Evaluation theory and curriculum in the field of public health: the existing curriculum landscape, views from course instructors, and implications for public health curriculum

Abstract

Evaluation is a critical part of public health programs and has long been identified by public health scholars as a needed skill. As the number of public health undergraduate degrees expands, so does the number of students learning evaluation through a public health lens. Despite the documented need for evaluation in public health contexts and the rapid increase of public health undergraduate degrees, not much is known about the curricular make-up of evaluation courses for undergraduate students. Likewise, no attention has been paid to the presence of evaluation theory in undergraduate public health evaluation courses.This dissertation examined curriculum for undergraduate public health degrees accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health in the United States and interviewed 10 instructors who teach undergraduate evaluation coursework. Courses were categorized based on their evaluation content and presence of evaluation theory. Instructors were asked about their experiences teaching evaluation to public health undergraduate students and evaluation theory. Evaluation courses were not common in undergraduate public health curriculum. When evaluation courses appeared, they often were limited in scope and focused on evaluation as a specific tool rather than a larger process. The interviews revealed three themes: Teaching evaluation to undergraduate students is challenging, evaluation instruction is important, and there is a lack of evaluation theory at undergraduate levels. More comprehensive evaluation education is necessary to answer calls from the field of public health for more rigorous evaluation. Evaluation scholars can provide resources to help augment evaluation curriculum for undergraduate public health students.