At the beginning of this course, I described the word “evaluator” as sounding very formal, almost like someone standing with a clipboard waiting to judge everything being done wrong. That was honestly how I viewed evaluation at first. I knew I had experience asking questions, building relationships, supporting projects, and helping teams stay focused, but I did not see those skills as formal evaluation skills. In my first self-assessment, I rated myself a 3 out of 6 because I felt I was not starting from zero, but thinking back, seven weeks ago, I really was closer to a 2 if I was being honest with myself. I had useful crossover skills, but I did not yet understand how to apply them within a formal evaluation process.
At the end of this course, I would place myself at a 4 out of 6 as an evaluator. I am still not an expert, and I would not pretend to be one. However, I now have a clearer understanding of what evaluation actually requires. More importantly, I can see how my existing skills connect to evaluation practice and where I still need to grow. This course helped me move from seeing evaluation as something distant or overly technical to seeing it as a structured process that combines inquiry, evidence, judgment, communication, and relationships.
One major conclusion from my self-assessment at the end of this course is that my strongest evaluative skills are still people-oriented. Competencies such as AEA 5.4 (building trust) and AEA 5.2 (listening to understand different perspectives) continue to stand out. This does not surprise me because much of my professional experience has required trust-building, listening, redirection, and collaboration. In my earlier reflection, I connected this to my 14-month stretch project with the instructional design team, where trust was not assumed because of my tenure; it was earned through intentional relationship-building.
Another strength is AEA 4.8, monitoring evaluation progress and quality, and making adjustments when appropriate. This became even clearer during our team project, where I was selected to serve as the Project Manager. That role reinforced the idea that many of my strengths align with the Planning and Management competencies. I naturally focused on keeping the team organized, tracking progress, clarifying next steps, and ensuring our work remained aligned with the evaluation's purpose. That same skill matters in evaluation because evaluation work can easily lose focus if the purpose, questions, timeline, and intended use are not kept in front of the team.
The competency that surprised me most was AEA 1.8, identifying how evaluation practice can promote social justice and the public good. At first, I struggled with this because I was thinking about evaluation mainly through a corporate training lens. I understood the importance of fairness and ethics, but I was not sure how “social justice” fit into business outcomes. Through the course, I began to see that this competency is not limited to nonprofit or public policy settings. In corporate learning, evaluation can still promote fairness by asking whose voices are included, whether the training is accessible, whether the data is interpreted responsibly, and whether recommendations benefit all learner groups rather than only the easiest group to measure.
My growth areas are still mostly technical. In the Methodology domain, overall, I rated myself a 3 out of 6 in “identifying evaluation purposes and needs, determining evaluation questions, and selecting appropriate methods.” I acknowledge that I am giving myself the same rating I gave myself 7 weeks ago in this area. Why? Because the more I learned, the more I realized I was really at a novice level of 1. It shows growth from where I started, but it also tells me I am not yet at an advanced level. I also rated myself a 3 out of 6 in “identifying the assumptions underlying methodologies and program logic, as well as in conducting literature reviews when appropriate. Those scores stand out because they show that I am still developing the more technical side of evaluation work. I need more practice designing instruments, selecting methods, analyzing data, and explaining findings in a way that is both accurate and useful. I have grown in these areas, but I would not yet call them strengths.
I also see room for growth in the Context domain. My ratings were generally stronger. Overall, I gave myself a 4 rating here, but they show that I am still developing. I rated myself a 5 out of 6 for “responding respectfully to the evaluation context's uniqueness and engaging a diverse range of users and stakeholders throughout the evaluation process.” Those scores are encouraging because they connect to my strengths in relationship-building and understanding different perspectives. However, I rated myself a 4 out of 6 in “describing the program, addressing systems issues within the context, and communicating evaluation processes and results in timely and effective ways.” These ratings show that I can work well with people and understand the environment, but I still need more practice applying that awareness directly to evaluation design, interpretation, and reporting. That is important because evaluation is not just about collecting information; it is about making careful judgments based on evidence.
Beyond this course, I plan to take several actions to continue building competence as an evaluator. First, I look for opportunities in my current role and stretch projects where I can participate earlier in the evaluation process, especially during question development and instrument design. Second, I want to continue learning from instructional designers, evaluation professionals, and mentors who already use these skills in practice. Third, I want to keep building my comfort with mixed-methods evaluation because I see how powerful it can be when survey results, interview themes, and learning analytics are used together.
Overall, this self-assessment helped me see that I have grown, but it also reminded me that evaluation competence develops through practice. I am no longer looking at evaluation as someone standing with a clipboard. It is a disciplined way to understand what is working, what is not, and what should happen next. I am not starting from zero, but not an expert yet, as I will continue my journey into formal evaluation.
Comments
Post a Comment