Upskilling Graduates for Success : Conducting Program Evaluations in Workplaces and Communities

Abstract

The Upskilling Graduates for Success Series includes three professional development e-courses created to provide graduate students with new knowledge, practical strategies, and tangible takeaways to prepare them for their future roles as employees, team members, coordinators, and leaders in the workplace and community:

• Upskilling Graduates for Success: Cultivating Wellbeing in Workplaces and Communities is one of three courses in a series that also includes:

• Upskilling Graduates for Success: Fostering Inclusivity in Workplaces and Communities

• Upskilling Graduates for Success: Conducting Program Evaluations in Workplaces and Communities

This series of courses was funded by the Government of Ontario’s Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS), facilitated by eCampus Ontario, and collaboratively developed through a partnership across five Ontario universities: Queen’s University, Western University, University of Windsor, Ontario College of Art and Design University, and Ontario Tech University.

The courses offer graduate students ‘just-in-time’ self-paced professional development to enhance their employability and workforce readiness as they prepare to enter a rapidly evolving labour market, locally and globally.

Each course in the Upskilling Graduates for Success Series has been designed to take 12 hours to complete and consists of three modules with relevant content, engaging learning activities, practical takeaways, and a certificate of completion.

• As a graduate student, you can choose to complete all three courses, individual courses, or select modules within courses. The learning journey is up to you!

• As a higher education institution, you can share these courses with your graduate students or adapt the courses to suit your identified priorities and graduate students’ needs.

This course – Conducting Program Evaluations in Workplaces and Communities –focuses on the knowledge, skills, and tools required to lead successful program evaluations and encourage evidence-based practice within workplaces and communities. By the end of the course, students will be able to: • Describe program evaluation and communicate its value to stakeholders and employers • Identify and use common evaluation tools • Use case studies to apply your learning to practice scenarios • Consider contextual factors that impact the implementation and use of evaluations