By:

This paper summarizes the findings from an evaluation of a professional field experience program in two affiliated institutions of higher education. The purpose of this evaluation was to determine the extent to which the program matched the purpose for which it was designed in terms of its elements, effectiveness, quality indices, and collaboration. This evaluation used the Model for Collaborative Evaluations (MCE). The MCE is a comprehensive framework for guiding collaborative evaluations in a precise, realistic, and useful manner (Rodríguez-Campos, 2005). This model transformed the evaluation into a joint-responsibility process allowing a more holistic understanding of the multicultural aspect of the program. The results were used to reflect upon lessons learned, improve the program, and share findings with stakeholders and other individuals or institutions interested in this work. Recommendations were made to improve the distribution of program funds and to consider additional preparation for multicultural experiences in the near future.

Stream: Measuring Learning Outcomes

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Liliana Rodríguez-Campos earned her Ph.D. in Evaluation, Measurement, and Research Design. She received an Outstanding Dissertation Award, and a Provost’s Special Recognition for this Ph.D. Also, as part of her educational background, she earned her Bachelor's in Systems Engineering with Honorific Mention, and her Specialist and Master's degrees in Project Management in Engineering with Summa Cum Laude Honors. Furthermore, she received a President's Special Recognition for her second Master's degree in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Evaluation, Measurement, and Research Design.
Rodríguez has been awarded with several honors and educational scholarships at the national and international levels. Her peers have recognized her professional qualifications through invitations to her to make presentations and serve in national and international leadership roles in evaluation. She has been a planning and control manager, and a consultant in the private sector, non-profit organizations as well as institutions of higher education. Rodríguez's work history includes evaluations/metaevaluations in multi-national corporations and capacity-building projects in Latin America, the Philippines, and the United States.
Rodríguez has designed and delivered numerous workshops and courses at the university level in evaluation/metaevaluation, research, informatics, consulting, project planning, and control management. She has written a variety of publications in Spanish, English, and Chinese on leadership, organizational engineering, and evaluation approaches that bring stakeholder groups together For example, she is the author of the book Collaborative Evaluations: A Step-by-Step Model for the Evaluator. In addition, she has presented her work in national and international conferences in countries such as Amsterdan, Australia, Canada, China, England, Greece, India, Italy, Jamaica, Malaysia, Singapur, Spain, the United States, and Venezuela.
Rodríguez is a faculty member in the Department of Educational Measurement and Research at the University of South Florida. She is a member of several professional associations such as Project Management Institute, American Evaluation Association, Michigan Association for Evaluation, and American Educational Research Association, among others. During five years, she served as a co-chair of the Professional Development Committee and as a board member at the Michigan Association for Evaluation. Currently, she serves as the board of directors’ chair at the Evaluation Capacity Development Group and as the program chair of the Collaboration, Participatory, and Empowerment Evaluation Topical Interest Group at the American Evaluation Association. Rodríguez’s expertise with leadership, metaevaluation, multi-cultural and collaborative evaluation capacity building, project management, organizational engineering, and training are her strongest professional contributions.

Rigoberto Rincones earned his Ph.D. in Evaluation, Measurement, and Research Design at Western Michigan University (WMU). He received an Outstanding Dissertation Award, and a WMU Provost's Special Recognition for his doctoral work. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, and his Specialist and Master's degrees in Project Management in Engineering with Summa Cum Laude Honors. He received a WMU President's Special Recognition for his second Master's degree in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Evaluation, Measurement, and Research Design. Dr. Rincones has been awarded with several honors and educational scholarships both in Latin America and the United States. He has been a training manager and a consultant in the private sector, non-profit organizations as well as in institutions of higher education. Dr. Rincones's work history includes formative evaluation of multi-national corporations and evaluation capacity-building projects in Latin America, the Philippines and the United States. Dr. Rincones has designed and delivered numerous workshops and courses at the university level in evaluation, research, technology, project management, and assessment. He has authored a variety of publications in Spanish and in English on leadership, organizational engineering, and evaluation approaches that bring stakeholder groups together. He has presented his work in national and international conferences in countries such as Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, England, Greece, Malaysia, Spain, the United States and Venezuela. Until June of 2006, Dr. Rincones worked as the Director of the Institutional Research and Assessment Office, at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He has been a member of the Association for Institutional Research, Michigan Association for Institutional Research, American Evaluation Association, Michigan Association for Evaluation, and American Educational Research Association, among others. Additional appointments include Vice-Chair of the Michigan Association of Institutional Research (MI/AIR); Member of the Michigan Community College Data and Evaluation Committee (MCCDEC); and reviewer of the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) Forum’s Track #6 (The Practice of Institutional Research: Theory, Techniques, Technologies, Tools, and Ethics). Dr. Rincones's expertise with institutional research, assessment, capacity building, program evaluation and metaevaluation are his strongest professional interests. Currently Dr. Rincones works as Program Director at MDC, Inc. where he leads the data facilitation Component for the Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count initiative. Achieving the Dream is a multiyear national initiative to help more community college students succeed (earn degrees, earn certificates or transfer to other institutions to continue their studies). He also works in partnership with the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Florida to train data facilitators and serves as a data facilitator himself. He is responsible for drawing lessons learned from the data facilitators' experiences and working with a national team of Achieving the Dream partners to develop strategies to spread Achieving the Dream policies and practices.

Michael S. Nokes is currently a doctoral candidate in Evaluation, Measurement, and Research at Western Michigan University (USA). He holds a B.S. degree in Psychology from Northern Michigan University. As a member of the American Evaluation Association (ACA), Nokes has had his submissions selected for presentation at three that organization’s international conferences. His areas of professional interest include Collaborative Evaluation and Strategic Evaluation.