221.645.01
Large-Scale Effectiveness Evaluations of Health Programs

Prerequisite:

Knowledge of basic biostatistics and epidemiology

Description:

Discusses various topics via lectures, individual and small group applications, and overall discussions. These topics include the evaluation of evidence-based public health programs, focusing on low income countries; the best solutions to address methodological challenges in designing and conducting effectiveness evaluations in these settings; and ways to design the evaluation and disseminate findings to maximize acceptance and use of findings. Students learn to design comprehensive measurement plans with knowledge gained about pros and cons of different ways to collect new data and use and/or model existing data to address all parts of impact chains.

Learning Objectives:

Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:

1. Identify stakeholders of an impact evaluation
2. Identify and document key objectives and answerable evaluation research questions that meet key stakeholders’ needs and are appropriate for program and setting
3. Select and/or develop SMART indicators that answer the evaluation questions
4. Propose a technically-sound design for evaluating the impact of program, focusing on key evaluation questions
5. Identify pros and cons of evaluation designs under various constraints
6. Identify appropriate sources of data and data collection methods to evaluate programs across the impact pathway
7. Describe barriers and strategies to overcome barriers to promoting the uptake of results by policy makers and program planners
8. Interpret evaluation results based on the design
9. Prepare a conceptual model of the program being evaluated, linking program inputs to health impact
10. Write a comprehensive evaluation plan and proposal

Methods of Assessment:

This course is evaluated as follows:

• 20% Exam(s)
• 40% Group Project(s)
• 15% Final Presentation
• 25% Final Exam

Enrollment Restriction:

No undergraduate students

Instructor Consent:

Consent required for all students

Consent Note:

preference given to MSPH Health Systems students who have this course as a requirement.

For consent, contact:

mmarx1@jhu.edu

Special Comments:

Students are required to register for one of the three lab sections. There is a max of 16 for each section. This is the in person section of a course also held onsite. You are responsible for the modality in which you register. No undergraduate students There are three labs. Lab.221.945.01: Thursdays 1:30-3:20 in person Lab 221.945.02: Thursdays 3:30-5:20 in person Lab 221.945.03: Thursdays 1:30-3:20 virtual