Cherie M. Avent, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor - Quantitative and Qualitative Methodology, Measurement, and Evaluation University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
And the winner is...
The Geospatial Technical Education – Unmanned Aircraft Systems (GeoTEd-UAS) Project Final Evaluation Report
Judges Feedback
The judges praised the evaluation for its use of mixed methods, its transparency in terms of explaining where the mixed methods data came from, and carefully substantiating claims with those data, as well sharing limitations of the study.
The judges praised the report’s organization, clear writing, graphic design, and data visualization. They were unanimous in their selection of this evaluation as the award winner and their belief that showcasing it as an example of a high-quality evaluation would benefit the ATE community.
2021 Testimonials
Project Feedback
“Our partnership with Magnolia Consulting was instrumental in obtaining [supplemental funding] as their reports and data analyses helped us to demonstrate prior success and effectiveness in training the technician workforce.” – Chris Carter, PI.
Carter also commented about the evaluation’s role in helping them improve their ongoing work. He explained that their daily surveys of participants in their faculty institutes enable them to make real-time adjustments in their instruction and communication. He said they have integrated this strategy as a best practice in their other projects.
“Magnolia consulting continues to be nimble and adaptable. They are clearly a team player. I firmly believe that the success of our project is firmly rooted with the Magnolia Evaluation team.” – John McGee, Co-PI
McGee praised their willingness to go above and beyond and respond to unexpected challenges and opportunities like those due to COVID-19. He said that their comprehensive evaluations helped to guide the Geospatial Institute and then the reporting guided the mentoring program for cohort participants.
Evaluation Team
Beth Peery M.A., Researcher and Evaluator, Magnolia Consulting
Stephanie Wilkerson Ph.D., President, Magnolia Consulting
Project Team
Chris Carter, Principal Investigator, Geo-TEd
John McGee, Co-Principal Investigator
Fred Coeburn, Co-Principal Investigator
David Webb, Co-Principal Investigator
Cheryl Aukland, Co-Principal Investigator
Shawn Shields Lyons, Co-Principal Investigator
2021 Judges
Cynthia Phillips, Ph.D.
Decision Catalyst LLC
Aileen Reid, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor - Educational Research Methodology Co-Director, STEM Program Evaluation Lab University of North Carolina Greensboro
EvaluATE is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number 2332143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this site are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.