Abstract
This article examines the nature of, and need for, evaluation of community-engaged university teaching and research. The research was conducted as part of a larger project aimed at improving institutional understanding of how to best support community-engaged university people. We interviewed 25 community-engaged colleagues, and used a general inductive approach to identify four recurring themes relating to evaluation within interview transcripts. The themes emphasised diverse conceptualisations of the nature of evaluation in this context, and concomitant concerns about where their community engagement fits within our higher education institution. Our research may help our institution, and others, to decide how best to provide institutional support to university people who choose to become community-engaged.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexander, S., & Hedberg, J. G. (1994). Evaluating technology-based learning: Which model? In K. Beattie, C. McNaught, & S. Wills (Eds.), Interactive multimedia in university education: Designing for change in teaching and learning (A59 (pp. 233–244). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Baker, M., Pipi, K., & Cassidy, T. (2015). Kaupapa Māori action research in a Whānau Ora collective: An exemplar of Māori evaluative practice and the findings. Evaluation Matters-He Take Tō Te Aromatawai, 1, 113–136. doi:10.18296/em.0006
Banks, S., & Manners, P. (2012). Community-based participatory research: A guide to ethical principles and practice. Durham: Centre for Social Justice and Community Action, Durham University. Retrieved from https://doi.org/www.publicengagement.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publication/ cbpr ethics guide web november 2012.pdf
Blanchard, L. W., Strauss, R. P., & Webb, L. (2012). Engaged scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Campus integration and faculty development. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 16(1), 97–128.
Bloom, B. S., Hastings, J. T., & Madaus, G. F. (1971). Handbook on formative and summative evaluation of student learning. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Boland, J. A. (2011). Positioning civic engagement on the higher education landscape: Insights from a civically engaged pedagogy. Tertiary Education and Management, 17(2), 101–115. doi:10.1080/13583883.2011.562523
Boyer, E. L. (1996). From scholarship reconsidered to scholarship assessed. Quest, 48, 129–139.
Brown, K., Shephard, K., Warren, D., Hesson, G, & Fleming, J. (2016). Using phenomenography to build an understanding of how university people conceptualise their community-engaged activities. Higher Education Research & Development, 35(4), 643–657. doi:10.1080/ 07294360.2015.1137880
Department for Business Innovation & Skills. (2015). Higher education: Teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice. London. (10 August 2016) Retrieved from https://doi.org/www.gov.uk/government/consultations/higher-education-teaching-excellence-social-mobility-and-student-choice
Dunn, K. (2000). Interviewing. In I. Hay (Ed.), Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography, (pp. 50–82). Victoria: Oxford University Press.
Everitt, A. (1996). Developing Critical Evaluation. Evaluation, 2(2), 173–188. doi:10.1177/ 135638909600200204
Gelmon, S., Holland, B., Driscoll, A., Spring, A., & Kerrigan, S. (2001). Assessing the impact of service-learning and civic engagement: Principles and methods. Providence, RI: Campus Compact.
Gelmon, S. B., Jordan, C., & Seifer, S. D. (2013). Community-engaged scholarship in the academy: An action agenda. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 45(4), 58–66. doi:10.1080/00091383.2013.806202
Guba, E., & Lincoln, Y. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Harris, L., Jones, M., & Coutts, S. (2010). Partnerships and learning communities in work-integrated learning: Designing a community services student placement program. Higher Education Research & Development, 29(5), 547–559. doi:10.1080/07294360.2010.502288
Hesson, G., Moskal, A. C. M., & Shephard, K. (2014). Using visual analytics to explore Community Engaged Learning and Teaching at the University of Otago. In B. Hegarty, J. McDonald, & S. K. Loke (Eds.), Rhetoric and reality: critical perspectives on educational technology-conference, ASCILITE (pp. 500–504). Dunedin. Retrieved from https://doi.org/ascilite.org/conferences/dunedin2014/files/concisepapers/133-Hesson.pdf
House, E. (1996). The problem of values in evaluation. Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 8(1), 3–14.
Kerr, S. (2012). Kaupapa Māori theory-based evaluation. Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 12(1). 6–18.
Larran, M., & Andrades, F. J. (2017) Analysing the literature on university social responsibility: A review of selected higher education journals Higher Education Quarterly (in press).
Laursen, S., & Archie, T. (2012). Approaches to evaluating the outcomes of faculty outreach, part I: Needs, opportunities and challenges, report to the office of university outreach. University of Colorado. (May 2016) Retrieved from https://doi.org/www.colorado.edu/eer/research/documents/CUoutreachNeedsReport fmal.pdf
Matthews, P. (Ed.). (2011). University of Georgia Service-Learning Faculty Handbook. Retrieved from: Office of Service-Learning. https://doi.org/servicelearning.uga.edu/uploads/docs/UGA_Service Learning_Faculty_Handbook_5.4.11.pdf
Mbah, M. F. (2016). Towards the idea of the interconnected university for sustainable community development. Higher Education Research & Development, 35, 1228–1241. doi:10.1080/ 07294360.2016.1144570
New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. (2016a, August 12) National Science Challenges. Retrieved from https://doi.org/www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/science-innova tion/national-science-challenges
New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. (2016b, August 12) A Nation of curious minds — He Whenua Hihiri i te Mahara. Retrieved from https://doi.org/www.curiousminds.nz
New Zealand Productivity Commission — Te Komihana Whai Hua o Aotearoa. (2016). New Models of Tertiary Education: Issues paper. Retrieved from https://doi.org/productivity.govt.nz/inquiry-con tent/2683?stage=2
Parton, N. (1994). The nature of social work under conditions of (post) modernity. Social Work and Social Sciences Review, 52(2), 93–112.
Shephard, K. (2009a). Assessing affective attributes at all levels of higher education. In L. Meyer, S. Davidson, H. Anderson, R. Fletcher, P. Johnson, & M. Rees (Eds.), Tertiary Assessment and Higher Education Student Outcomes: Policy, Practice and Research (pp. 143–152). Ako Aotearoa National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence: Wellington.
Shephard, K. (2009b). e is for exploration: Assessing hard-to-measure learning outcomes. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40(2), 386–398. doi:10.1111/j.l467-8535.2008.00927.x
Stoecker, R., Beckman, M., & Min, B. H. (2010). Evaluating the community impact of higher education civic engagement. Handbook of Engaged Scholarship: Contemporary Landscapes, Future Directions, 2, 177–196.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Thomas, D. R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237–246.
University of Otago. (2013). University of Otago Strategic Directions to 2020. Dunedin. (27 June 2016) Retrieved from https://doi.org/www.Otago.ac.nz/Otago053226.pdf
University of Otago: University of Otago Bulletin Board (2014). Uni News: Community service figures remain strong. (30 August 2016) Retrieved from https://doi.org/www.Otago.ac.nz/Otagobul letin/news/Otago069893.html
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shephard, K., Brown, K., Guiney, T. et al. Valuing and evaluating community-engaged scholarship. Tert Educ Manag 24, 83–94 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2017.1395904
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2017.1395904