Current Eval/Research Topics

This subject is not offered in 2014.

120 hours. Attendance at all classes (tutorial/seminars/practical classes/lectures/labs/online classes) is obligatory. Failure to attend 80% of classes will normally result in failure in the subject.

This subject is open to students in the Master of Evaluation, Master of Evaluation Research, and Postgraduate Certificate in Evaluation.

It is recommended that students take EDUC90713 Program Evaluation Forms and Approaches before or concurrently with this subject.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

In this subject, students will focus on developing the skills and knowledge needed to effectively evaluate emerging topics, issues, and approaches throughout their evaluation careers. To this end, we will explore and evaluate a series of topics that have recently emerged in research and evaluation, and/or recent developments in existing approaches, practices, and methods. This subject will be run seminar style with the content developed and adapted annually based on student needs and interests. The first 4 weeks of the subject will be led by the instructor and current Masters by Research and PhD students presenting on key topics. The final 4 weeks will be student led.

In addition to content knowledge in the topic areas, students will gain experience working with teams, using technology to disseminate information, engaging stakeholders in consensus building practices, various qualitative techniques, and public presentations.

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

• analyse their own professional development needs and create plans to address them
• understand various forms of small-scale research and evaluation needed for program design, development of programs and program improvement;
• choose appropriate approaches to answer particular research and evaluation questions;
• understand the theory underpinning various approaches and techniques;
• write research and evaluation reports that incorporate these approaches.

• Online participation (discussion forum and/or activities) equivalent to 1500 words throughout semester 30%
• Online test equivalent to 1500 words, due mid-semester 30%
• Written task of 2000 words, due end of semester 40%

Hurdle: Peer review of other students’ work, due mid-semester

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.