Amplifying and Empowering Voices with Concept Mapping: A Hands-on Workshop

Abstract Information: This skill-building workshop invites participants to engage in a live concept mapping exercise, offering a unique hands-on opportunity to learn and experience the power of this participatory evaluation approach. Concept mapping (CM), also known as group concept mapping, is a versatile mixed-method approach that has been widely employed in program planning and evaluation to understand group thinking, generate conceptual frameworks, and support decision-making. Developed in the 1980s, concept mapping has evolved into a structured participatory approach that combines qualitative brainstorming, sorting, and rating exercises with quantitative cluster analysis and dimensionality reduction techniques. The resulting visualizations illustrate how people understand complex issues and facilitate further decision-making based on collective knowledge.
During this workshop, attendees will actively participate in each step of a typical concept mapping exercise, experiencing the CM process from both a participant's and a project manager's perspective. Together, we will brainstorm, sort, and rate ideas related to this year's conference theme of empowering voices. We will demonstrate how the generated data is transformed into compelling visualizations using clustering algorithms and dimensionality reduction techniques. Throughout the workshop, we will explore maps with varying levels of clustering and discuss key performance indicators. As a group, we will interpret the resulting map, mirroring the process of a real CM exercise.
By attending this workshop, participants will:
1. Gain hands-on experience with the concept mapping process, from brainstorming to interpretation.
2. Learn about performance statistics and novel approaches for clustering and dimensionality reduction.
3. Develop a deeper understanding of how concept mapping can be used in program planning and evaluation.
4. Contribute to the exploration of this year's conference theme by collectively generating a concept map on empowering voices.
This interactive workshop offers a valuable opportunity for evaluators, researchers, and practitioners to enhance their skills in participatory evaluation methods, engage with peers, and gain insights into the practical applications of concept mapping.