Part II. Planning and Organizing the Workshop
– Outline Agenda and Learning Considerations
Planning and organising the workshop
Designing the workshop structure, timeline, and content.
This workshop is divided into three blocks. The first and final blocks are conducted as distance learning. The second block is designed as a face-to-face training.
Of course, you and the team you work with will need to begin much earlier in order to invite or select participants, as well as to make all the necessary logistical arrangements: setting up your virtual classroom, reserving physical classroom space, organising other faculty members, and reserving accommodations and catering as needed, etc. In some cases, you might also need to give the participants time to make travel arrangements for Block Two, if they are not based nearby.
In terms of the workshop itself, you will need a couple of weeks prior to the start of the first block to familiarise yourself with the materials and begin to adjust them to your participants and context. In addition, you will probably need a couple of weeks after the end of the workshop period to finish up with the evaluation of the workshop itself.
Selecting participants, facilitators, and staff
This workshop has been developed to serve scientists in their research capacity strengthening activities. For practical purposes, the most important criterion for selecting participants is that they should offer (or have plans to offer) research capacity building activities. This is a hands-on learning experience, so you should look for participants who are engaged with this work. There are many ways to run a selection process for the workshop. No matter what your approach is, it is always important to establish clear and transparent selection criteria, to share these criteria with applicants, and to follow them in the selection process.
Because of the intensely hands-on and interactive approach of this course – especially during the face-to-face training, we would recommend that you include no more than 12-15 participants per group at a time. Although it is possible to involve more people, it will cut down on the amount of time you have to interact with participants, and to offer individualised feedback throughout the training.
When you look for co-facilitators, or support staff to help with group work, think about professionals who have teaching experience and who have experience developing and implementing M&E plans and frameworks. Using real-life examples is a great way to illustrate the concepts and to look at challenges and solutions in context.
Logistical issues
It is likely that most of you have experience organising and running events such as this workshop. So, we will avoid going into detail about how to budget, plan, and run the workshop and, specifically, the face-to-face training. Instead, we offer a few broad guidelines:
Budget: Prior to launching the call for participants (or to issuing invitations in the case that you pre-select the trainee group), you will need to establish a budget. This workshop is intended to be run at no cost to participants. The budget should take into consideration all three blocks, including funding for the infrastructure necessary to run the two distance learning blocks. When it comes to the face-to-face workshop, it is important to establish how many of your participants will be traveling to participate in the course. Full funding for travel, visa fees (if applicable), local transport, and room and board should be provided for these participants.
In addition, to supporting the travel and accommodation of participants from out of town, you will need to budget for materials, classroom space, equipment rental (projector, computer, if necessary), and, perhaps, some amount of catering. You might provide catering or choose to ask participants to bring or purchase their own meals. If your budget allows, you might offer one or two breaks during each day of the face-to-face training. These breaks provide pleasant opportunities for participants to chat and network, as well as to ask questions and follow-up on doubts about the course material in a more informal and relaxed setting.
Timeline: When planning out your application and selection (or invitation) process, remember to leave ample time for participants to obtain visas if needed, and that you have time to organise travel or transport, reserve accomodations, catering, classroom space, and to develop materials, well before the face-to-face training. You also want to be sure that all of the selected or invited participants are notified of their participation in the course well before the start of the first block so that they have time to review the Participant Guide and submit the Pre-Workshop Questionnaire (Annex B) and M&E Framework Data Collection Template (Annex F) without rushing (at least two weeks before the start of Block 2). For a sample timeline, see Annex A.
Agenda: All participants should receive a full agenda of the face-to-face training during Block One. When you sit down to plan the agenda, try to balance time spent on individual work and collaborative learning over the duration of the face-to-face training. Since participants are expected to bring their M&E frameworks nearly to completion by the end of the training, our suggestion is to keep the “lecture” portions of the course relatively short (about 25% of the class time), to give equal time to exercises, discussions, or Q&A, and to devote as much time as possible to working sessions, peer review, and facilitator review of the frameworks in progress. Be realistic about timings. Managing the timings during the course will be an important part of creating a positive and productive experience for the participants.
The following sample agenda has been developed for a three-day face-to-face training workshop, and balances different types of sessions. As we have mentioned, you could develop the face-to-face sessions in a longer time frame as needed, or schedule them to meet the needs of participants who can only participate in the workshop during their free time or on weekends. Presentations, during which you will lead the group in learning about concepts and tools, are given a limited amount of time in this agenda – about 5 ½ hours. More time is reserved for participants to work individually on their M&E framework projects and to peer review each other’s drafts in pairs or small groups. Plenary sessions, in which participants present part, or their entire framework to the facilitator and the rest of the group, offer an opportunity for everyone to give and receive feedback. In addition, approximately 30 minutes is reserved each day for discussing and evaluating the workshop itself.
Day 1
Registration
Foyer
09:00 – 10:00
Session 1: Monitoring & Evaluation: rationale & concepts
Classroom A
10:30 – 11:45
Working session: goals and objectives
Classroom A
12:00 – 13:00
Lunch break
Cafeteria
13:00 – 14:00
Session 2: M&E Frameworks: approach and elements
Classroom A
15:00 – 16:00
Short break
Foyer
16:00 – 16:15
Session 3: The results chain:
components & links
Classroom A
16:15 – 17:30
Evaluation of the day
Classroom A
17:30 – 18:00
Peer review and discussion: goals and objectives
Classroom A
14:00 – 15:00
Short break
Classroom A
11:45 – 12:00
Welcome, introduction, and review
of the agenda
Classroom A
10:00 – 10:30
Day 2
Group review of the Day One
Classroom A
09:00 – 09:30
Short break
Foyer
10:30 – 10:45
Session 4: Indicators: definition & development
Classroom A
12:15 – 13:15
Lunch break
Cafeteria
13:15 – 14:15
Short break
Foyer
15:45 – 16:00
Peer review and discussion: indicators
Classroom A
16:00 – 17:30
Evaluation of the day
Classroom A
17:30 – 18:00
Working session: Indicators
Classroom A
14:15 – 15:45
Peer review and discussion: results chain
Classroom A
10:45 – 12:15
Working session: results chain
Classroom A
09:30 – 10:30
Day 3
Group review of Day Two
Classroom A
09:00 – 09:30
Short break
Foyer
10:30 – 10:45
Peer review and discussion: Data quality
Classroom A
11:45 – 13:00
Lunch break
Cafeteria
13:00 – 14:00
Short break
Foyer
15:45 – 16:00
Framework presentations and review Part II
Classroom A
16:00 – 17:45
Final evaluation, conclusions, preparation for Block 3 and farewell
Classroom A
17:45 – 18:15
Framework presentations and review Part I
Classroom A
14:00 – 15:45
Working session: Data quality
Classroom A
10:45 – 11:45
Session 5: Data quality:
assessment & management
Classroom A
09:30 – 10:30
Key teaching / learning considerations
The learning methodology behind this workshop is participant-driven, collaborative, and committed to supporting a practical understanding of monitoring and evaluation in the context of research capacity building activities. Here are five ideas for generating and supporting an environment conducive to this kind of learning.
1. Prepare for the workshop and adjust to fit you and the participants.
Before you begin Block One, review the materials provided in this Toolkit. Consider how you can integrate your own professional experiences with monitoring and evaluation to highlight examples of different concepts, issues, or decisions that participants will confront as they work through the materials. Think about multiple ways to approach or explain concepts. The workshop will work best when the needs, interests, and experiences of the participants and facilitators are addressed and incorporated.
At the start of Block One, all participants should complete a Pre-workshop Questionnaire, which will provide insight into the needs, interests, and experiences of the group. Once you have this information, and the M&E Framework Data Collection Templates in hand, you may need to return to your presentations thinking through examples and cases that respond to the proposed group of frameworks.
2. Begin setting expectations for a participative experience during Block One.
The first block of the course is conducted through distance learning. It should also be interactive, lively, and engaging. It is important that participants begin to develop a sense of group and camaraderie during this initial period. Whether you are using a sophisticated online learning platform, or developing Block One over email, the first step is for participants to get to know one another. We suggest starting out by asking each one to introduce themselves, to share where and in what area they work, why they are taking the workshop, and what they hope to get from it. Sometimes, it is helpful and appropriate to ask participants to share photos so that they (and you) can begin to put a name to a face early on (for example, if you are using an online platform in which each participant has a personal profile).
3. Create a natural and relaxed dynamic during the face-to-face training.
When it comes to the face-to-face training, you can set the tone with verbal and physical cues that let participants know this learning experience will be collaborative and dynamic – not a set of lectures. One way you signal this is how you set up the classroom. Obviously, we would warn against rows of chairs or desks facing a lectern. A round or oval table, where all participants can comfortably sit, or a circle of chairs or desks can work here. Think about layouts that allow all participants to see each other and you, and spaces that make it easy to break up into smaller groups during discussions and exercises.
When you make your presentations, we suggest that you do not stand behind a desk or podium. Join the group and move around the space, signalling that you are interested in their active engagement. Breaking up your presentation with questions is another way to demonstrate that this will not be a sit-back-and-take-notes kind of training.
4. Use different groupings to encourage participation and develop collaborative dynamics.
In addition to looking over the proposed M&E frameworks and thinking about how different participants could help each other to move forward and develop their work, you can observe the dynamics of the group and think about how best to split up it into smaller groups or pairs, particularly during peer review sessions. We suggest that you use multiple types of groups and pairings over the three days to best take advantage of the experience of the participants.
5. Regularly check in with the group during the face-to-face training and respond directly to feedback.
As you see in the sample agenda, we recommend taking time each day for participants to evaluate the training, both formally, through anonymous questionnaires, and through conversation, as a group. Our approach is to acknowledge reasonable complaints or concerns and to address them, insofar as it is possible and feasible. If participants have suggestions that are reasonable, but which cannot realistically be put in place, explain why, and use their feedback to inform future editions of the workshop.
The final M&E Framework Project
The central project of this workshop is the development of an M&E framework, which will serve the participants both in the context of the training, as a vehicle for contextualising their work, and in their workplaces, where it will be implemented as part of a research capacity building activity. As we have repeated, this is a hands-on workshop and we expect that participants will be driven by their real-life need for monitoring and evaluation tools and skills. The objective of the training is to build their capacity to conduct these activities and to provide a practical experience of doing so. As facilitator of the workshop, it is important to emphasize that each participant should consider that their work is built around this project and that they should walk away from this learning experience with a completely (or mostly) developed M&E framework.
Evaluation
As the facilitator of this workshop you will need to assess the progress and understanding of the participants, as well as the success workshop itself. Evaluation, in both cases, should serve the purpose of supporting learning. That is, a well-done evaluation provides clear feedback as to what has been achieved thus far, and a clear path forward as to what more can be achieved and how.
This guide includes templates and tools designed to support the following:
At the end of the session, evaluation tools provided:
Evaluation for participants
• M&E case study exercise: This tool gives participants the chance for a quick check-in before they get started, giving them a general sense of some of the basic M&E concepts they will work with and how comfortable they are with those concepts. This tool is included in the Participant Guide. (See Annex C).
• M&E Framework Data Collection Template: The initial data collection tool that you will use to assess their project idea and provide guidance. This tool is included in the Participant Guide. (See Annex F).
• M&E Framework Project Template: This template can be used to elaborate the participants’ projects. Included as an Excel file. (See Annex H).
• M&E Framework project rubric: The rubric that you will use to provide a final evaluation of each participant’s final M&E Framework Project. This tool is included in the Participant Guide. (See Annex G).
• M&E Framework scoresheet: A simple template for scoring each M&E Framework Project. (See Annex I).
Evaluation of the workshop
• Face-to-face evaluation discussion: A template for leading a discussion around how the training is progressing each day.
(See Annex J).
• Face-to-face training evaluation: An anonymous evaluation of the workshop and the facilitators to be completed at the end of each day, either on paper or through an online survey tool that allows participants to respond anonymously. (See Annex K).
• Final workshop evaluation: A final anonymous evaluation to be sent and collected at the conclusion of Block 3. If possible, we recommend using an online survey tool that will allow participants to respond anonymously. (See Annex L).
