Evaluation Workshop: The Case for Project Evaluation

Continuing with the theme from the 2011 Winter meeting related to evaluation, this hands-on workshop will focus on 1) why one evaluates data and their associated enabling technologies for discovery and distribution and 2) some basic methods for getting started with evaluating the impact of your own research or products.

On day one we'll start with a short overview of some examples of evaluation and assessment projects, then move into a discussion of some basic methods for understanding two critical elements of evaluation: who are your main stakeholders and how you can interact with them so that you can understand better how your work is being used and what impact it's having. On day two, we'll work through a practical framework from the point of view of Public Value. In the most general sense, public value is linked to individual and societal interests and to the institutional forms and actions of government.

The CTG Public Value Framework uses the concept of public value to help government and those that work with government understand the tangible and intangible values that information can provide to multiple and often diverse stakeholders. The purpose of this workshop is to provide earth science information researchers and government practitioners with tools and strategies to help them better understand the value that the information they work with can or is providing to their various stakeholders. During the workshop, participants will learn about existing CTG methods and tools and how they can be used to help support the design, implementation, and evaluation of earth science information projects and ensure that the value these projects can provide is identified, communicated, and assessed.

Workshop sponsored by the Decisions Cluster and conducted by Brian Burke, CTG at SUNY Albany and Dan Ferguson, University of Arizona.