Using a Program Evaluation Course to Foster Service and Humanize Students, Faculty, and Community Partners

Abstract

In this chapter, the author builds from foundational scholarship which suggests that service-learning yields positive outcomes for students, faculty, and community partners. The author first suggests that service-learning can be a vehicle for humanizing community partners as well as students, faculty, and course content, then describes a program evaluation context wherein community partners would benefit from a humanizing service-learning experience. The author then introduces the field of program evaluation and the foundational documents espoused by the American Evaluation Association, and looks at the organizational structure of the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, which houses the Evaluation Studies specialization. Next, the author presents a foundational program evaluation course, discussing its emphasis on service-learning and on humanizing the students, community partners, and course content, and introducing the textbooks, readings, and activities used to bring the experience to life. The author concludes by looking at opportunities and challenges to integrating program evaluation into a departmental core at other universities.

Citation

LaVelle, J.M. (2020), "Using a Program Evaluation Course to Foster Service and Humanize Students, Faculty, and Community Partners", Sengupta, E., Blessinger, P. and Makhanya, M. (Ed.) Integrating Community Service into Curriculum: International Perspectives on Humanizing Education (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 25), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 129-146. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120200000025009