Evaluation 101

Chaired by our regular host Dr Kerr Castle, QAA's latest podcast explores the effective evaluation of higher education practices and initiatives, and how to make approaches to evaluation meaningful and manageable.  

Kerr's guests this month are Liz Austen, Professor of Higher Education Evaluation at Sheffield Hallam University, and Stella Jones-Devitt, Professor of Critical Pedagogy at Staffordshire University.

Between 7 November and 12 December, the Quality Assurance Agency will run a training course in the effective evaluation, evidencing and enhancement of the impact of initiatives to promote the student experience. The course will be facilitated by Stella Jones-Devitt and Liz Austen. Please note, this course is now fully booked.

In addition to a range of QAA Collaborative Enhancement Projects and Membership Resources focused on different aspects of evaluation and evidence-based decision-making, you may also wish to explore some of the following resources and networks highlighted by Liz and Stella during the podcast:

The Evaluation Collective - a cross-sector group of like-minded evaluation advocates working to enhance higher education student outcomes. The founding members are all higher education professionals who work in access and participation and are involved in producing evaluation evidence or translating that evidence into practice. The network welcomes and includes anyone with an interest in evaluation in higher education to join the Collective.

SCoLPP (Staffordshire Centre of Learning and Pedagogic Practice) - SCoLPP is a research centre with a difference, immersed uniquely in developing evidence-informed pedagogic practice which aims to connect learning and teaching to enhanced social mobility. SCoLPP is modelled on core principles of effectiveness and levels of evidence, evaluation, and reach and upholds ‘What Works’ principles in learning and teaching for all, given that everyone can have a part to play in positively enhancing student outcomes.

The UEF (Universal Evaluation Framework) - the UEF is a freely available online tool designed to enable development of evaluation capabilities, increased confidence in evaluating change in higher education spaces, and in providing a platform to build an