Program Evaluation Skills Development: Designing Virtual Simulations for Novice Evaluators

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Examining Assessments Designed to Support Diverse Students’ Learning (Table 1)

Abstract

This study seeks to highlight the fact that program evaluation is situational, and in our work to support graduate students enrolled in program evaluation coursework, program providers, and the communities they serve, we must offer students opportunities to practice (Buser & Gibson, 2023; Dotger & Chandler-Olcott, 2022) and strengthen their program evaluation skills. A virtual simulation activity, using the Mursion platform (https://www.mursion.com/) was developed in order to provide graduate students the opportunity to practice program evaluation skills. Specifically, the virtual simulation activity was designed for students enrolled in a master’s level introductory program evaluation course to interview a program manager.The goal of the interview was to gather information needed to develop a logic model for the program of interest.

Author

• Kristina N. LaVenia, Bowling Green State University