The overall goal of this course is to develop knowledge and expertise in the practice of evaluating public or non-profit sector programs, policies and other agency actions—especially as applicable in the area of emergency management and homeland security issues . The course will do so specifically by developing students’ knowledge and skill in identifying appropriate research designs for particular evaluation problems, knowledge, skill and ability in focusing evaluation reports based on project objectives, refinement of skill and ability in empirical analysis, and in the development of skill and ability in appropriately characterizing and presenting empirical those data gathered for an assessment project. In sum, this course should be understood as an opportunity to learn more about conducting evaluative research in a way that is relevant to solving public and non-profit sector management challenges.

The learning outcomes that students should achieve upon successful completion of this course. 

1. Understand critical ethical issues in conducting evaluations and policy research on hazards-related issues in the fields of emergency management and homeland security;
2. Recognize and understand key concepts associated with research design and measurement as used in program evaluation and policy analysis;
3. Identify appropriate empirical approaches for addressing various data analytic challenges in hazard-related evaluation and research;
4. Understand techniques for managing data files;
5. Recognize and perform accepted techniques for presenting evaluation or research results appropriately;
6. Understand core principles of evaluating and assessing policy and programmatic efforts aimed at community risk reduction and community resilience promotion in the emergency management and homeland security professional fields.

This course is being taught by Arizona State University (ASU), and will be offered to UNSW students. The course will be offered solely online, and utilise the internationally renowned online educational systems of ASU.

Assessment Task 1 - Written Assignments
Weighting: 50%
Length: n/a

Assessment Task 2 - Online Discussion
Weighting: 25%
Occurrence: n/a

Assessment Task 3 - Final Exam
Weighting: 25%
Length: n/a