Expanding Biomedical Science Training Program Evaluation Capacity through Interactive Modules - Supplement to Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) Program

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

ABSTRACT Evaluation is an essential component of pre- and postdoctoral biomedical research training programs including the parent award of this supplement request, the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development. High-quality evaluation enhances programs by identifying opportunities for improvement and effectively measuring outcomes. Program personnel often lack foundational evaluation knowledge, however, and professional evaluators may not be sufficiently familiar with program nuances, leading to missed evaluation opportunities or unmet needs. To build evaluation capacity among training program personnel engaged in evaluation, we propose leveraging existing resources (e.g., eLearning course software), and expertise at BCM to create five interactive, online modules, suitable for use as an asynchronous, “build- your-own” short course or for blended instruction. Module one will introduce educational program evaluation, providing foundational knowledge related to planning; alignment of outcomes, actions, and assessments; culturally responsive practices; use of findings for improvement; and generation of evidence to support dissemination and replication. Four complementary, topic-specific modules will then allow users to develop knowledge most closely related to their program’s specific evaluation needs (i.e., small sample sizes). After developing module outlines with an advisory committee of expert evaluators and training program personnel, the supplement request project director will work with a BCM instructional designer to build the modules in the eLearning course software, Articulate Rise 360, for which we have an institutional license. Modules will be piloted with 24 training program volunteers and revised based on their survey and focus group feedback. Resources from BCM programs will be gathered and established into an ongoing collection of evaluation materials. Modules and resources will be available free-of-charge internally and on the external BCM site.