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Session Title: Learning Practical Knowledge Through the Study of Cases
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Panel Session 336 to be held in International Ballroom A on Thursday, November 8, 11:15 AM to 12:45 PM
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Sponsored by the Presidential Strand
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| Chair(s): |
| Jody Fitzpatrick,
University of Colorado, Denver,
jody.fitzpatrick@cudenver.edu
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| Discussant(s):
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| Tysza Gandha,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
tgandha2@uiuc.edu
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| Holli Burgon,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
inquireevaluate@gmail.com
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| Jody Fitzpatrick,
University of Colorado, Denver,
jody.fitzpatrick@cudenver.edu
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| Abstract:
The panel will discuss practical knowledge and its role in learning and enhancing the practice of evaluation. Cases on ethical dilemmas faced by evaluators will be used to illustrate how students and evaluators can gain practical knowledge of how evaluators handle ethical issues. Case studies have long been a tool for learning. Panelists and discussants will debate their role in increasing practical knowledge and the manner in which they may do so. One discussant will contrast her case studies on practice with those on ethics. Two student discussants will comment on the value of the cases to them in illuminating evaluation practice.
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The Role of Practical Knowledge in Learning
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| Thomas Schwandt,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
tschwand@uiuc.edu
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Tom Schwandt will discuss the nature of practical knowledge and its relevance to evaluation practice. He will explain how it is that practical knowledge is always a kind of ethical-political knowledge because it is concerned with deciding what is likely to be both effective and appropriate in a given situation. He will discuss the characteristics by which we recognize practical knowledge and the ways in which we acquire it, including the conundrum that practical knowledge can be learned but it cannot be taught.
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Gaining Practical Knowledge from Dialogues on Ethical Cases
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| Michael Morris,
University of New Haven,
mmorris@newhaven.edu
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Michael Morris will discuss how students and others can obtain practical knowledge through cases using the Ethical Challenges he has developed in the American Journal of Evaluation. He will explore the significance of the multiple perspectives that can be applied to specific ethical dilemmas in evaluation. One or more cases from the Ethical Challenges will be used to demonstrate how two commentators viewing the same dilemma can reach contrasting conclusions concerning how the case should be handled by the evaluator. What do these disagreements teach us about practical knowledge regarding decision-making in the realm of evaluation ethics? How much definitive guidance can professional principles and standards realistically provide to evaluators grappling with complex ethical issues?
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