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Adding Value with Arts-Informed Evaluations
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| Presenter(s):
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| Lynda Weaver, Bruyere Continuing Care, lweaver@bruyere.org
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| Michelle Searle, Queen's University, michellesearle@yahoo.com
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| Pamela Grassau, Elisabeth Bruyere Research Institute, pgrassau@bruyere.org
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| Lara Varpio, University of Ottawa, lara.varpio@uottawa.ca
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| Pippa Hall, University of Ottawa, phall@bruyere.org
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| Abstract:
To go beyond surface knowledge and reach deeper thoughts, feelings and meanings…, we need to use the language of the mind: a language which is metaphorical, non-verbal, multi-sensorial and teeming with images' (Bento & Nilsson, 2009)1
Evaluations of programs concerned with human experiences are poised to accept a new mode to consider for planning, data collection and reporting. Arts-informed evaluations can allow program participants and evaluators to reflect on their experiences and express themselves creatively. This creativity is fostered from the holistic and personal involvement of one's sensory, intuitive and intellectual dimensions of our experiences. We will discuss the origins and affiliations of arts-informed evaluations with qualitative research, the value of adding art to different aspects of evaluation, and noted limitations. Some examples of art successfully incorporated into evaluation or research are also presented to show the potential of this burgeoning mode of inquiry.
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Valuing Children's Visual Perspectives in Formative Evaluation
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| Presenter(s):
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| Tracie Costantino, University of Georgia, tcost@uga.edu
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| Melissa Freeman, University of Georgia, freeman9@uga.edu
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| Abstract:
Students are an essential, although often overlooked, stakeholder group, especially when the overarching evaluative question is aimed at exploring the intersection of a multiplicity of new instructional practices. As a new professional development school, Synergy Elementary was implementing both state and district mandated practices and innovative educative and enrichment activities that altered the experiences of students in significant ways. Wanting to understand how students were experiencing these practices we recruited 20 third graders and 20 fifth graders who we met with twice in groups of 10 during spring 2010 for a total of eight focus groups. In addition to discussing their experiences, we asked students to draw themselves expressing a feeling they had in relation to a school experience. This paper will focus on an analysis of these drawings and what can be learned about students' experiences of school through alternative modes of representation.
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'How Stories Become Evaluating Tools'
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| Presenter(s):
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| Rahel R Wasserfall, Brandeis University, rahelwasserfall@hotmail.com
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| Abstract:
'Story' is a central theme of qualitative research and evaluation. Each year, as the internal evaluator on staff of the International Summer School on Religion and Public Life, I discover the 'story' that both represents and illustrates the experience for the participants and epitomizes the program each particular summer. Although these stories can be analyzed on many different levels as they are very rich; in this presentation I will focus on their evaluative qualities. This presentation defines what an 'evaluative ' , a' discovery' and a 'reporting' story are and describes how to identify them among all the data collected. I will present such stories and show their utility as evaluating tools for the organizers. AEA participants will come away from this presentation with an understanding of the qualities of an 'evaluative story' and what differentiates them from 'discovery' and 'reporting' stories and their importance in evaluation.
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