Investigating impact in higher education

Are we making a difference? Answering this question with confidence and rigor has been a long-standing challenge for educators at every level. While the teaching and learning sector in higher education is making progress towards evaluating impact of programs, there is no recognized evaluation standard that is widely used. The intent of this guide is to make the process of designing and implementing impact evaluation more feasible and doable. A six-step process has been designed to help you think about the impact you want and to plan for how you will achieve and evaluate, before you begin to implement a program. We hope you feel better equipped to answer questions about where and how to start investigating impact and begin to facilitate reflective and participatory work within your own academic contexts.