Using Program Theory to Evaluate a Graduate College Student Development Program

Background: The “3 Minute Presentation” is a graduate student competition based off the more popular “3 Minute Thesis” competition. The program aims to help graduate students learn to inform others of their research in a quick and accessible manner. Programs to engage graduate students more deeply in their education require evaluation to determine if they are useful and effective at meeting their intended goals. Evaluation literature in graduate educational programs is currently limited, but increasingly needed for both the field and the students served.   Purpose: Development and testing of a program-theory evaluation to understand participation, recruitment, preparation, training, skills, and confidence of graduate students engaging in a “3 Minute Presentation” competition at a state university.   Setting: Institution of Higher Education     Intervention: 3 Minute Presentation competition   Research Design:  Mixed-method program-theory evaluation   Data Collection and Analysis: Direct observations and closed-ended survey analyzed through qualitative coding, descriptive statistics, group comparisons, and correlation analysis.     Findings: Overall, the program evaluation found, with a possible lack of diversity in participants, that the program components of recruitment, preparation, and skill development work as expected.  Additionally, engagement in preparation was associated with competition scores and the perceived helpfulness of preparation was related to students’ confidence in their presentation skills. This evaluation was deemed useful for program improvement and capacity building in the program’s continuation at the university.