PPE Reflections

As my course in program planning and evaluation is coming to a close and I'm wrapping up the final assignment - a program and evaluation plan for 'creating workplace sustainability' - I've had the opportunity to reflect on some key areas that really engaged me and have me looking forward to implementation in my professional practice.

Graphic Models - i.e Flowcharting:  This allows for a bigger picture overview with out too much detail.  I found that this was very helpful in illustrating exactly how key elements of the program plan are connected and how it all comes together towards the program goal. Here is an example of ours:

Logic Models - yes, another model (can you tell I scored higher as a visual learner):  This model helped me to understand what ingredients need to go into baking the pie and what feeling I anticipate people having after eating the pie.  So essentially Inputs, Outputs, and Outcomes along with Assumptions and Intervening Factors - all of these elements were essential in making sure key considerations in program plan were covered.  Here is our example:

Learning Styles & Multiple Intelligences - when creating learning objectives/outcomes:  I realized the importance of being aware of the various types of adult learning styles that may be present in any give program execution.  Going through the motions of trying to build a program that included activities for a variety of styles and intelligences turned out to be a more challenging task than I anticipated but a very worthwhile one in order to achieve the desired learning outcomes.

Experimental Design - planning the Evaluation piece of the plan:  Again, building this process allowed me to have an overview of how the program could be evaluation - when to do the evaluations and how (what tools) was key to the Experimental Design.  For example in the plan I was building we ended up with the following (pre, post, post, post):

Now, having the funding and senior team  or sponsor approval for this is the work that still has to be done, but in an ideal world - these are the points where data collection would be needed to give the best idea of program success and guidance for future planning.

Data Collection & Analysis - in general:  this is a HUGE area of learning for me, and will be an on-going study as there is such a variety of tools and techniques to use and deciphering what is appropriate to each program plan is the challenge - a good challenge but definitely requires more study on my part.

The Program and Evaluation Plan - pulling it all together:  the way the course was structured, where each element of the plan came together as we went along to a culmination of the pieces worked really well for me in terms of really seeing how the plan is built and learning how to incorporate each piece along the way.  This type of instructional design is something I really appreciated and made the final program plan much more fine tuned by the end for handing in.

So, this was a relevant course to my professional practice as a project manager in e-learning.  I look forward to building on the knowledge gained and putting it to work in my next project plan!