Syllabus - Fall 2008
GPPS 5347 - Program Evaluation
(formerly GPPS 347)

This is a three-credit graduate level course and is one of three required core courses in the online Master of Professional Studies (MPS) degree. The MPS degree is offered through the University of Connecticut's Center for Continuing Studies and has four fields of study: Human Resource Management, Humanitarian Services Administration, Occupational Safety and Health Management, and Homeland Security Leadership.

The developer of this course is Teresa Boyd Cowles, Ph.D.

Course Title: Program Evaluation (GPPS 5347)

Credits: 3

Instructor:  Teresa Boyd Cowles, Ph.D.

Email:   Teresa.boyd_cowles@uconn.edu

This course is intended to provide students with skills and knowledge required to apply the methods of science to the assessment of social programs. Here a social program refers to organized, goal-directed activities designed to address a social, humanistic, or other human related problem. The goal of the course is to provide you, the student, with enough skill and knowledge that you are able to design and implement evaluations of programs. The extent to which you are able to do this without assistance reflects largely on your familiarity with scientific methods.

1. Design and construct a program evaluation plan using the standards, methodologies, and techniques presented in the course.
2. Examine the ethical and political concerns impacting the profession of program evaluation.
3. Analyze the methodologies, techniques, and assessment of a completed evaluation project performed by another professional or group.

Pre-Assessment and Post Assessment
The pre-assessment and post assessment are not graded but are required. You must complete as much as you can in the designated time limit to earn the course points associated with the assessments. You are allowed one attempt only for each assessment. The pre-assessment must be completed at the beginning of the course and the post assessment must be completed at the end of the course.

Overview Exercises
These are 20 minute quizzes designed to test your knowledge of key concepts from the assigned module readings. You may take each quiz as many times as you wish until its due date. Your performance is not graded, but to earn the course points associated with each exercise, you must make a legitimate attempt. The instructor will review your attempts before awarding points.

Reflective Responses
These are weekly online discussions, where you respond briefly to posted discussion questions and have the option of responding to other student postings. You are not graded on your responses; rather, you earn associated course points by contributing an original response to the question(s) asked. The instructor will review your postings before awarding points. You have one week to respond to the discussions by the due dates listed on the calendar. Late discussion postings will not be accepted.

Paper Assignments
There are three graded paper assignments for this course (and a graded final paper requirement). You are to complete each paper individually.The specific requirements for each paper will be posted in the course. Your papers should demonstrate completeness, clear writing, thoughtful consideration of learning, style, and originality; they should synthesize connections between readings, course discussions, and your own work, community and/or life experiences. When citing resources and readings, you must use APA format. Each completed paper should be 3-5 pages in length, double spaced in Times New Roman 12 point font.

Final Paper
For the final paper, you will be asked to seek out a completed evaluation report that is of interest to you (or related to your program of study), or you can select one of the evaluation reports provided by the instructor. In your final paper, you are asked to critically analyze your chosen evaluation report using the metaevaluation process covered in the course. You are to complete this paper individually; it should be 5-10 pages in length, double spaced in Times New Roman 12 point font. Your final product should show completeness, clear writing, thoughtful consideration of learning, style, and originality; it should synthesize connections between readings, and incorporate feedback from prior assignments. APA format must be used when citing resources. Further details about the final paper will be provided in the course.

You can receive an A for the course by accumulating between 93-96 points through taking the pre and post assessments, meeting the requirements of paper assignments, participating in reflective responses (discussion postings) and completing the overview exercises by the due dates as noted on the course calendar.

Late Policy
Course due dates are listed in the Calendar Tool of HuskyCT. The deadline for all course work due dates is 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. You may post an assignment anytime prior to or after the specified due date; however, late Reflective Responses (discussion postings) and Overview Exercise attempts will not be accepted past the due date. Papers will lose 2 points each day they are late until points are exhausted. The pre and post assessments are required to complete the course.

Final letter grades for this course will be determined based on the following scale:

You are responsible for acting in accordance with the Student Code, available at  http://www.dosa.uconn.edu/student_code.cfm.

This text may be purchased locally or through an online bookstore.

Required Text:

Rossi, P.H., Lipsey, M.W. & Freeman, H.E. (2004). Evaluation: A systematic approach (7th ed.). Sage Publications. ISBN: 0761908943.

*Additional articles and Web sites will be included in the online course.

• Word processor software
• Adobe Acrobat Reader

Your Internet browser and browser settings need to be HuskyCT compatible. See Settings.

Module – Introduction

Module 1- What Is Program Evaluation?

Module 2- History of Evaluation Research and Guiding Principals

Module 3- Types of Evaluations and Evaluation Questions

Module 4- Program Evaluation Standards and Ethics

Module 5- Foundational Models for Program Evaluation

Module 6- Needs Assessment and Program Theory

Module 7- Program Process and Program Outcomes

Module 8- Evaluation Design and Data Collection Methods

Module 9- Program Impact

Module 10- Program Effects and Efficiency Analysis

Module 11- Evaluation Utilization, Policy and Politics

Module 12- Meta Evaluation

 

Students will be provided an opportunity to evaluate instruction in this course using the University's standard procedures, which are administered by the Office of Institutional Research.