29 - Creating and Using Cases in Evaluation

Abstract Information: Although stories are a powerful tool in evaluation, how to use stories in evaluation is not something many evaluators learn how to do or how to do well. To address this need, this half-day workshop focuses on teaching stories in the form of cases and creating cases from practice. Anchored by education theory and research, this highly interactive preconference workshop will help attendees identify learning objectives for their audience and how to select or create case types that align with those objectives. Attendees will also learn how to leverage reflective practice to develop instructional resources (e.g., activities, questions, and linking to competencies) that will facilitate professional knowledge, aid skill development, and promote professional and social justice reflections.

Upon completion, participants will be able to:
1) Use a backward design process for teaching with or creating cases from professional stories.
2) Determine and create learning objectives for the lesson, evaluation topic, or case.
3) Select or create the appropriate story or case and accompanying instructional resources to support learners in obtaining the learning objective.

Attendees are encouraged to come with a case or story they are interested in for capacity building purposes, or with a professional story from which they would like to create a case. The session is intentionally designed to be of equal use in evaluator training or evaluation capacity development efforts.

Relevance Statement: Whether preparing future evaluators, conducting professional development for current practitioners, or building evaluation capacity among those interested or participating in evaluation efforts, case-centered teaching is a signature pedagogy within the field of evaluation (Kallemeyn et. al., 2021, Patton 2005). Evaluation teaching and learning involves fostering understanding, thinking, and skills that allow practitioners to navigate and work within the complex and diverse contexts of programs. Through case-centered teaching, learners, regardless of their current experience, can examine evaluation competencies and guiding principles, analyze and reflect on case actors' practices and decisions, create solutions to problems presented, and engage in reflection on their own thinking and decisions related to the elements and contexts presented in a case.

However, case-centered teaching involves more than just reading a story or case. As with any instructional tool, using a backward design process will enhance the value of using cases (Ensminger et al., 2021; Montrosse-Moorhead et al, 2021). Backward planning involves determining learning objectives and selecting appropriate cases by considering the content, context, competencies, case elements, and case type in relation to the learning objectives. This process also involves the development or preparation of instructor resources such as prompt questions, small group and whole group activities, methods for learners to demonstrate their learning, and processes to help learners reflect on and internalize their learning.

As evaluators, we all have professional practice stories in our repertoires that can serve as a personal reservoir of knowledge and experiences upon which we reflect and use to guide our future actions and decisions (Tovey & Greene, 2021). These practice stories can serve as excellent instructional cases if written down. However, like with teaching, it is more than just writing down your experiences for others to read. Creating a teaching case also involves a backward design process, starting with the author selecting the intended learning objective to develop the appropriate case type. Afterward, we must determine the content knowledge and competencies to represent in the case, the appropriate contextual elements to include or exclude, and develop the supporting instructional resources (Ensminger, et. al., 2021).

In this highly interactive workshop, attendees will engage with this signature pedagogy, reflect on their own teaching and learning practices, and begin developing instructional resources for case teaching in their contexts.