The course presents a comprehensive framework for evaluating health and social policy programs. The five domains of evaluation are introduced: program needs, program theory and design, program process and implementation, monitoring of program outcomes, impact evaluation and economic evaluation. Particular emphasis is placed on the steps involved in developing an evaluation plan. The comprehensive framework is applied to the analysis of concrete health and social policies in Austria and internationally.

After completion of this course, students will be able to

• discuss the institutional and socio-economic context for policy evaluation,
• apply alternative theories and concepts to policy evaluation,
• articulate alternative approaches to assessing health and social policy,
• identify strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to program evaluation,
• commission policy evaluations,
• draw policy conclusions from the results of health and social policy evaluations.

 In addition, students will have

• the know-how to obtain and analyze information that will aid decision-making,
• the ability to take a multi-disciplinary approach to the application of analytical templates and other techniques,
• improved academic writing and presentation skills.

This being a ‘course with continuous assessment (PI)’, the University requires students to attend at least 80% of the time of the scheduled course units to complete the course successfully. Ideally, you attend all units fully. If you are unable to fully attend a unit, please let the Lecturer(s) know in advance. In case online units are scheduled, the same attendance requirements apply.

Please also note that your presence for the presentation of the group projects (on Monday 18th January 2027) is indispensable.

• Lectures
  
  • Reading assignments
  • Questions and Answers (Q & A)
• Project-based-group work
• Coaching and inputs by lecturer (brief presentations; feedback)
• Student presentations

Assessment Components (relative weights in the final grade)

• Individual tasks:
  • Preparation of peerwise questions reviewing key aspects from the obligatory readings (10%)
  • Good quality comments on peerwise questions prepared by other students (5%)
  • Quiz (20%)
  • Oral feedback to final group presentations of other groups (5%)
• Group project:
  • Written assignment(s) as part of the group project (45%)
  • Group presentation in the format of a role-play  (final presentation of the group's  project) (15%)

Please note that this is a PI with a strict attendance requirement. We expect you to work on your group project together and in class (i.e. a fair amount of the group work will be done during the regular course hours). Your presence for the presentation of the group projects (on Monday 18th January 2027) is indispensable.

Grade Key (point ranges)

• 1: Excellent (90-100 points)
• 2: Good (80-89 points)
• 3: Satisfactory (65-79 points)
• 4: Sufficient (50-64 points)
• 5: Fail (0-49 points)

Important Notes

The quiz is closed-book. No other support is allowed (e.g., internet, communication devices, AI-tools, course materials, own personal notes).

The use of AI for your presentation is very limited (for details see task description for individual assignments), and has to be documented. 

• Key authoring tasks should not be transferred to AI. The use of AI tools for results, discussion, and reflection is prohibited; these are the students' own work. AI output cannot be used as evidence for content-related claims; it must be substantiated with scientific literature. You should neither copy & paste nor paraphrase text generated by a large-language model (such as ChatGPT). The unauthorized use of AI tools or missing evidence is considered an attempt at fraud or plagiarism. It will prompt an oral re-examination.
• However, AI can be used to assist with key authoring tasks, for example for brainstorming and to support the initial screening of existing research.  Still, any kind of supporting input from AI must be critically reviewed, reflected upon and deepened by the authors, who bear full responsibility for the content of their manuscript and presentations.
• Like other aids, the use of AI should be explicitly included in the list of aids (resource directory) and attached to the work. The documentation of the interaction with the AI (especially tool, prompts) must be available upon request.  WU’s policy on listing any aids used in a paper or presentation (which includes the use of AI tools) came into effect on 3 December 2024. WU provides templates for the required list of aids used. 

More detailed instructions will be provided on CANVAS for each assessment component.

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 By email. Meetings can be scheduled upon request.