Evaluation

Stars shaded to indicate high or low ratings

Evaluation is a means of collecting and providing data-driven feedback on projects to better understand what works, how to improve, and identify new avenues for projects. Succinctly, is the project or program doing what was envisioned (and why or why not)?

I often work as external evaluator, meaning I'm not a principal investigator (PI) and considered "outside" of the project or program. That said, I do tend to work collaboratively with the PIs or other project/program leadership to ensure the external evaluation is useful.

I do both summative (i.e., examining the project at its end) and formative (i.e., periodic feedback throughout the project's timespan) evaluation. Oftentimes, my work looks beyond whether a project or program is doing what it intends to do and consider the sustainability of the project. Sustainability considers many facets of the likelihood a project or program will continue indefinitely.​​

Settings/contexts

Classrooms, departments, workshops, conferences.

I work both virtually and in-person depending the various factors. Whatever makes sense with regards to many factors works for me.

Methods

Surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, document analysis.

The evaluation questions largely determine which method(s) I use, though budgetary and timing constraints do play a role.

Areas/Topics for Evaluation

Student, postdoc, staff, and faculty experiences; educator professional development; course transformation; programs; adoption of education innovations.

Equity and inclusion, as well as sustainability (i.e., whether a project can continue after the grant ends), are very much part of these areas

Some projects (past and present) I've worked on as an evaluator

  • The Partnership for the Integration of Computation in Undergraduate Physics (PICUP)

  • Data Science Education Community of Practice (DSECOP)- I served as an internal evaluator

  • Iowa State University Engaged to Excel HHMI project

  • Boston University's VIPER project that entails the creation of HTML5 simulations for physics classes 

  • University of Minnesota- Twin Cities project to integrate computation in their undergraduate courses

  • Indiana University– Indianapolis (IU)'s Normalizing Computation in Undergraduate Physics project

  • Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) NIH-funded U-RISE program for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing undergraduates interested in pursuing graduate education in biomedical, biobehavioral, or clinical research fields

If you are interested in hiring me to serve as an evaluator, feel free to reach out.