31 October - 12 December 2024
Across the sector, growing emphasis is being placed on evaluating impact and being able to evidence enhancements to the student experience - often driven by increasingly challenging financial positions and constraints on resources. Being able to effectively evaluate interventions and project activities designed to enhance students' experiences has become even more important.
This training course is designed to develop your confidence and skills in planning and implementing impactful enhancement of practice. Interactive action learning will be used throughout to ensure participants can address enhancement ideas and projects within a supportive and productive environment.
Professor Stella Jones-Devitt and Dr Liz Austen, who are recognised experts on evaluation, will be delivering this programme for you.
Liz Austen is Professor of Higher Education Evaluation and Head of Evaluation and Research (Student Experience, Teaching and Learning) at Sheffield Hallam University. Her role includes externally funded and institutional research and evaluation focused on improving student experiences and outcomes. Liz also leads the Evaluation Collective, a UK higher education sector network of evaluation advocates.
What will you be doing?
This course will enable you to:
- Build confidence and capability in designing effective enhancement interventions & evaluation approaches
- Develop strategies to enhance the impact of interventions and successfully capture their effectiveness
- Consider resource intelligence at the outset of intervention planning to ensure efficiency
- Demonstrate continuing professional development and learning
Who is this course for?
The course is ideal for anyone with a passion for developing effective evaluation and a desire to design interventions with impact.
Whether you are in a senior role grappling with large scale interventions or initiatives, a course leader considering how to capture pedagogic effectiveness, or a member of staff supporting one-to-one interventions, this course will enhance your confidence and skills in planning and implementing impactful enhancement activities.
This course builds on the successful Building Confidence in Using Evidence online programme. However, no direct experience in evaluation is needed - enthusiasm is the main requirement!
What is the commitment?
The course comprises workshops and action learning sets requiring a total commitment of 17 hours including 3.5 hours unscheduled preparatory reading or planning time – approximately 30 minutes will be required prior to each session.
Pre-reading will be shared a few days prior to each session.
In advance of joining the course, we recommend participants access the Staff Guide to Using Evidence, which is freely available from the QAA Scotland Enhancement Themes website.
Key dates
| Title | Date and time |
|---|---|
| Pre-course reading information will be issued ahead of the first live session | Thursday, 31 October |
| Workshop 1 | Thursday, 7 November (10.00-12.00) |
| Action Learning Set | Thursday, 14 November (10.00-12.30) |
| Workshop 2 | Friday, 22 November (10.00-12.00) |
| Action Learning Set 2 | Thursday, 28 November (10.00-12.30) |
| Workshop 3 | Thursday, 5 December (10.00-12.00) |
| Action Learning Set 3 | Thursday, 12 December (10.00-12.30) |
Find out more in our Evaluation 101 podcast
Liz Austen and Stella Jones-Devitt talk to QAA's Kerr Castle in our latest podcast, which explores the effective evaluation of higher education practices and initiatives and how to make approaches to evaluation meaningful and manageable.
What does it cost?
This course is an add-on to your existing QAA Membership and is exclusive to QAA members.
We are delighted to offer a 12.5% discount for early bird bookings, as well as reduced rates for block bookings if more than one person from your institution would like to attend.
This training course is now fully booked and a waiting list is in operation. Please click the book now button to add yourself to the waiting list and we will contact you if a space becomes available.