The University of Saskatchewan's Longitudinal Elderly Person Shadowing (LEPS) is an interprofessional senior mentors program (SMP) where teams of undergraduate students in their first year of medicine, pharmacy, and physiotherapy; 2nd year of nutrition; 3rd year nursing; and 4th year social work partner with community-dwelling older adults.…

Programme evaluation is essential for quality assurance in education. In this paper, we describe our evaluation strategy for the first year of a new medical programme. Although we used multiple methods in the evaluation, the use of the focus group method was core. This paper reports our experiences of focus groups for this purpose. We describe the…

The authors contend that blended learning represents a boundary object; a construct that brings together constituencies from a variety of backgrounds with each of these cohorts defining the object somewhat differently. The Sloan-C Pillars (learning effectiveness, access, cost effectiveness, student satisfaction, and faculty satisfaction) provide…

This article reviews recent evaluation studies of online learning communities to provide a systematic understanding of how such communities are evaluated. Forty-two representative studies were selected and categorized into a newly developed taxonomy of online learning community evaluations. This taxonomy is divided into four components: evaluation…

While participatory evaluation (PE) constitutes an important trend in the field of evaluation, its ontology has not been systematically analyzed. As a result, the concept of PE is ambiguous and inadequately theorized. Furthermore, no existing instrument accurately measures stakeholder participation. First, this article attempts to overcome these…

The use of theory-driven evaluation is an emerging practice in the military--an aspect generally unknown in the civilian evaluation community. First developed during the 1991 Gulf War and applied in both the Balkans and Afghanistan, these techniques are now being examined in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as a means to evaluate the…

Building on the success of the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) as a measurement tool, many countries have begun to show interest in moving away from assessments alone and toward interventions focused on changing teacher pedagogy, and as a result, increasing student reading achievement. Liberia, for example, began an EGRA-based intervention,…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Digital Backpack program in a Northern New Jersey School District using the CIPP Management-Based Evaluation model as a framework. The Stufflebeam (1971) CIPP model is an acronym for Context, Input, Process, and Product Evaluation. A "Digital Backpack" is a rolling computer bag given to K-12…

The reality is that many adolescents are engaging in sexual activity. It is also a reality that the rate of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is high and continues to be a major problem. What are schools doing about this continued problem and the rise in STDs? More specifically, what are Northern California high schools doing to address this…

Teacher effectiveness, equitable distribution, and teacher preparation are inextricably linked. Recognizing that evidence-based practices account for at least part of the effects of teachers on achievement and the critical role of teacher preparation, the TQ Center (National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality) offers innovation…

With rapidly increasing globalization, business students are required to understand complex global markets and adapt to the rapid changes in the global landscape. This paper discusses a project where students from International Marketing courses in Pakistan, the United States, and France used an interactive platform as a base to jointly explore…

This study presents an evaluation of the centres of excellence in higher education in Finland. This approach is an example of enhancement-led evaluation aiming to improve the long-term development of education. The study presents the Degree Programme in Civil Engineering of the Turku University of Applied Sciences, which was awarded the…

This study examined how multiple measures can be used to study experienced teachers' learning. The study was conducted in an advanced Master's degree programme, aligned with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in the United States. The programmatic features and key learning experiences found in the programme are described and…

This chapter describes the author's experience and insights as the chief of evaluation for public diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State, and as a consultant assisting federal agencies in a multitude of evaluation activities relating what helps and hinders internal evaluation functions. The article discusses the challenges faced by the internal…

Taking Action Opportunities (TAO) is a curriculum that combines guided reflection, a focus on the local environment, and innovative use of wildlife technology to empower student action toward improving the environment. TAO is experientially based and uses remote cameras as a tool for schoolyard exploration. Through TAO, students engage in research…