Navigating Evaluation Workshops
Insight for Learning Practices & Tisdal Consulting
Overview
Insights for Learning Practices and Tisdal Consulting, partnering with Missouri Botanical Garden, are offering evaluation workshops designed specifically for the informal learning community (museums, science centers, zoos, botanical gardens, libraries, out-of-school programs, and more). Whether you are an experienced evaluation user or a newcomer to evaluation, these workshops are designed to help you navigate evaluation to make good decisions and communicate findings. Workshops also offer a networking opportunity for staff members in the St. Louis Community. Workshops for professional groups will clarify what evaluation roles can be played by organizational staff and what roles require professional evaluators; however, these workshops are not designed to make you a professional evaluator, but rather to manage, coordinate, and use evaluation to improve audience experience. All workshops are led by Carey Tisdal of Tisdal Consulting and Christine Klein of Insight for Learning Practices. Scroll down for workshops descriptions.
After registering for any of the Introductory Workshops for Informal Education Professionals, you will receive a 20% discount code to encourage you to participate in additional workshops. Check out dates, pricing, and workshop content on this page, and then click here to register. Credit cards are preferred, but checks will also be accepted with completed registration forms that can be downloaded here.
Schedule
Navigating Evaluation: The Basics
Wednesday, 20-March 10am – 12pm
Wednesday, 3-April 10am – 12pm
Navigating Evaluation: Basics for Administrators
Tuesday 27-March, 10 – 11:30am
Navigating Exhibit Evaluation
Tuesday 10-April 10am – 12pm
Tuesday 24-April 10am – 12pm
Navigating Program Evaluation
Tuesday, 17-April 10am – 12pm
Tuesday, 1-May 10am – 12pm
Navigating Visitor Service Evaluation
Wednesday, 18-April 10am – 12pm
Navigating Evaluation: Basics for Grant Writers
Tuesday, 8-May 10am – 12pm
All workshops will take place at the Commerce Bank Center for Science Education building in room #119. Directions.
Introductory Workshops for Informal Learning Professionals
Navigating Evaluation: The Basics
Explore the basics of informal learning evaluation using a sample project from your own work. Workshop leaders will guide you step-by-step through planning of an evaluation to help you understand important concepts and make good decisions. This workshop is designed for program staff members, exhibition developers, and administrators as well as development, marketing, and visitor services staff members in museums, zoos, aquaria, and after-school programs in informal learning institutions. This workshop provides the foundation for all Focused Workshops for Professional Groups by covering evaluation terminology, providing an overview of general evaluation methods, and supporting the evaluation planning process.
Level: Introductory
Sessions: Two two-hour sessions
Fee: $100
Navigating Evaluation: Basics for Administrators
As an institutional leader in a position to support evaluation, explore the basics of informal learning evaluation in this one-session workshop designed specifically for you. Workshop leaders will guide you through the basics of evaluation to put you in a position to discuss evaluation with staff and funders, champion evaluation with staff, make sure your own questions get answered, and to reduce silos within your institution through the sharing of evaluation studies.
Level: Introductory
Session: One 90-minute session
Fee: $50
Navigating Evaluation: Basics for Grant Writers
Explore the basics of informal learning evaluation in this workshop designed specifically for grant writers, particularly internal grant writers in informal learning institutions. Workshop leaders will guide you through the basics of evaluation needed to support the grant-writing process. Topics include the step-by-step planning of an evaluation, important concepts in evaluation, theories of change and logic models, working with external evaluators on proposals and projects, working with institutional staff for sound evaluation, and what most funders look for in an evaluation for a grant proposal.
Level: Introductory
Session: One two-hour session
Fee: $50
Focused Workshops for Professional Groups
These workshops are for people who have completed an Introductory workshop or have good working knowledge of evaluation terminology and social science methods. Workshops focus on the evaluation strategies for specific areas within informal learning institutions.
Navigating Exhibit Evaluation
Navigate the successful application of evaluation to improve and make judgments about exhibits and exhibitions. Whether your institution features artifact-based collections, live collections, or interactives, your exhibits are often the public face of your organization. Join colleagues in navigating the various aspects of exhibit evaluation: getting started, asking the right questions, planning data collection, selecting appropriate methods, and working with external evaluators. Learn to make decisions about what types of evaluation to do yourself and which types need professional evaluators. Designed specifically for exhibition developers, exhibit designers, content specialists on exhibit development teams, and grant writers.
Level: Beyond the Basics
Sessions: Two two-hour sessions
Fee: $100
Navigating Program Evaluation
Navigate evaluation to improve and make decisions about your programs. Join colleagues in navigating the various aspects of program evaluation: getting started, defining scope, asking the right questions and planning for the right data to answer them, selecting appropriate methods, and working with external evaluators. Learn to make decisions about what types of evaluation to do yourself and which types need professional evaluators Designed specifically for informal learning program developers, program staff members, program administrators, and grant writers.
Level: Beyond the Basics
Sessions: Two two-hour sessions
Fee: $100
Navigating Visitor Services Evaluation
Navigate the productive use of evaluation to improve visitor services. Visitor services are often the make or break experiences that influence repeat visitation. Join colleagues in navigating the various aspects of visitor services evaluation: getting started, defining your scope, asking the right questions, selecting methods, and working with external evaluators. Designed specifically for visitor services administrators, visitor services staff, institution administrators, and grant writers.
Level: Beyond the Basics
Session: One two-hour session
Fee: $50
Navigating Evaluation in Small institutions
Join colleagues from other small institutions in navigating the specific challenges to useful, action-based evaluation just the right size your setting. In this workshop you will review information from the introductory workshop, identify challenges, define strategies to optimize resources, and plan a joint project. Ideas for leveraging resources will include selecting a productive evaluation topic, developing a collaborative, asking the right questions, selecting appropriate methods, and working with external funding for evaluation and evaluators.
Level: Beyond the Basics
Session: One two-hour session
Fee: $50
Workshop Leaders
Carey Tisdal founded Tisdal Consulting to offer evaluation, research, and planning services to the informal learning community. Founded in 2004, clients have included science museums, botanical gardens, zoos, history museums, children’s museums, and documentary film-makers. The mission of Tisdal Consulting is to use research and evaluation to engage, enlighten, and empower clients to create and offer amazing informal learning experiences. She has led evaluation workshops as part of capacity building goals at the Exploratorium, the Illinois State Museum, and the Charrette program for the Missouri Humanities Council. Carey conducted workshops at the Visitor Studies Association focusing on coding of qualitative data, children’s pictures, and conducting informal learning literature reviews.
Kit, Director, Insight for Learning Practices LLC, brings over 25 years of experience in evaluation and professional development to the Navigating Evaluation workshops. She led evaluation workshops for staff at the Saint Louis Zoo and Saint Louis Science Center, and has led sessions at national meetings of various professional organizations. Additional clients have included after-school youth programs in art and in science, museums, national organizations, and universities. Kit seeks to support efforts that inspire and motivate all ages to engage in learning experiences by supporting educators, after-school program providers, camp counselors, and administrators who get children and adults excited about learning.