Exploring UEval Through Case Study: A Community-Engaged and Pedagogy-Informed Evaluator Education Initiative

Abstract

The globally increasing need of evaluators implies a growing demand for effective evaluator education that aims to increase the competency gains of its learners to prepare them for effective evaluation practice. Research about the role of pedagogies in evaluator education towards enhancing learner competency gains is rarely discussed. UEval 2019 was a one-week, in-person and community-engaged evaluation institute at the University of Alberta. UEval brought learners from community and university together to co-create evaluation plans for seven community-based, real-life and diverse cases. The purpose of this multiple-methods case study is to explore UEval learner experiences related to competency gains and understand the role of UEval pedagogies in informing them. All study data were secondary, including the quantitative source of 45 self-assessment questionnaire. The questionnaire items comprised of the 36 Canadian Evaluation Society professional evaluator competencies divided into five competency domains. The results from the descriptive and inferential statistics revealed that the effect of time on these perceived learner competency gains was statistically significant. The secondary qualitative data were comprised of 44 learner final reflections and a focus group with seven facilitators. The following four case themes emerged: (a) learning with and from one another, (b) learner perceived competency gains, (c) learners modeling community-engaged evaluation practice and (d) learners building their evaluation capacity. I situated the findings within the context of current scholarship to understand the similarities and unique aspects of UEval to other evaluator education initiatives. The subsequent three case learnings emerged from the case themes: (a) group process is essential for practical evaluator education, (b) the interdependence of diverse perceived learner competency gains in practical evaluator education, and (c) relevant and multiple pedagogies enrich the group process in practical evaluator education. Uniquely, the combination of the three pedagogies of UEval, experiential co-learning, community-engaged, and competency-based approach enriched the learner activities and aligned them with the relevant course outcomes of perceived professional competency gains and community-engaged co-creation. The insights from the study will contribute to teaching and scholarship in evaluator education, the professionalization of evaluation and the understanding of organizational evaluative needs of participating community partners.