New Learning: a different way of approaching conference evaluation

Abstract

New Learning (NL) is an innovative process aimed at collaborative learning in professional and scholarly events and is a new way of approaching evaluation at professional conferences. NL is a process integral to a conference that focuses on the learner and how and what they learn, rather than on presenters and presentations. Whereas most professional conferences claim learning as a primary objective, seldom do any structure or evaluate to maximize that objective. The NL process helps to structure and assess organizational learning as a primary outcome in addition to providing avenues for collection of traditional evaluation information. This article explains the NL process, reviews the literature of learning and evaluation, describes what NL is and how it works, and then compares and contrasts it with traditional evaluation methods and theory. It concludes with implications for future applications and research for NL.

Keywords:

• collaborative systems
• communities of practice
• knowledge sharing
• learning
• measurement
• reflective practice

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Diane D Chapman

About the authors

Diane Chapman is a teaching assistant professor in the Training and Development Program and the Coordinator of the Online M.Ed. Program at NC State. She has a background in business and industry with over 20 years experience in training and development. She holds an EdD from North Carolina State University, and MBA from Western Carolina University, and a BBA from Western Michigan University. Her professional experience includes managing the training function in private industry and developing certification processes. Her current research interests include evaluation/assessment and online teaching and learning. E-mail: [email protected].

Colleen Aalsburg Wiessner

Colleen Aalsburg Wiessner is an Assistant Professor of Adult Education at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A. She earned her EdD at Teachers College Columbia University in New York City. She has coordinated three International Conferences on Transformative Learning held at Teachers College and has been a consultant in community educational and non-profit organizations for 30 years. Collaborative knowledge creation, particularly in conference settings, is the focus of her research, along with storytelling as a means for knowledge construction and social change. E-mail: [email protected].

Julia Storberg-Walker

Julia Storberg-Walker is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Adult and Higher Education at North Carolina State University. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in 2004. Prior to that, she served in a variety of human resource leadership positions at a global consulting firm for 14 years. Her research interests include theory building, social capital, and communities of practice; she comes at these interests from a poststructural perspective guided by a normative framework for social and economic justice. E-mail: [email protected].

Tim Hatcher

Tim Hatcher spent 25 years working in international business and industry in HRD, performance improvement, and quality management before coming to academia. For the past 15 years, he has held faculty positions with University of Tennessee, University of Arkansas, University of Louisville and is currently Associate Professor and Coordinator of Adult Education and Training & Development in the department of Adult and Higher Education, North Carolina State University. His research interest is business ethics and enhancing the social impact of organizations through human resource development. Tim has published over 80 articles, book chapters and books. His book Ethics and HRD: A New Approach To Leading Responsible Organizations (2002) was awarded the Academy of Human Resource Development 2002 HRD Book of the Year Award. He is the Editor (2006–2010) of the Human Resource Development Quarterly, the premier HRD research journal. E-mail: [email protected].