Master’s Level Educational Psychology Power Point Communicating Program Results

Create a PowerPoint presentation to communicate simulated results of a program evaluation to stakeholders.

The ultimate goal of program evaluation is to provide the basis for making decisions within a system analysis of planned change. Data must be aggregated into a meaningful whole, the data must be interpreted, and the data must be presented in some meaningful fashion.

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Evaluation reports can take many forms and be distributed to a wide array of audiences. When preparing a report of an evaluation, the evaluator must consider both the format of the report and the intended audience of the report. When possible, the evaluator should involve audiences in determining the type of information to include in the report and the mode of delivery (Fitzpatrick, Sanders, & Worthen, 2011).

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competency 1: Design a program evaluation.

Describe efforts to mitigate difficulties and limitations of an evaluation approach.

Competency 3: Communicate research and evaluation results in appropriate and effective formats.

Describe methods in enough detail that other evaluators would able to replicate them.

Present the key findings of an evaluation in a clear and impactful manner.

Make specific recommendations based on interpretation of findings.

Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the psychological professions.

Employ appropriate written and visual communication to convey content to an intended audience.

Comply with APA guidelines for style and formatting.

For the final course assessment, you will imagine that you have successfully implemented the program evaluation you designed and will create a PowerPoint presentation to communicate the key findings of your evaluation results to its stakeholders.

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Within your presentation, you will describe difficulties you encountered and strategies to resolve them. These could include technical factors and issues due to interpersonal dynamics. Interpersonal relations can play a major role in program evaluation by improving the quality of our productive and creative efforts. Managing conflict and pragmatic issues constructively can be a decisive factor. What kinds of personal competencies and environmental conditions are conducive to the development and maintenance of good relationships? The evaluator has the responsibility to ensure he or she has done everything possible to maintain productive relationships with the involved parties.

As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.

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What sorts of difficulties may be common in program evaluations?

What kinds of personal competencies and environmental conditions are conducive to the development and maintenance of good relationships?

What are the limitations of different evaluation approaches?

What examples have you seen where information was presented in a clear and impactful way? Examples of information graphics or perhaps advertising might be helpful.

For this assessment, complete the following:

Create a PowerPoint document. Do not submit a paper for this assessment. Papers will not be graded.

Since you have not actually implemented your program evaluation design, you will need to simulate results that are fictional, but they must be plausible.

Note: It must be understood that in an actual program evaluation it would be highly unethical to represent “made up” results as actual data. However, it is ethical to simulate results in this way for this learning exercise.

Enter supporting details in the Notes section for each slide.

Use APA-style inline citations, and include a References slide at the end of the presentation.

You may wish to enhance the design of the presentation to make it more effective. Refer to the Resources for help with enhancements.

For guidance in the basics of using PowerPoint, refer to the Resources.

Presentation Requirements

Your presentation must include the following:

Title slide: On the first slide of the PowerPoint, enter:

The presentation title.

Your name.

Course number and title.

Capella University.

Instructor’s name.

Note: If this presentation was made in an actual professional context, the entries under your name would be replaced by your job title, the name of your organization, and perhaps your contact information.

Introduction slides: In this series of slides, generally summarize:

History of the program and the need it was created to meet.

Program goals and objectives.

Program methods and major strategies.

Significant evaluation findings.

High-level overview of evaluation methods.

High-level synopsis of recommendations based on findings.

Evaluation Method slides: Describe the methods in enough detail that other evaluators would able to replicate them. Include:

Data and Collection.

What types of data were collected? Why did you consider it to be significant?

Who was responsible for data collection?

What are the sources of the data?

How, when, and from whom was the data collected?

Methodological Challenges.

Describe difficulties you encountered and strategies to resolve them.

Describe limitations of your evaluation methods and strategies to mitigate them.

Evaluation Findings slides:

Present the key findings of your evaluation. (Remember, you will invent plausible findings for this assessment, but never do this for professional work or assessments that are supposed to involve actual research.)

Stick to “facts” here; do not add interpretation in this section.

To make the findings clear and impactful:

Consider using graphics: diagrams, tables, or cross-tabulations.

You can include brief quotes, brief examples, photos, or illustrations.

Interpretation of Results slides:

Interpret the data, providing your opinions explaining what conclusions can be drawn from the data findings concerning the program and its effectiveness in meeting its goals and objectives.

Recommendations slides:

Make specific recommendations based on your findings about ways to sustain or improve program effectiveness. These may include changes in:

Financial support.

Policy.

Procedures.

Staffing.

Or other recommendations.

Conclusion slide: Summarize the main findings, emphasizing why your recommendations should be followed.

References slide (or slides): Use current APA style and formatting guidelines.

Additional Requirements

Written communication: Should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.

Format: Use current APA style and formatting guidelines as they apply to this assessment.

Citation requirements: You must cite best practices from at least three scholarly/research articles in this assessment. You may cite reputable sources from websites, books, textbooks, and resources provided in the course, but these will not count toward the three required scholarly/research references.