Program Evaluation

Introduction

The first program review was provided by Emily Moulton.  Emily is an adjunct faculty member at Ivy Tech Community College in downtown Indianapolis.  Emily also serves as the assistant director of student success and retention at the college.  She also was a former school counselor within the Indianapolis area.  Emily teaches a first year seminar class for new community college students.  This course provides students with an overview of skills and strategies necessary to reach their educational, career and life objectives.  Topics include time management, learning style, and utilization of technology, critical thinking, campus and community resources and career skills. 
The second program evaluation was completed by Michelle Bojrab MS, RD, CD.  Michelle is a clinical and community dietitian for St. Joseph Hospital in downtown Fort Wayne.  Michelle often participates in Health Fairs within the community to several different populations and this year was the lead for National Nutrition Month community events for Northeast Indiana Dietetic Association.  Michelle has a special heart for the elderly community and often targets her community events at this population.

Evaluation Results

Overall, Emily recognized the value and importance of Road Scholars and providing the elderly population (ages 65 and greater) with learning opportunities within their own community Moulton said, “I like the collaboration with the community.”  She really felt like this was something that is needed in our community.  Emily not only validated the program design she also felt the idea of allowing the adults to self-direct their learning was very important.  In her own words she didn’t really think or feel you can tell a lot of people at that age what they should be doing or learning and that they will make those decisions themselves.  That was very encouraging to hear and gave our group something else to consider and look at from an age standpoint that possibly we had not considered. 
Moulton also went on to say.  “Efforts to connect seniors with other community members will alleviate loneliness.”  That was also definitely one of the objectives of the program.  To develop skills for retired people to increase their quality of life.  In addition, Michelle, a community dietitian, sees this program as a great way for senior citizens to connect at meal times to possibly ensure a healthier, greater intake at these events.
Michelle agrees with Emily that this is a much needed program within the community to help the elderly population become more engaged and take a greater role in the community.  She was impressed with the program focusing on community connections in order to keep cost low for the participants.  Michelle also felt that this program could really make some great connections with the elderly and community groups that could improve the city.  Overall, Michelle stated, “This program design is a great framework for a potentially community changing program.  I definitely see it starting small, but then slowly expanding into many different avenues and programs.” 

Evaluation Response and Improving the Program

Moulton really wanted to see this program taken to the next level.  She suggested collaborating this program with an after school program or daycare so that mentoring and teaching could take place.  She really saw this as a chance for the elders to give back to the community and that they would feel a stronger sense of usefulness and purpose.  Moulton referred to this as a win-win situation for both the seniors and the kiddos and really felt like in today’s time and age that when some parents are “checked out” or too busy to be parents that the seniors could become role models within the community to these children. 
Our group couldn’t agree with Moulton more.  One of the objectives of the program was to provide activities for an aging population that promotes learning throughout life and possibilities to give back to the community with time or skills.
Like Moulton, Bojrab really felt this program could be more.  She really saw potential for improving on the elderly population’s dietary intake and socialization.  The community has minimal programs, like Meals on Wheels or community congregation meal spots, for the older population to enjoy a meal with other peers.  This program could be a great opportunity to provide healthy meals and nutrition education for this at risk nutrition population.  Another great suggestion from Bojrab was to add a few elderly members to the program design to better understand what the elderly community wants and the best way to incorporate the program. 
Our group really felt like we may not have considered the impact that this program could have on the community overall and were really considering targeting just a specific group.  Think of the long term implications this program could have if this teaching was passed down from generation to generation.  In some ways our group created a sustainable learning model that could survive the test of time if we implemented Moulton’s ideas and that is pretty powerful. 

Conclusion

References

Corporate Training Partners (2009).  Self-Directed Learning: Be your own Chief Learning
         Officer. Retrieved from http://www.selfdirectedlearning.org

Elderhostel, Inc. (2013).  Road Scholar: Adventures in Lifelong Learning. Retrieved from
         http://www. Roadscholar,org/

Merriam, S., Caffarella, R., & Baumgartner, L. (2007), Learning in Adulthood: A   

Comprehensive Guide, p83-92.

Appendix A

Name: Emily Moulton
Organization Name: Ivy Tech Community College
Role: Adjunct Professor/Instructor Ivy Tech Community College and Assistant Director of Student Success and Retention
Role in Organization: Emily teaches a first-year seminar class for new community college students.  She also provides academic advising and counseling to students of all ages (adult learners). 
What do you like most about the program design?   I like the collaboration with the community.  Efforts to connect seniors with other community members will alleviate loneliness. 
What do you think should be improved? Why? How?

·         I suggest collaborating with an after school program or a daycare so that mentoring and teaching can take place between seniors and the youngsters. 

·         Connecting the seniors with the kids would form another bridge to a large segment of the community. 

·         Giving seniors the opportunity to share their knowledge with the kids would give them a sense of usefulness and purpose.  And “the best way to learn is to teach”. 

·         Kids often need more adult interaction and positive role modeling from concerned adults. It could create a win-win situation for both the seniors and the kiddos.  They could work together to plant a community garden- hooray!

Appendix B

Name: Michelle Bojrab
Position: Community Dietitian
Organization: St. Joseph Hospital
What do you like most about the program design? I like the program focusing on Seniors in the community, it is often a forgotten group of the community.  Also, keeping the program at low cost for them is great.  I also like the variety of classes that would be offered and working with other organizations throughout the community.
What do you think should be improved? Why? How?

·         Currently, the program does not have an elderly member as part of designing the program.  Possibly adding some elderly members to better reach the population may be beneficial.

·         Offering a meal at the classes would be great for the elderly population.  Studies have shown that elderly individuals often eat more in a social situation and feel less lonely when eating with other individuals.  Also, sometimes this population does not eat well-balanced meals due to costs or not wanting to cook for one.  So, incorporating a healthy meal would be another incentive for individuals to participate in the activities.

Andragogy-April Summary

April Summary

During the month of April, the focus was on the syllabus evaluation and the project demonstration.  Our group has been working hard this semester, brainstorming and creating a community program “Road Scholars: Adventures in Lifelong Learning” It has been a good feeling and sense of accomplishment for our group to see the project come together by following the assignments each month to lead us to the final demonstration.

This month, we extended our syllabus to current educators to offer feedback based on their expertise. The first program review was provided by Emily Moulton who is an adjunct faculty member at Ivy Tech Community College in downtown Indianapolis.  Emily also serves as the assistant director of student success and retention at the college. The second program evaluation was completed by Michelle Bojrab MS, RD, CD.  Michelle is a clinical and community dietitian for St. Joseph Hospital in downtown Fort Wayne. Michelle often participates in Health Fairs within the community to several different populations and this year was the lead for National Nutrition Month community events for Northeast Indiana Dietetic Association.  Michelle has a special heart for the elderly community and often targets her community events at this population.

In all, the general consensus from the feedback was positive, yet constructively criticized to allow our group to make changes to improve our community program for the elderly population to better meet the anticipated needs of adult learners who will participate. Following the feedback, we made adjustments and began discussing our plan for the demonstration. We created our program demonstration utilizing Microsoft PowerPoint, The design has really pulled everything together and we have continually through the month of April put finishing touches/adding information to the site to enhance it visually and ensure completeness.

This journey overall has allowed us to apply all that we have learned through reading assignments, discussion boards, and research to creating a great avenue for building the community and allowing for lifelong learning model directed toward the elderly population. We feel our population will develop a sense of being and self-value by having the opportunity to continue to learn, develop and give back.

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