Summer Evaluation Institute 2004
Hands-On Projects for Participants
As part of the institute we provide opportunities for you to become actively involved with authentic evaluation projects. Described below are group projects to provide a hands-on opportunity to practice, and an opportunity to receive feedback about a personal evaluation project with which you are involved.
Following are two opportunities for you to apply your evaluation skills. The first will be done during the three weeks, with some preparation before the start of the institute. The second is optional and provided for you as a chance to discuss with your peers an evaluation project in which you are engaged.
1. Team Evaluation Projects
We have identified several evaluation projects to which you can apply your evaluation skills as part of a team. We would like you to review the options and select and rank three (3). Based upon your choices, we will assign teams of three or four to the selected projects. The respective contact persons will then provide additional information about the project for your preparation before the institute. With the counsel of a Center staff member and in conjunction with the contact person, teams will work on the project during the first two weeks of the institute and deliver a report to the institute during the third week. Other institute participants, presenters, and Center staff will also provide consultation as requested.
The last page of this document lists the projects with blanks to rank your choices. Please fill in the last page and return it to the MTS Project. Directions are on the last page.
2. Individual Evaluation Projects
Many of you have ongoing evaluation projects about which you may have questions. The institute is an opportunity to seek input from other participants and from Center staff. To facilitate feedback for those interested (this is an optional activity), we have arranged two opportunities. First, we will help you arrange times when you can meet individually with Center staff for discussion of evaluation questions. Second, we will schedule a time when you can present a brief summary of your project to the institute participants and ask for their input on some aspect of the evaluation. Again, both these opportunities are optional and are in addition to the Team Evaluation Projects. If you are interested in scheduling time to present to institute participants, please provide the information requested on the last page.
Project Options for Selections by 2004 Summer Institute Participants
Study the list of possible projects and choose three that are most interesting to you. On the last page of this document, rank the three projects in order with 1 being your highest preference.
Project #1
Title: Academic Advising
Project Description: The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) maintains a central advising office staffed by two full-time staff members and part-time student helpers to coordinate academic advising activities. The Advising Office maintains all student records, organizes advising workshops for the academic advisors, and provides up-to-date information regarding General Education and other policies to the academic advisors who are faculty members. Students make appointments and meet with their academic advisors at the central advising office. The mission, vision and goal statement of Advising and Admissions were created in 2001 and adapted from national literature on effective academic advising.
Desired Tasks:
Contact Person: Sandra Blanchard, Director of Academic Advising (Ph: 269-276-3249; Email: Sandra.blanchard@wmich.edu)
Title: Strategies for Sustaining ATE Projects and Centers
Project Description: The Evaluation Center is engaged in a multi-year evaluation of the National Science Foundations Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program. One aspect of this evaluation concerns the degree to which projects and centers have developed strategies for sustaining their operations after the end of ATE funding. Qualitative data are available from an annual evaluation survey of ATE projects. The overall objective of this project would be to support the evaluation by examining these data in-depth and helping formulate evaluative judgments about the ATE program on this dimension.
Tasks Desired:
Contact Person: Carl Hanssen, ATE Evaluation Project Manager (387-5909; carl.hanssen@wmich.edu)
Title: Multivariate Analysis of ATE Evaluation Survey Data
Project Description: The Evaluation Center is engaged in a multi-year evaluation of the National Science Foundations Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program. The central activity for this evaluation is an annual survey of ATE projects and centers, which provides data on a variety of different project-level activities. Multivariate analysis of this survey data may lead to deeper understanding of the conditions that contribute to successful generation of desired program results, which in turn can help evaluators frame data-driven recommendations for program improvement. The purpose of this project would be to articulate 1 or more structural models that could be examined using multivariate analysis techniques (e.g., path analysis). This analysis could contribute to final ATE evaluation findings and recommendations to the NSF.
Tasks Desired:
Contact Person: Carl Hanssen, ATE Evaluation Project Manager (387-5909; carl.hanssen@wmich.edu)
Project #4
Title: Choose methodologies and analyze Web resource use data
Project Description: The MTS Project has developed a number of Web-based evaluation resources. We have routinely collected a variety of data about the use of those resources including Web log data and search term data. We would like to see recommendations for the Web resource site, based upon the available data and recommendations for other useful data that we could collect.
Task Desired:
Contact Person: Dale Farland, MTS Project (387-5895; dale.farland@wmich.edu)
Summer Institute 2004: Pick Your Project
Please return your choices by email by May 17, 2004,to
Dale Farland (dale.farland@wmich.edu).
(Copy the text below, paste it into an email message, and make your choices, etc.)
Rank three of the projects that you would choose for applying evaluation skills during the institute. Indicate your first choice by 1, second choice by 2, etc. We will assign you to a team and project, based upon your choices. Only one team will be assigned to a project. Teams will have three or four participants. Unless the worst case happens (all 15 choose the same 3 projects), you will be assigned to one of your choices and the highest possible to optimize the overall choices.
_____ Project 1 Academic Advising
_____ Project 3 Multivariate Analysis of ATE Evaluation Survey Data
_____ Project 4 Choose Methodologies and Analyze Web Resource Use Data
If you would like us to reserve time in the schedule for you to give a short presentation to the institute about an evaluation project on which you are working, please provide a brief description. The presentations must be brief, allowing time for you to pose the question to which you would like input from institute participants and others. Assume approximately 15 minutes total for your presentation and the discussion.
If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, briefly describe your project and the general question on which you will ask for help.
_____ Yes, I would like to present and ask for input about my project.
Description: