61 - Tutelage to Bricolage: A novice evaluator’s perspective on Evaluation Capacity Building

Abstract Information: The continued growth of evaluation as a field has prompted an increased interest in researching how evaluators build evaluation capacity with learners in organizational and academic contexts. \ Innovative approaches to Evaluation Capacity Building (ECB) continue to emerge, offering diverse opportunities for emerging evaluators to build their capacity in evaluation. In examining the effects and extent of effects of ECB initiatives, evaluation educators may collect evidence but there is value from hearing directly from evaluation learners. This session examines the perspectives of an emerging evaluator engaged in three separate ECB initiatives in Canada. First, I provide an overview of ECB and its relevance to the development of evaluative thinking, teaching, and learning. Then, I frame vignettes of each initiative to contextualize the ECB efforts. Next, through methodological bricolage, I offer an arrangement of data sources collected before, during, or after each initiative. Finally, I discuss the inquiry and offer concluding thoughts and considerations that evaluation educators could incorporate in future ECB efforts.