Why a US student evaluation case competition?
The American Evaluation Association holds an evaluation case competition in line with other national competitions in Canada, the Czech Republic, India, and Cameroon. Winners of these national competitions then compete in the World Evaluation Case Competition (WECC). Previously, without a national competition in the United States, teams were chosen to represent the United States through applications to the world competition; with the creation of the AEA Student Evaluation Case Competition, teams are selected through a national competition, ensuring a more transparent and competitive selection process.
Additionally, this competition aligns with the association’s values of a global and international evaluation community (iii) as well as the continual development of evaluation professionals and the development of evaluators from under-represented groups (iv). It also supports the end goals of 1.4 Student members have ample opportunities to develop the leadership skills and competencies needed to practice evaluation, and contribute to the association and the evaluation knowledge base.
What does the competition entail?
Teams will receive a preread about the case approximately a week prior to the competition date. Teams are encouraged to explore any resources available to them to prepare for the case. On the starting day of the competition, teams will receive the rest of the information about the case, and will prepare an evaluation proposal for the case organization using a variety of dissemination products (e.g., written reports).
Who can compete in the competition?
Teams consist of 3-5 students who are undergraduate and/or graduate students enrolled in an accredited institution of higher education in the U.S. We welcome all students from all degree programs to participate, regardless of whether you are a member of AEA or whether you are in an evaluation degree program.
Each team will have 1-2 coaches who will assist the team in preparing for the competition but will not assist teams during the case competition itself. Coaches may be instructors or evaluation practitioners who can support you prior to the competition. We encourage all teams to have at least one coach and particularly encourage students who are newer to evaluation to have an experienced evaluator to serve as their coach.
More information about eligibility, team composition, coaches, and submissions can be found in the rules section.
How do I register to compete?
Teams interested in competing in the student evaluation case competition will need to register in advance of the competition. There is no cost for registering or competing in the competition. Registration is now closed.
What does the competition day look like?
Teams will have a window of days available to compete from Thursday, April 3 through Sunday, April 6, and will have a total of eight (8) hours to compete upon download of the case materials to submit their final product. The competition is virtual. More information will be provided via email to registered teams as we get closer to the competition date.
How can our team best prepare for the competition?
We encourage student teams to review past cases from past AEA case competitions, the World Evaluation Case Competition, the Canadian Evaluation Society’s Student Evaluation Case Competition, the India Evaluation Case Competition, and the Czech Evaluation Society’s Evaluation Case Competition.
Some ways that teams can practice and prepare for the competition include:
Review past cases and winning submissions.
Hold a mock case competition as a team, using a past case and developing your own submission given the case requirements. Your team can then compare to the winning submission and have your coach judge your submission given the case scoring rubric.
Read the pre-reading, conduct outside research, determine your submission format, and begin drafting your case submission document in preparation for the competition day. Consider what work you can do ahead of time to maximize your time on the day of the competition.
Important dates for teams:
Registration opens: February 2025
Registration deadline: Saturday, March 1, 2025
Registered teams receive case topic: late March 2025
Competition window: Thursday, April 3 through Sunday, April 6
Winners announced: anticipated: June 2025
What submission formats are accepted?
There are four submission formats that teams can choose from. Regardless of the submission format, all teams are judged using the same criteria. More details on the technical specifications of the submission formats will be provided in the preread ahead of the competition.
1. Written Report: Written reports are the traditional means of presenting evaluation proposals, allowing for greater detail to be presented. They also use word processing software, like Microsoft Word and Google Docs, that teams are likely already familiar with and have great collaborative co-working features. A tip for success is ensuring that the written report still incorporates visual elements to ensure an engaging read.
2. SlideDoc Report: SlideDoc reports, a format created by Nancy Duarte, are a more visual means of presenting evaluation proposals, presenting information on slides to allow for greater chunking of details in a more visually appealing format. They use presentation software, like Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides, to create standalone reports. A tip for success is to remember that this is a report (not presentation) format and that there should still be sufficient detail provided in the report for readers.
3. Video: Videos present proposals in an audiovisual format. They use presentation software, like Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides, to create presentations that are then recorded using software like Zoom, Loom, or Camtasia. A tip for success is practicing the presentation at least once before recording or knowing how to use editing software to edit after a run-through. Teams can also choose to record audio only with videos of their presentation to reduce bias when judging.
4. Presentation and Transcript: For teams interested in a presentation format but not willing or able to record a video, teams can submit their presentation slides, using software like PowerPoint or Google Slides, along with a written transcript of what they would say in their presentation, using either the notes feature in their presentation software or another word processing software like Microsoft Word or Google Docs. A tip for success is thinking critically about what is presented on the slides versus what is written in the transcript.
Can we use Generative AI in creating our proposals?
Teams may use generative AI in developing proposals; however, your team takes responsibility for validating the work that AI produces.
Remember that AI is not perfect and may not give accurate results. Additionally, keep in mind the ethics and environmental impacts of using AI. We encourage teams to read the New Directions for Evaluation issue on Artificial Intelligence in Evaluation to learn more about AI.
If a team chooses to use AI in their work, if at all, they must cite what exact tool they are using (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, ChatGPT 3.5, ChatGPT 4.0). Additionally, we strongly suggest teams submit the exact prompts used with generative AI; these will not count against your page limit.
What do winning teams receive?
All team members and coaches of the winning team will receive an award/scholarship from AEA consisting of a free 1-year AEA membership, free conference registration at the next AEA conference, and formal recognition at the AEA conference with a certificate or plaque. The three winning cases will be highlighted on the AEA student case competition webpage.
How can I financially support the competition?
We welcome funding support for additional scholarships for winning student teams. If you are interested in helping financially support student competitors, please email scc@eval.org.