Course:FRE490

Topics in Food & Resource Economics Impact Evaluation Analytics – Strategies for Sustainable Development
FRE 490
Section:
Instructor:	Sean Holowaychuk
Email:	sean.holowaychuk@ubc.ca
Office:	MCML 321
Office Hours:	Tu/Th 11:15-12:15 (or by appt.)
Class Schedule:	Tuesday, Thursday 12:30 - 14:00
Classroom:	FNH 40
Important Course Pages
	Syllabus
	Lecture Notes
	Assignments
	Course Discussion

Course Outline / Objectives

This course is designed to introduce students to the principles and applications of project monitoring & evaluation (M&E). The world of international development faces many challenges, one of which is the failure of assistance interventions (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, ex post project delivery in order to assess the efficacy, outcomes, and sustainability of these interventions. Lack of project success, more often than not, is a result of inadequate impact evaluation strategies. Students will learn skills to develop strong monitoring & evaluation plans in order to overcome these deficiencies. Capacity is built for the design and implementation of ex post project and program evaluation thereby:

increasing the likelihood of lasting beneficial changes in development project outcomes;
informing processes for better design of future project; and,
offering informed recommendations for policy change to provide better enabling conditions for lasting growth and development.

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.

Although the focus of this course is on international development, the broad application of the instruments learned here are critical elements of successful project management - whether it is in the agriculture or resource sector, food services industry, environmental sciences, nutrition & healthcare, education, or banking and commerce related fields.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course students will have the skills to:

Independently and credibly evaluate development a project’s or program’s relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, gender equality & equity, and impacts within and beyond the project’s location by review of internal or external M&E appraisals;
Critically assess completed monitoring & evaluation reports;
Identify indications of development continuity beyond the lifetime of assistance interventions;
Develop relevant and concise logical frameworks;
Develop research tools for data collection;
Communicate ideas professionally in both oral and written presentation formats;
Understand the challenges of group dynamics and learn to be strong team members;
Apply the specifics learnt from various case studies to other projects;
Identify and design shared learning processes to encourage beneficial changes in behaviour of the project implementers, improve the design of future projects, and promote policy reform that creates more enabling conditions for growth and development; and,
Students will gain an understanding of the factors by which economic development advances by applying principles of Theory of Change (ToC).

Topics

International development in the context of low-income developing economies.
Understanding the nature of successes and failures of conventional project monitoring and evaluation (M&E).
The importance of obtaining relevant data in a timely manner.
Evaluation of the role of a broad portfolio of development capital/assets affected by the project and the institutions that influence them.
Measuring the application of key good governance principles by project implementers, notably: transparency, participation / inclusivity, accountability and timely responsiveness.
Assessment of mutual stakeholder understanding among project donors and implementers as well as partners/beneficiaries to harness social capital through the trajectory-of-trust before starting to deliver project benefits.
Appraisal of project logical frameworks (logframes) for project design.
Assuring dynamic internal lessons-learned processes about fundamental assumptions.
Promoting shared learning of project outcomes (successes & failures) among relevant institutions.

Grading

Problem Tree Construction – Team (Peer Evaluated)	5%
Logframe Construction – Team Project (Peer Evaluated)	8%
M&E Assessment/Presentation - Team Project	28%
3 In-class quizzes (6% each)	18%
M&E Proposal Design – Team Project	35%
Class Participation	6%

M&E Assessment/Presentation

The first project will be an assessment of a development project’s own monitoring and evaluation report. The critical review will be a group project and done as a presentation to the class using the tools for analysis studied in FRE 490 (Details to follow on Canvas).

Proposal (Design) for an M&E Performance Assessment that Complies with IEA

The second project will involve developing a proposal for a monitoring & evaluation performance assessment that is compliant with the Impact Evaluation Analytics framework. The proposal can be an individual or group project (Details to follow on Canvas).

Peer Multiplier

For all team/group projects there will be a confidential peer multiplier ranging from 0.80 – 1.05 to assess individual contribution to the group effort. Collaborative skills and a keen understanding of group dynamics are essential to working in the field of international development.

Class Participation

I strongly encourage you to ask questions in class and to participate in class discussions. All of you have a unique perspective on topics and many of you have valuable experience in developing countries which would be helpful to share with the class. There is more than one point of view on many topics, and there are many myths or misunderstandings that pervade the problem of economic development. The group projects will benefit from the insights and points-of-view of other students’ work. Consequently I want to include class participation in the grading structure. I also want to encourage you, if you feel we have neglected important elements, to raise these points in class. The evaluation will be based on the quality of your contribution to peer review assignments and class discussions.

Readings

Selected chapters from these excellent works will be presented for study during this course. You will not be expected to read the entire text. I will provide copies of the chapters of the two books that are not available online, as well; these books will be on reserve in the library.

Additional contextual material will be posted on the Canvas website. A reading package containing M&E guidelines and fundamental aspects of the course toolkit will be available.

Cases from past, current or future projects will be provided online and in class. Students will be asked to read each case and be prepared to discuss each case in class.

Acemoglu, Daron, James A. Robinson, and Ebooks Corporation. 2013;2012;. Why nations fail: The origins of power, prosperity, and poverty. London: Profile. - Full text online through the UBC Library.

Easterly, William, and Ebooks Corporation. 2013;2014;. The tyranny of experts: Economists, dictators, and the forgotten rights of the poor. New York: Basic Books. - Full text online through the UBC Library.

Websites

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html
http://www.fao.org

World Bank http://projects.worldbank.org/

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) https://dec.usaid.gov/

Department for International Development (DfID) – Gov. U.K. https://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/

African Development Bank https://www.afdb.org/en/

Late submissions

If you anticipate having difficulty meeting deadlines, please talk to me sooner rather than later. Within reason, I am more than open to discussing alternative deadlines. Unless negotiated with me or accompanied by official documentation from UBC or a health professional, late submissions will be penalized 5% (out of a mark of 100%) per day. Unexcused late submissions will only be accepted up to seven days (including holidays and weekends) after the due date. For obvious reasons, extensions cannot be granted for in-class activities.

Academic Honesty & Standards

Please review the UBC Calendar “Academic regulations” for the university policy on cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty.

http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,286,0,0

Other Important Resources

UBC Counseling Services provide stress management, group therapy, and individual counseling for students. See their website: http://www.students.ubc.ca/livewelllearnwell

The UBC ombudsman office provides an independent, impartial and confidential resource to assist students in addressing and resolving concerns about unfair treatment at UBC Vancouver. See their website: http://ombudsoffice.ubc.ca/