Meet Instructor Natalie

Natalie Fisher

Natalie is Principal of NSF Consulting, which she established in 2004. She has more than 15 years of experience conducting evaluations for government and non-government clients throughout Australia. Clients have included Penrith City Council, Cumberland Council, Parramatta City Council, Blacktown Council, City of Sydney Council, North Sydney Council, Hornsby Council, and a range of regional and remote councils as part of broader evaluation projects throughout Victoria. From 2006 to 2008 she also worked as a tutor in Marketing within the School of Business at the University of Sydney.

Natalie acquired a Master of Evaluation from the University of Melbourne in 2017, graduating with First Class Honours. She has been an active member of the Australian Evaluation Society (AES) for many years and delivers evaluation training on their behalf.

This course includes:

  • Short video lessons

    An hour and a half of video lessons you can view multiple times. Individual video lessons are between 5 and 15 minutes long.

  • Written guidelines

    PDF dowloadable written guidelines for each practical step (Lessons 1-8). The full document is available at the end of the course.

  • 2 Quizzes

    Quizzes to check your learning at the end of Parts 1 and 2.

  • Practical exercises

    Step-by-step practical exercises for you to carry out in real time, mid way through the course, to consolidate your learning.

Watch Intro Video

Why you should enrol in this course

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Module 1- Set Up Your Evaluation For Success

    • Welcome to the course!

      FREE PREVIEW

    • Lesson 1- Set up your evaluation

    • Lesson 2- Develop Key Evaluation Questions

    • Lesson 3- Prepare a Program Logic Model

    • Lesson 4- Develop Criteria of Merit and Standards

    • Lesson 5- Develop Performance Framework and Rubric

    • Part 1 Quiz

    • Practical exercise
  • 2

    Module 2- Conduct Your Evaluation

    • Lesson 6- Design and Collect Evidence

    • Lesson 7 - Data Analysis and Synthesis

    • Lesson 8- Write Evaluation Report

    • Part 2 Quiz
  • 3

    Module 3- Wrapping It Up

    • Recommended Resources

    • Summing it all Up

    • Course feedback

FAQ

  • Aren't you doing yourself out of a job by teaching us what you are usually commissioned to do?

    Small scale evaluations will always be conducted in-house within council. This course will give you the skills to do that work confidently. It is likely that you will still need to outsource larger, more complex evaluations to an external consultant. What you will learn in this course will enable you to better understand how that process should work and what you can expect from your consultant.

  • How much experience do I need to have to benefit from this course?

    You don't need any evaluation experience to benefit from this course. I have designed the lessons for those who are just starting out in evaluation, as well as for people who would like to brush up on the basic principles. The course assumes knowledge about the internal workings of council and how to work with an external consultant.

  • How long does it take to complete the course?

    Allow a few hours to view all of the video lessons, read the associated written materials and to think and reflect what you have learned. If you are really pressed for time, it is possible to complete the course in less than an hour and a half.