Evaluation is a vital process for the development and sustainability of community-based programs. Throughout this unit you will be introduced to a range of different evaluation theories, frameworks and tools. This task will enable you to understand and implement the type of evaluation you need to do within your team project for this unit.

You will produce a report collating information for five evaluation tools. You will provide a brief introduction to your team project context and the general purpose of evaluation in project work (300 words). For each evaluation tool you will generate a concisely written chapter (600 words) that provides a rationale for your selection of the tool, a description and analysis of each tool. You will provide relevant high quality references (topic relevant, synthesising contemporary research and practice literature, from recognised peer reviewed sources preferably published within the last 10 years) to support your tool descriptions and analyses. Your report will adhere to strict professional formatting guidelines. This set of analyses will form an important resource for your professional portfolio as you prepare for graduation.

Content:

The analysis will include:

• Any theoretical underpinnings of the tool
• A description of the type of data gathered
• The timing of application of the tool use during your project
• Your evaluation of the tool strengths and limitations
• Any ethical considerations for using the tool.

Description of the tool will include but is not limited to:

• Accurate description of the features of the tool
• How it is used to evaluate
• Objectives and aims of the tool
• Outcomes expected from use of the tool
  

Rationale will include:

• How the tool is relevant to the project you are developing
• Why it is suitable to use with the population or context of your project

References:

For each evaluation tool you will source at least five high quality references from peer reviewed professional literature to support your findings.

Formatting: You will prepare this assignment as a professional report.

• Create one continuous Word document with five (5) distinct chapters.
• Use a table of contents with headings and sub-headings to organise the structure of your work.
• Each chapter will start on a new page.
• Provide a reference list after each chapter.
• References may be repeated in different chapters.
• Report formatting requirements are provided in the Assessment Resources Folder on Moodle.

Word count:

Total: 3300 words ±10% (range 2970- 3630 words)

• Report presentation and organisation: cover page, table of contents, spacing, introduction, headings, page breaks, font size and type, page margin/numbering meets standards provided.10 marks
• Rationale for selection of 5 evaluation tools highly relevant to project context and needs for completion. 10 marks Accurately and clearly describes features of each tool, evaluation procedures used, expected outcomes and objectives measured. 5 x 5 marks= 25 marks
• Analysis of each tool. Accurately and clearly synthesises theoretical underpinnings, ethical considerations, data type gathered, timing in project, models, frameworks, strengths and limitations. 5 x 5 marks= 25 marks
• Use of relevant evidence from a broad range of high quality sources including evidence based occupational therapy and other literature 10 marks
• Referencing adheres to APA 6 style for in-text citations and reference list. 10 marks
• Written work meets professional standards for terminology use, articulation and flow of ideas, spelling & grammatical conventions. 10 marks

All students will be part of a project team in this unit, working with community stakeholders towards achieving their organisation's goals for community based services. This unit is designed to help you make the shift from student to independent occupational therapy practitioner. Important features of independent practitioners are that they

• understand that occupational therapy is a fluid and responsive process that requires constant adaptation to change
• are comfortable with a level of uncertainty that engages our collaborative problem solving and higher level thinking capacities
• independently prepare, reflect, plan and act with staged support rather than direct instruction.

You will be participating in practical peer and supervisor mediated seminars where you will utilise the Action Learning Cycle to present back your weekly feedback and updates regarding your team's project progress. These seminars may be carried out on campus or by videoconference after negotiation with supervisors. The aim of the seminars is to learn independently and together with peers and supervisors. The supervisor will facilitate discussion through staged questioning at these seminars. You and your team are responsible for preparing your own topics for discussion with peers and supervisors. Seminar discussion topics may regularly include

• research you have done that will help inform your project
• planning you are doing with your project team, including your timelines and Gannt chart
• communication and meetings with stakeholders
• evaluations you have carried out and the data obtained
• issues that have arisen or areas where you are finding expected/unexpected challenges
• solutions you have discovered
• learning needs you have identified for yourself or your team
• planning required for the student conference where you will present your project progress to stakeholders
• anything else relevant to successful achievement of your project aims

As part of the Action Learning Cycle, you will use a template to individually self-reflect and document outcomes from each of the seminars you participate in. You will submit 5 of these for marking. You must ensure the 5 reflections chosen are cumulative and representative of all different stages of your learning journey, for example early, midway and later in the project timeline.

There is no set word count for this task as reflections are highly individual. Reflections from participants in the same team may be quite different for very valid reasons. An ideal cumulative series of five written reflections will record your journey of being actively engaged in the seminars as part of your team project and accepting responsibility for your own learning, motivated by a desire to achieve the project outcomes. It is expected that you will need between 2-5 pages for each Seminar Reflection. The total maximum number of pages anticipated is 25.

• Professional standard of written communication, organisation and presentation of each submitted reflection 10 marks
• Deep level of critical reflection for significant events, using the Action Learning Cycle model across the whole timeline of the project 40 marks
• Use of wide range of documentary evidence for seminar content and participation that clearly supports reflections 10 marks
• Identifies several realistic and appropriate learning issues and goals using independent and original thinking 20 marks
• Achievement of identified learning improvements clearly explained 20 marks

Conference Presentation

Your project team will prepare a 20 minute presentation (plus 5 minutes discussion time) for a professional audience including your project stakeholders, invited guests, multidisciplinary student peers and teaching staff that outlines the key stages in your project development. All members of the project team must demonstrate their involvement in the preparation and oral presentation of material for the conference.

While each project and each presentation will be different, you are expected to address the following essential information:

• Description of the organisation
• Needs analysis processes
• Key stakeholders
• Theoretical underpinnings that explain the occupation focus
• Scoping of project and timelines
• Business case and funding implications
• Program occupational goals and objectives
• Evaluation processes
• Ethical considerations
• Future developments - where to from here
• References
• Questions

Each project team can nominate one member to submit your slides to Moodle by 9.00am on the day of the Conference. All students will complete a Self and Peer Evaluation (SPA) immediately after the student conference.

Part 2:

Project Progress Report.

A written report is the final deliverable of your capstone project for this unit. The report will provide evidence that you have met learning outcomes 3, 5, 6 & 7.

In your project team, you will produce a project progress report covering all of the details summarised in your conference presentation. You will include all documents generated and sourced to support your project. You will adhere strictly to the report formatting guidelines to prepare the written document ready for sharing with the external partner organisation. You will be asked to edit your work after submission should the organisation decide to continue with implementation of your project recommendations.

The report will contain

Description of partner organisations and project:

• How the organisation's mission or values are expressed in their core activities and processes

• Provide an overview of the rationale and background to the project development, objectives, methods and expected outcomes of the project

Key stakeholders:

• Describe and list all key internal and external stakeholders for the project

Needs analysis processes

• Describe the rationale and processes used to determine the scope of the project.
• Describe the information collection and data analysis/interpretation methods.
• Describe any directions of the project that were impacted directly by the needs analysis and actions arising from the data.

Theoretical underpinnings:

• Describe models and frameworks relevant to the project. These may be theoretical and or practice models.

Project scoping:

• Describe in detail the project timelines, phases and inclusions/exclusions

Business case:

• Provide a business plan that meets University and stakeholder guidelines

Evaluation methodology and findings:

• Describe all processes and implications

Ethical considerations:

• Describe actions taken in order to meet ethical requirements of the project

Future developments:

• Discuss the relative merits of any options for future implementation or development of this project.
• Discuss any directions that have been identified as outside the scope of this project, but could be considered for a future student project team.

References:

Provide a comprehensive list of highly relevant contemporary professional references that underpin and support your project.

List of contributors:

You will provide a table documenting which team member was primarily responsible for each section of Part 1 and Part 2. You may include secondary contributors as long as there has been more than a rudimentary role for secondary contributors. All students must sign this record to indicate they agree it is a true representation of the distribution of team project tasks. The aim is for all students to contribute appropriately to the shared tasks. In addition, all students MUST complete the Self and Peer Evaluation (SPA) by the due date of your report submission.

Project Progress Report context:

There is no word count for this report. The report is a significant outcome of your project that will require attention to detail and extensive documentation of information. It is expected that all your project report documents together may total approximately 10,000 words or more. The preparation of all documents is expected to be shared between your project team members.

Your project team will submit two hard copies and one electronic written interim project progress report covering in detail all of the points listed above. When you are collating your report, consider that this project may be one component of a larger, long term future student project. The project may eventually span several years. You will include copies of all documents generated and sourced to support the project in numbered Appendices. Time will be made available to work on this report throughout term and your preparation will need to begin from Week 1.

Presentation Marking Criteria

• Visual presentation of slides is clear, professional and attractively balanced between text and images 10 marks
• Oral presentation topic content is well organised and flows smoothly to align with each slide 5 marks
• Speakers are articulate and confident with seamless transitions between presentation team members 5 marks
• Presents a clear and informative description of project process and outcomes 20 marks
• Manages discussion time effectively 10 marks

Project Progress Report Marking Criteria

• Overview of project purpose and aims 5 marks
• Comprehensive description of partner organisations and stakeholders 10 marks

• Needs analysis process is clearly outlined including rationale, data collection, data analysis and actions arising from data interpretation. 20 marks
• Project timelines, phases, inclusions and exclusions are clearly stated. 20 marks
• Business case meets University and stakeholder requirements for content and formatting 10 marks
• Clarity, comprehensiveness and occupational focus of report 10 marks
• Effective written communication throughout the report meets professional standards for terminology use, articulation and flow of ideas, spelling and grammatical conventions 5 marks
• Broad range of highly relevant references published within past 10 years adhere strictly to APA 6 style 5 marks
• Additional relevant project resources or documents are included in cited Appendices 5 marks

Project Team Work marking criteria

• completes all items of the SPA- individual mark to be calculated from average peer mark 20 marks