RESEARCH METHODS FOR INFORMATION DESIGN:Evaluation of Programs and Practice
"Evaluation of Programs and Practice" will incorporate Information Design as it relates to Research Methods, focusing on those needed for Evaluation of Programs and Practice.
Program and project managers who have very little experience with the task of evaluation, this introduction can be particularly valuable. Few university programs emphasize evaluation as an integral component of every profession and organization. PTC 610 provides this unique exposure and opens the door for prospective professional tasks. The fundamental understanding about this course is that it is not a totality of the professional field of evaluation. This is only one course in what is now a profession in which there are entire university programs, degrees and certifications.
Throughout your technical coursework, you have broadened your skills for organization and structure in designing websites, databases, data modeling and process analysis. The course design highlights the steps of the evaluation process while expanding the scope and use of relevant design tools. This allows for more diversity in the presentation or incorporation of information not only as required in an evaluation assignment, but across all professions. The emphasis on communication skills applicable to evaluation such as questioning techniques, written reports, note taking, e-journals and team building will also enhance professional qualifications for team management and mentoring.
One goal is to introduce evaluation research methods and relate them to information design by focusing on transferable skills. Evaluation constructs and displays knowledge. Evaluation, just like information design (ID), has expectations for requisite skills and tools. It is a problem-solving approach through informal thinking and action.
Whereas other areas of design might tend to be more artistic, information design, especially as it is relates to evaluation, can be much more demanding because of the concentration on actual evaluation research, interpretation and presentation. Students will be provided with existing research or methods through scenarios or case applications, although some independent investigation will be required. They will focus on the presentation and the display of this information in order to foster an understanding of the research results in a way that is efficient and effective. ID related to Evaluation Research requires the detailed planning of specific information that must be provided to a particular audience to meet specific objectives.
Another goal is to end up with a product: a portfolio of evaluation/design tools that have the potential for use in qualifying for future professional opportunities that might also involve evaluation. The course will be task-oriented in addition to the lecture/reading oriented curriculum. PTC 610 not only relates information design to evaluation as it pertains to programs and practice in both the private and public sectors, but it is structured to relate design tools with evaluation tools as well. We will examine how all organizations use communication tools in evaluation for many purposes as well as for creating evaluation training.
Students must have graduate standing and are typically enrolled in the graduate PTC Certificate or the MS in PTC. If you are not in these categories, permission of the Chair and instructor is required.
This course is fully online and uses NJIT’s Moodle learning management system http://moodle.njit.edu.