assignments

The entire learning approach will be problem (assignment) based. Each week the participant will be confronted with a particular problem, assignment or question. This will be the leading thread during the week course activities.


 * Three possible assignments based on each week of the course.**

- Describe the theory of change underlying a specific programme. Based on your description, provide the Results Chain that links programme input and activities to outputs, outcomes and the final food security impact. Following the Results Chain, select the performance indicators for your programme.( //find the source of information for indicators ) (add the evaluation questions / what do you expect to happen -- expectation -- hypothesis that you are going to test)// - To validly assess the impact of a programme it is necessary to adequately define a counterfactual—that is, what would have happened in the absence of the programme. For your chosen programme, discuss how a counterfactual can be determined and the possible methods that would be most appropriate in assessing impact. - Draft an impact assessment plan for your chosen programme that is based on the methods selected in the previous assignment. The plan should be sufficiently detailed and note how the plan fits within the context of the program design. It should indicate the type of data to be collected and the methods that will be used to collect that data.


 * The course follows a specific assignment policy **

In the scope of this course you will need to complete assignments which may consist of several tasks. Based on these assignments, you will get additional feedback from your tutor. The deadlines for the assignments will be integrated into the course agenda. The assignments are closely related to your own professional context which means the material you develop can be actively used in your organization.

These assignments are very important because they will accelerate your learning and understanding of impact assessment issues in programme design. Therefore we would like you to read the following instructions:

- Participants will submit all assignments electronically via the course site - If there are any technical problems with the course site, the assignment can be sent to your online facilitator by mail. - All assignment due dates refer to midnight standard time on the listed due date - The course software standards for submissions of assignments are Microsoft Office or Open Office or PDF-documents. - When technical problems occur and you cannot submit your assignment electronically contact as soon as possible your online facilitator by mail, by skype or by phone to explain the difficulty. - Your online facilitator will review your assignment within the week of the due date and will send you feedback electronically, either by email or by leaving comments on the course site. - The successful completion of each assignment is necessary. Criteria for evaluation will be indicated prior to every assignment.

We hope that this is clear for you. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions.