Want to learn the fundamentals of evaluation?

This self-paced introductory course is for people new to program evaluation, or for people who have never taken an evaluation course.

The course provides instruction on how to plan and conduct an evaluation and covers the evaluation landscape in Canada including evaluation standards, competencies, and guidance for ethical practice. You’ll have the opportunity to solidify your learning by working through an evaluation planning case study throughout the course!

Course Objectives:

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the role of evaluation in the program life cycle;
• Explain common evaluation terms, functions, and approaches;
• List the steps in planning and conducting an evaluation;
• Describe how common social science data collection methods are used in evaluations;
• Describe the value and use of project management concepts in evaluations;
• Outline ways to support the use of evaluation findings and produce actionable evaluation reports; and
• Recognize evaluation standards and ethical principles and identify their role in the professionalization of evaluation in Canada.

Estimated time to complete: 20 hours

Prerequisites: None — this is an entry-level course; no prior knowledge or experience related to evaluation is required. This course is designed for those who are new to program evaluation or to those wishing to ensure that their knowledge and skills used in their evaluation practice encompass all basic aspects of program evaluation.

Evaluation Competencies addressed: [x] reflective; [x] technical; [x] situational; [x] management; [x] interpersonal

Note: For all self-paced courses on the e-Institute, you will be granted access once payment is received in full. You then have three months to complete the course starting from the date access is granted.