Kari Brown

Dr. Lidstone

Project Evaluation

4/28/19

Project Evaluation

For the semester, I helped with many projects, such as the questionnaires for

Mozambique and Namibia, the question by question for Mozambique, and the head of house

hold survey for both countries. However, the main project was creating the VACS certificate

training. This project was needed so that all VACS trainers were on the same level when it came

to each part of the VACS process. It was especially needed for new hires. CDC is going through a

huge reorganization right now, so many new people are getting hired and they need to be

educated as fast as possible. Thankfully, the project was focused mostly on health education

strategies, incorporating mainly micro learning strategies. Microlearning is when the audience

is given information in ways that are repetitive, interactive, shorts bursts of information, and

knowledge checks. It was challenging, because I have never used these strategies before and

coming up with these pieces took a lot of tries and feedback from colleagues. However, in the

end they turned out great!

This project consisted of 13 modules: VACS Background, Health and Human rights

Issues, Gender, Study Design, Community Entry, Definition of Household, Mapping and Listing,

Questionnaire, Privacy and Confidentiality, Informed Consent, Interviewer Tips and Techniques,

HIV Testing, Referral, & Consent, and Response Plan. Each module had to be a one-hour

training session filled with key points, facilitator points, activities, and a knowledge check. The
slides needed to be pleasant to look at, but also each module needed to be very different from

the others.

These modules were created from scratch, so it was difficult at first, but once I had

gotten feedback, it became much easier. I had to create innovative activities that would hold

the audience’s attention, along with handouts that were easy to read and plain language. I also

had the opportunity to create handouts, games, and knowledge checks. Overall the project

went well, and I learned so much from doing it. This project also allowed me to work with so

many different people on the team, I felt like I was able to get a well-rounded education on

VACS and its process.

I would not change much about the project. I think that overall it went really great. For

me, I would have changed my time management. I feel as though I thought I had a lot of time,

but in reality, I did not have very much time at all. We did all 13 modules in about 2.5 months,

when usually a project like this would take 6 months. Even though, I wish I had more time, I still

am so impressed with how great all the modules turned out. I also found myself never getting

tired of it, but excited for each new module. I was also happy to use knowledge from other

classes at GCSU and bring those lessons into my modules as well. Now that it is all over, I am so

happy and pleased with my work and I feel confident leaving my internship with these trainings.

I hope the new VACS workers get as much out of them as I did!