Evaluation
November 7, 2006
Posted by Clare in: Evaluation | TrackbackWe have been doing some thinking about what sort of evaluation mechanisms and processes we need to build into iShed. Capturing where we will add value will be key in building a case for public sector support and industry engagement, but this is often hard to track, being qualitative and tied up with many other external influences. There is also a lot of interest/potential in monitoring the dynamics of the network involved in iShed.
I had a useful meeting with Julie Taylor and Lisa Hill of the Arts and Humanities Research Council to discuss some of these challenges. Evaluating innovation is tricky as anything too prescriptive may stifle blue skies thinking or fail to account for the epiphanies that can occur during collaborative research.
How do we capture the moments of change in a relationship/project? How can we ensure our evaluation/monitoring is ongoing as often knowledge exchange bears fruit after the formal collaboration has finished? How can we ensure our processes track incremental/iterative research processes as well as breakthroughs?
Julie and Lisa introduced me to logic models as a way of uncovering and exploring the underlying assumptions around a project or research project. If used at the beginning and at key points through a project, they can track moments of change and knowledge exchange across different stakeholders.
They are also going to introduce me to Calvin Taylor, a Senior Lecturer in Creative Industries and Director of Knowledge Transfer at the University of Leeds, who works on one of the AHRC’s Impact Fellowship projects - focusing on the impact of higher education on the creative industries and Tom Inns, a Professor in the School of Design and Director of the AHRC’s ‘Designing for C21st Programme’. His research focus is on the impact of design on innovation in business.
New models of evaluation are needed and we hope that iShed can play a part in testing out innovative methods.
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