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3. 2009 National Extension Risk Management Education Conference

Program Impact & Outcome Evaluation: Is The Pain Worth The Gain?

Gary Hachfeld

Summary

Many excellent educational programs are delivered but many times participant behavioral change and potential impacts are not evaluated and the results go unreported. This is a huge opportunity missed by many educators. This presentation will explore one approach to evaluating and reporting program impact and outcomes in terms of participant increased knowledge, their behavioral change, and the outcome of that behavioral change or program impact. As described by Claude F. Bennett in his program evaluative work, there is a seven step hierarchy for program evaluation. Each step increases the complexity of evaluative information gathered. The very last step in the hierarchy is program outcome. Also discussed will be approaches to gathering both summative and formative evaluative data and how this can help programming. Summative evaluative results includes such things as increased income, changes in profit or loss, changes in an individual’s quality of life or societal changes in a community, etc. Formative evaluation results includes insights into how the educational program can be improved such as curriculum or delivery method. Lastly, good program impact evaluation can be beneficial if reported in a creative manner. Reporting substantive impact results can aid educators in garnering grant funds, rallying political or collaborative support for a program effort or organization, and informing the public of the quality educational programming being done by you, your team, and your organization.

Details

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