ELRC reflects on 2024 successes, plans for 2025

The College of Education’s Evaluation and Learning Research Center (ELRC) held a yearly staff retreat (Feb. 27) to reflect upon their 2024 accomplishments and plan for 2025. All nine ELRC staff members participated, aiming to achieve an even greater impact in research, collaboration, and service.

Group photo of ELRC staff at their yearly retreat.
ELRC Staff: (Front row, l to r) Damilola Seyi-Oderinde, Laura Warner, Wilella Burgess, Loran Parker
(Back row, l to r) Ann Bessenbacher, Lindley McDavid, Luke Ingersoll, Kyle Habig
(Virtual, center) Jennifer Sdunzik (Purdue University Photo/D. Starr)

In 2024, the ELRC’s portfolio included more than 20 active education and development projects resulting in six peer reviewed publications, 13 conference presentations, and six invited workshops or symposia.  The ELRC collaborated with its partners to submit 32 proposals and successfully established four new funded projects. The Center’s professional staff received six awards from national scholarly organizations and Purdue’s College of Education.

The ELRC’s diverse portfolio of youth development, PK-12, post-secondary, and workforce education projects includes work funded by the U.S. Health and Human Services, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Defense, Lilly Foundation, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. The ELRC is evaluating innovations in veterinary science and computer science education, as well as in workforce development and training programs for sustainable manufacturing and microelectronics systems.

The ELRC contributed peer reviewed research to a wide variety of scholarly communities last year including STEM education, international education policy, and healthcare practice and patient education. These publications demonstrate the breadth and depth of the Center’s research interests and expertise, and contribute to both academic and public understanding of issues critical to a healthy, just and thriving society. The ELRC’s partnership with the League of VetaHumanz at Purdue’s College of Veterinary Medicine  has been particularly productive. This partnership seeks to enhance elementary student interest and achievement in STEM disciplines—leading to a larger and more capable biomedical workforce.

“We have been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 2008, when we wrote our first proposal together,” said Sandra San Miguel, founder and leader of the League of VetaHumanz, about working with the ELRC team. “Together we continue to write grant proposals, present, publish, develop educational products, and receive national recognition, enabling us to positively impact thousands of children.”

During 2024, ELRC researchers actively shared their findings and insights through numerous presentations at conferences, invited workshops, and seminars nationally and across the globe. These presentations and convenings showcase the Center’s value as experts and leaders in the evaluation field. Ann Bessenbacher, ELRC lead data scientist, and Loran Parker, ELRC associate director and principal scholar, were invited by the U.S. Health and Human Services Agency to give the Best Practices in Data and Evaluation Webinar to funded projects in the Health Careers Opportunity Program. Wilella Burgess, ELRC director, and colleagues were invited by the Education Ministry of Somalia to present the findings of the ELRC’s research on the efficacy of the accelerated education system in post-conflict zones.  

The ELRC’s partner in this research, Professor Abdirisak Dalmar, president of the Somali Research and Development Institute (SORDI) in Mogadishu, Somalia, expressed his gratitude toward the ELRC’s work on education in post-conflict zones.

“While I’ve been involved in many productive partnerships, I especially value the knowledge, expertise, collegiality, and leadership Purdue University’s Evaluation and Learning Research Center brought to our multi-national research team,” said Dalmar. “Together, we were able to produce much needed rigorous research data that is making education better for Somali children and youth.”

ELRC staff seated at a table. Dr. Willie Burgess is standing at a whiteboard.
The ELRC team mapped out ideas, shared insights, and strategized together during a collaborative planning session at the staff retreat. (Photo provided)

In 2024, the ELRC began an exciting new partnership with the Scalable Asymmetric Lifecycle Engagement (SCALE) project—a national consortium of universities, industry and government organizations working to build the microelectronics workforce of the future. The grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Economic Development Administration. As the SCALE project rapidly expands its partnerships with universities and industrial firms nationwide, the ELRC will develop sustainable monitoring and evaluation models to capture its impacts on K-12 and post-secondary students and instructors.

Last year, the ELRC’s Lindley McDavid and her partners at Purdue’s College of Veterinary medicine received a prestigious award from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The Community Engagement Exemplary Project Award is given to a small number of university-community engagement projects each year. These projects are selected by the Engaged Scholarship Consortium for their exemplary commitment to effective partnership and community engaged scholarship.

ELRC personnel also received several internal awards from the College of Education, including Bravo Awards for Ann Bessenbacher and Laura Warner, the Outstanding Leadership in Global Engagement award for Wilella Burgess, and a First Book Published award for Jennifer Sdunzik.

“It’s a privilege to work with the talented researchers at the ELRC and our partners at Purdue, across the country, and around the world as together we design, research, and evaluate social innovations that promote learning, workforce development, collaboration, and a better world for all people,” said Burgess.

“The ELRC team is simply the best!” San Miguel said.

About the Evaluation and Learning Research Center

The mission of the Evaluation and Learning Research Center (ELRC) is to enhance learning by conducting original research and evaluation that pushes the boundaries of our understanding of education. The Center supports research, education and engagement projects through our expertise in educational theory, research methodology, evaluation, and project management. We partner with both those at Purdue University, including other centers and institutes, and those outside the university to enhance accountability and reputation.

Source: Laura Warner, lawarner@purdue.edu