Academic Journal
Lessons learned from a collective evaluation and community of practice focused on evidence-based learning.
| Τίτλος: | Lessons learned from a collective evaluation and community of practice focused on evidence-based learning. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Anderson KC; Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. Electronic address: kelleyan@vt.edu., Stern MJ; Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. Electronic address: mjstern@vt.edu., Powell RB; Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA; Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA. Electronic address: rbp@clemson.edu., Frensley BT; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA. Electronic address: frensleyb@uncw.edu. |
| Πηγή: | Evaluation and program planning [Eval Program Plann] 2026 Aug; Vol. 117, pp. 102773. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Feb 18. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 7801727 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-7870 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01497189 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Eval Program Plann Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: 1994- : [Oxford] : Elsevier Original Publication: 1978-1993: Elmsford, N. Y., Pergamon Press. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Program Evaluation*/methods , Evidence-Based Practice*/organization & administration , Parks, Recreational*/organization & administration, Capacity Building/organization & administration ; Humans ; Community of Practice ; United States ; Cooperative Behavior |
| Περίληψη: | While it is clear that nonformal education organizations can benefit from program evaluation in many ways, internal capacity to conduct evaluations is a challenge for many organizations. This paper describes a facilitated evidence-based learning network (EBLN) with 32 nonformal education program providers associated with the U.S. National Park Service. The EBLN combined elements of collective evaluation with a community of practice to build evaluation capacity, foster collaboration, and promote adaptive management and programmatic improvement. Network participants demonstrated gains within each cycle of value creation identified in the CoP literature: immediate, potential, applied, realized, and reframing value. They gained capacity in evaluation and adaptive management, ideas for programmatic improvement, evidence associated with the application of new practices, and new ideas about what is possible to achieve within their programming. We describe the design of the EBLN and discuss lessons learned to improve similar efforts in the future. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of Interest None. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Capacity building; Collective evaluation; Community of practice; Evidence-based learning; Nonformal education |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260225 Date Completed: 20260612 Latest Revision: 20260624 |
| Update Code: | 20260624 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2026.102773 |
| PMID: | 41740293 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1873-7870 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2026.102773 |