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Quality management

Monitoring and Evaluation of the ASA Programme

The ASA Programme defines itself as a „learning program“: A permanent quality control and development of our own work as well as the interaction between staff and volunteers play an important role in the implementation of our goals.

Photo: Jule Roehr

The core of the impact assessment are the impact studies, which measure the satisfaction of the participants, their learning processes and the achievement of learning goals at five points in the learning cycle - namely before the first ASA seminar, before the project phase, after the RENew, one year after the RENew and five to ten years after participation in the ASA Programme.

We would like to know to what extent participation in the programme contributes to increase of knowledge, a gain of competences and the personal and professional development of the participants. We also receive feedback for the continuous further development of the programme.

W-surveys

The evaluation cycle is a long-term survey consisting of four impact surveys ("W surveys"), that are sent to the participants online and completed digitally:

  • W0 (basic survey) is completed after selection of participants and before the seminars;
  • W1 is due after the seminars and before the project phase;
  • W2 is submitted by the participants after the ASA-RENew;
  • W3 will be sent to ASA alumni one year after their participation in the programme;
  • W4 reaches alumni five years after programme participation.

What are the individual W-surveys about?

W0

  • Assessment of the potential, commitment and expectations of the participants

W1

  • Conception, methods and effect of the seminars and the imparting of competences
  • Expectations for the project phase
  • Opportunities and ideas for designing a Global Learning activity

W2

  • Evaluation of various aspects of the seminars before the project phase, taking into account the different fields of activity and programme formats.
  • Retrospective assessment of the professional and personal cooperation with the other team members or the tandem partner.
  • Reflections on the project phase.
  • Evaluation of the ASA participation and assessment of the transfer of acquired knowledge into further life planning.
  • Reflections on and preparation for the Global Learning activity through the seminars.
  • Assessment of further involvement in, and the role of the RENew Seminar in development education work and global learning.

W3

  • Motivation for social engagement, especially in development education work
  • Transfer of knowledge, social and methodological qualifications
  • General assessment of participation in and reasons for or against further engagement in the ASA Programme

W4

  • Influence of ASA participation on career opportunities, voluntary activities
  • Has been reported about the project phase, informed about ASA, recommended?
  • Personal/professional network: are there still contacts with members of the ASA network, what are or were they used for?
  • Attitudes and behaviour, e.g. attitude towards development cooperation, consumer behaviour, interest in development policy issues, intercultural sensitivity, motivation to act
Photo: Sarah Böger

The ASA Programme aims at a complete evaluation, i.e. each participant is asked to complete all questionnaires, even if questions seem to overlap. Overlaps occur so that we can compare the results of the individual studies and track changes. At the same time, we are constantly working to make study participation as efficient as possible for the participants.

Each impact study is based on the perspectives of its participants, because only if many people participate do we have the opportunity to gain a general impression of the respective year. The results of the studies will of course be made available to all participants on the ASA intranet.

A survey carried out by CEval GmbH in 2014 states that "the W0-W4 survey cycle established in the ASA programme [...] can be regarded as an ideal design for impact monitoring [...]. The repeated collection of data from the target groups over a longer period of time allows not only the measurement of short-term effects, but actually also of long-term effects and their sustainability".

In addition to the instruments of impact studies, the systematic questioning of other participants in the programme, such as committee members, team members and partner representatives, also serves the continuous adaptation and improvement of the programme. In particular, the routine questioning of partner institutions is to be institutionalised in the medium term. The results