The program directors for LFS 302D will be hosting a virtual info session for Thursday, January 28th at 5 pm PST. Please use the information below to join the session on Zoom.
Meeting ID: 677 8063 3924
Passcode: 047343
This program is virtual and will take place online for Summer 2021. Please apply by Monday, February 22, 2021.
This course is led by UBC faculty members Sean Holowaychuk & Chris Bennett.
This real-time online version of the Go Global Seminar is designed to introduce students to the principles and applications of project Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning (MEL), and impact analysis in a COVID world. Typically, in May, students would travel to Indonesia to learn the Impact Evaluation Analytics Methodology in order to assess the efficacy and impact attributed to small-scale development projects in rural settings.
The 2021 version of LFS302D presents an opportunity for students interested in a career in international development to come to terms with the challenges of gathering information, analyzing data, and performing field-work during a pandemic – and beyond. Students will learn how to use the resources at their disposal to do research and interpret information from stakeholders in real-time, in order to accurately appraise development project interventions from a distance. Students will be provided with analytical tools that will increase their value as employment candidates for national and international donor agencies, consultancy companies, as well as non-government organizations (NGOs) operating in the development field.
The world of international development faces many challenges, one of which is the failure of assistance interventions such as aid projects and programs. Students will develop a practical understanding of the logical processes by which projects are designed and implemented, including the need for external evaluation to assess the efficacy, outcomes, impacts, and sustainability, post-project delivery. Lack of project success, more often than not, is a result of inadequate impact evaluation strategies. Students will learn skills to develop strong MEL plans in order to overcome these deficiencies.
This course is an adaptation of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approach of previous LFS302B years. Students will work in teams studying on-going and small-scale development project interventions and benefit from ‘hands-on’ learning. Oral presentations of group work will allow for knowledge exchange among the students.
There is a unique opportunity to combine course objectives with technology to deliver a strategic alternative to the field-study course – LFS302D-Impact Evaluation Analytics | International Field-Study to Indonesia.
Interested students will sign on to a Wait list for LFS302D on the Student Service Centre (SSC), and will then be added to the course once approved by the instructor.
Students would still be eligible to participate in, and receive credit for, the in-person field-study course to Indonesia in 2022.
For more information, email Sean Holowaychuk at sean.holowaychuk@ubc.ca.
After a brief introduction to the course, students will be provided with dockets on Canvas that has detailed information on 5 - 6 selected development projects comprising a broad range of interests and sectors (agriculture, forestry, healthcare, waste management & recycling, small business enterprises, etc.) including photos, videos, research papers, and previous years’ evaluation reports.
Through photo and video capture in-the-field in Indonesia, instructors will compile a real-time update of what has changed since the last in-person visit in 2019 and the virtual visit in 2020, for each of the development project options and how stakeholders are coping in a COVID environment.
During daily classroom sessions (online), instructors will present and discuss, in detail, the potential project options. As an entire cohort, students will digest that information and ask questions – questions that will be relayed back to Indonesia for response, and will be followed-up on in the following classroom session in Canada.
During this first week of introduction to the course, instructors will provide an academic framework for the Impact Evaluation Analytics (IEA) Methodology, by outlining the foundations of basic project evaluation and impact analysis. By the end of Week 1, students will choose a development project option that interests them, and form teams.
With teams now formed, students will continue to learn the Impact Evaluation Analytics (IEA) Methodology and combine that knowledge with the challenges of gathering quality research information during a pandemic. Instructors will introduce small team assignments to highlight these challenges.
Teams will create a daily workflow on how they will gather additional information about their selected development project in Indonesia. By following the IEA methodology, teams will develop a sense of the information that is incomplete about the project, which will be relayed to instructors in Indonesia.
Over the evening (daytime in Indonesia), instructors will obtain responses from project stakeholders. The goal of this second week is for students to balance learning the fundamentals and methodology, with actual MEL investigation and with contemporary challenges, overall achieving Problem-Based Learning.
Working with instructors, in Canada and in Indonesia, teams will continue to build their MEL and impact analysis case. Teams will continue to communicate with Indonesian stakeholders on a daily basis and compile information data in order to facilitate their project evaluation.
Teams will continue daily communication in a virtual classroom setting with instructors, working towards tying up loose ends with stakeholders in Indonesia, and preparing their team evaluation presentations.
By Week 5 teams will deliver an online presentation to project stakeholders that reveal their Findings,, Conclusions, and Recommendations about their selected development project intervention, in an open forum, teams will field questions on their presentations from stakeholders.
Moving forward, over the next 2-3 weeks, students will use this time to prepare a full project MEL report for submission.
The virtual version of LFS302D is not intended to replace the hands-on development project experience of working in the field in Indonesia. This year’s course is intended as a response to a contemporary world health crisis, in which the future of work in the field of international development will need to be reshaped. Skills learned in LFS302D_2020 will help prepare students for what lies ahead in this field.
To be accepted for this Global Seminar, you have to meet both program-specific requirements as well as Go Global’s general eligibility.
This program is suitable for students in the second year and above in the Faculty of Land & Food Systems and/or in the following majors:
Prior to taking part in this program, students should have completed coursework in these disciplines, and should also have a record of strong academic performance.
FRE490 would be an asset.
The program will run in May-June 2021.
Monday, February 22, 2021
Students are encouraged to meet with the Program Director at an orientation session or one-on-one to learn more about the program.
Go Global is committed to making high quality global education experiences accessible to all students. For this reason, Virtual Global Seminars will be kept at no or low cost for the Summer 2021 season.
The Go Global Fee ($415) will be covered in full by the Go Global Award ($500) and Program Fees will be covered in full by the Global Service Learning Award.
You will pay UBC tuition for the number of credits you enroll in for this program.
The Go Global Fee ($415.00 CDN) is an administrative fee required for all applicants to Go Global programs. The fee is non-refundable. However, it may be adjusted under the following circumstances.
To withdraw from your Virtual Global Seminar, you must contact Go Global by email to request withdrawal.
Students who withdraw from a Virtual Global Seminar by March 30, will have their Go Global fee adjusted from $415.00 to $321.75 (reduced by $93.25).
In the case of withdrawal, Go Global Award funding must be returned in full.
If you have questions, please connect with your Go Global advisor or email Go Global at go.global@ubc.ca.
If you are considering applying for a Go Global program and identify with having a disability or pre-existing health condition (mental or physical) which could impact your participation, or if you require academic accommodations, you can contact the following offices and meet with an Accessibility Advisor before the start of the program:
Go Global's campus office is closed until further notice. At this time, you can contact Go Global by email, phone or virtually through Zoom.
If you need to book an advising appointment, please complete the online request form. Appointments will be held through Zoom or by phone.
Monday: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Tuesday: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Thursday: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
