

Fieldwork Experience as Cultural Immersion: Two International Students and Their Professor Reflect on a Recent Evaluation Practicum

“…The challenges of helping students transition from classroom-based learning to an applied field setting have been well documented (e.g., Buitrago et al, 2015 ;Gre dler & Johnson, 2001 ;Hurley et al, 2005 ;Perry, 2008 ), underscoring the fact that evaluation is more than a technical craft and requires more than the application of methodological expertise ( Chouinard et al, 2017 ). While evaluation contexts are complex, multifaceted, and highly interactive spaces that encompass a blend of social, historical, political, and cultural dimensions (Mathison, 2005 ), learning evaluation can itself be a tumultuous, uncertain, and daunting experience for many students (Chouinard et al, 2017 ;Hurley et al, 2005 ), not least for those from other countries.…”