Learning Workshops with Knology

On-demand training sessions provide professionals with critical skills and resources.

by Knology

Mar 24, 2021

Knology offers Learning Workshops to assist professionals in a variety of sectors with social science expertise. Led by our researchers, educators, and writers, these sessions are designed to connect professionals with practical information and skills. Interested in signing up for a workshop? Click the button above to get the process started by completing a quick form.

Logic Models - Are you designing a program or pulling together a proposal and don’t know where to start? Do you know the pieces of the program, but you're not sure how they fit together? Our Logic Model workshop provides an overview of the key components of building a logic model and a theory of change. We can spend one or multiple sessions facilitating your team's process of underdstanding logic models and theories of change for a proposal, a program, or for your entire organization.

Using Logic Models to Develop an Evaluation Plan - Once you have a logic model, what do you do with it? How do you know if your program is achieving the outcomes you are hoping for? We can guide your team on how to use your logic model as a foundation for your monitoring or evaluation plan. Over the course of several sessions, we will facilitate the evaluation planning process and outline the steps needed to measure outcomes and impacts.

Tools to Assess Capacity - An important part of the ongoing growth process is understanding a program or team's strengths and weaknesses, as well as its potential for change. There are several tools to assess capacity, such as SWOT and gap analyses. Across several sessions, we can walk your team through a design workshop to think about your opportunities and areas for growth.

Gap Analysis - Gap analysis is a tool to map out the current state of something, its future state, and the "gap" between the two. When we apply this tool to the state of knowledge about a program or project, the "gap" helps us develop an evaluation plan to build the missing knowledge. At the end of a gap analysis workshop, we can anticipate a clear pathway to a data management plan so that an organization knows the steps involved in successfully documenting their impact.

Survey Design - Have you created a survey for your audience, but you’re not sure if the questions address what you’re trying to learn? Or maybe you have the right questions, but you’re not sure if respondents might understand them? Or perhaps you’ve covered all of your points, but your survey is now 100 questions long... Good survey design can help you get the information you need without extra burden for respondents. In one or more sessions, we can review a survey you have designed and provide feedback on how to optimize it for your organization and constituents.

Evaluation 101 - Do you want to build evaluation into your program, but don’t know where to start? There’s an overwhelming amount of information about evaluation available online, and it can be hard to choose what’s right for your organization. Over the course of several workshop sessions, we will guide you through an introduction to evaluation styles, philosophies, and methods, so you can make informed decisions about how to approach your own evaluation program.

Social Science Writing - Do you want to incorporate social science research into your report, but not sure how to do it? Are you wondering how to capture the highlights of your evaluation findings, but don’t want to overstate impacts? Over the course of one or more sessions, our team of writers can explain general principles and workshop your report, article, or op-ed.

How to Talk to Non-Specialists about Research - This workshop is designed for academic researchers and other types of specialists whose work involves technical language. We'll give you a quick introduction to linguistic anthropology -- and then we'll use it to help you explain your work to journalists, policymakers, or your grandparents.

What the Social Science Says - Is your team or organization working on a social change strategy but aren’t familiar with the social science research says about that topic? Knology experts can help you draw from applied social science to support your new initiative. In this workshop, we will discuss theory and contemporary thinking about social change to help build internal capacity and contribute to social good.

The Emotions of Climate Change - This popular workshop for workers in environmental conservation draws on two decades of research on managing the negative emotions that flow from witnessing dramatic environmental challenges. We can tailor this program to meet the needs of conservation biologists, environmental educators, or volunteers in non-profits, businesses, and governments. Understanding our own experience and the risks others face in our organizations is essential to building a healthy workforce that can navigate day-to-day responsibilities.