Visitor Studies Association Conference 2014

Date:

Tuesday, July 15, 2014 to Saturday, July 19, 2014

Location:

Albuquerque, NM

Event type:

The 2014 Visitor Studies Association Conference is to be held July 15-19, 2014 in Albuquerque, NM around the theme Building Capacity for Evaluation: Individuals, Institutions, the Field.

For our 2014 conference, VSA invites the informal learning community to join us in creating a conference program that pushes the field of visitor studies forward by addressing the increasing interest in evaluation and the growing demand for evidence. This year, VSA will think strategically about how to continually build capacity for evaluation.

Pre-Conference Workshops

Tuesday, July 15, Half Day Workshops, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
How to Lead Evaluation Capacity Building Efforts using Team-Based Inquiry
Sarah Cohn, Evaluation & Research Manager, Science Museum of Minnesota Scott Pattison, Research & Evaluation Strategist, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Scott Randol, Research & Evaluation Associate, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry Level 301
Competency: B, C, D, E
If you lead evaluations for projects that have a project development team, you have probably experienced moments of disagreement within the team regarding the project’s purpose, goals, or even what your evaluation data may mean for the project. Often, you may find yourself teaching others about the evaluation process and how your work fits into the timeline and development process. Consider learning about Team-Based Inquiry (TBI), a simple approach to building evaluation capacity within project teams. TBI is designed to support the work of professionals in using evaluation practices to improve their products and practices. Presenters will run through the four inquiry steps of TBI and model training activities that will provide participants with the experience and ability to train others in the TBI process. The presenters will also share resources they’ve developed for evaluation facilitators and trainers to help engage teams in TBI. This workshop is for practiced evaluators.

Tuesday, July 15, Half Day Workshop, 1 – 4 p.m.
Integrating Evaluation into your Daily Practice using Team-Based Inquiry
Sarah Cohn, Evaluation & Research Manager, Science Museum of Minnesota Scott Pattison, Research & Evaluation Strategist, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Scott Randol, Research & Evaluation Associate, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry Level 101
Competency: B, C, D, E
Do you sometimes have questions about the products you are developing and providing your audiences? Have you ever worked on a project team that didn’t seem to gel around a set of goals? If you answered yes, this workshop can help you use evaluation to improve your practice. This hands-on workshop will introduce a practical, tested approach, Team- Based Inquiry (TBI), to build your evaluation capacity without adding much to your daily work. TBI is designed to help professionals use data to improve their work, foster effective teams, and build the capacity of professionals and organizations to conduct front-end and formative evaluation. Presenters will introduce TBI and facilitate activities to familiarize participants with TBI’s four steps: question, investigate, reflect, and improve. Participants will leave with a copy of the TBI Guide and easy-to-use tools for each step. This workshop is for new evaluators and informal learning professionals.