Program Development:
Length: approximately 4 pages, 1.5 spaced, 12-pt. font, Times New Roman (TNR)
There are four distinct, but interrelated steps to assignment 2. Make sure you address all four steps of this assignment. Use subheadings and APA referencing in support of this assignment. There is no need for a title page IF your name, student ID and assignment information is on the top of the first page of your assignment.
The reference page does not count to the overall page number.
Step 1 – copy-paste your constraints paragraph: To help verify the motive for your proposed program solution/s, please add the constraints paragraph (single spaced, font 10, Times New Roman) that you had written for assignment 1 on the first page of assignment 2 (this page will not count towards the overall page count). Your constraints paragraph helps in establishing the situation for the program plan.
Important: in your copy-pasted paragraph, highlight or bold the specific constraints you are addressing with your recreation service.
This will help us and you in verifying that your plan is based on your literature review.
Step 2 – Give your program a name that reflects the program and its intended goals/outcomes.
Step 3 – construct a visual (graphic) planning model: Please use the template below to build your planning model. Do NOT use any other logic model outline other than the one shown below. For a detailed description on how to build a logic model and what the individual steps entail please go to unit 3 and click on “the logic model of planning” link. Carefully follow the instructions.
A visual (graphic) Planning Model template.
Source: Enhancing Program Performance with Logic Models (2003, p.17)
In order to build the planning model start by thinking of a unique, possible and feasible solution to remedy the constraints identified in assignment 1 for your group of people in context. Your proposed solution/s have to be in the form of a recreation program – not just a facility. Meaning do not propose to design a specific facility such as e.g., an outdoor arena, skateboard park, or portable swimming pool etc., rather design a specific program that is facilitated/supervised by counsellor/s or volunteers etc. You may of course include a facility in your program plan but facilities (e.g., skate board parks or wave pools etc.) in and of themselves will not help to alleviate your constraints rather it is the program and the people involved in the program that will make the greatest difference to your population.
When developing a planning model illustrate your model using a graphic design (i.e., make a computer drawing using eg., text boxes and not a handwritten drawing or just a verbal description of the different steps involved).
Start by reading information on program planning in unit 3. Unit 3 provides an in-depth explanation and detailed support in building a logic model – both for planning and later (assignment 3) for the evaluation of your program plan.
When developing your own model, use topic specific short sentences (not just key words) that are very succinct but informative addressing the various steps in your logic model. Eg if you add activities include 3-5 examples to show what such activities would entail. Do not add an additional paragraph at the end of your model explaining the process of the logic model. That information should all be inferable from your program plan.
It is very important that your logic model is self-explanatory so that a person or group other than yourself could implement the proposed program exclusively based on the information in the boxes without needing additional information to understand your plan.
Important: when finished with your logic model and looking at your plan, the reader will have to know exactly:
a) what your overall recreation program is all about and more specifically what
b) is invested in your program
c) what you will offer and who you will reach with the program
d) what results over time you plan to achieve and last but not least
e) what the reasoning is for the sequence of events over time in terms of your outcomes.
Verify that your outcomes (short, medium, long-term) are in sequential order and specific to the group of people in context and that they will address and hopefully alleviate the constraints you are planning to offset (i.e.; address the constraints you identified in assignment 1 based on your literature review).
See a sample of a planning model for guidance.
Step 4 – develop a theory in support of your reasoning: After you have developed your visual model and identified the different steps needed in the process then you will write your theory. The purpose of the theory is to help explain, clearly and very succinctly WHY your individual inputs and outputs lead to the anticipated program outcomes. Do not use an existing social science theory; rather develop your own theory.
Make sure that your theory is not just a description of how the process of events unfolds but rather that it is a justification of anticipated outcomes based on past research findings. In your writing you have to show that the process of your program is as a result of past research (evidence-based) rather than just gut feeling. Meaning look to past research and what is described to have been successful in alleviating specific constraints. (E.g., you would write something like…Smith et. al., (2014) found that intergenerational outdoor adventure racing has shown to alleviate so and so for people living in such and such communities hence my program addresses etc.).
Use 2-3 academic references in support of your theory to help explain how and why you believe your inputs will actually lead to your anticipated outcomes for the specific population group in context. You may use some of the previously integrated references from assignment 1 or resources from the course website in support of your theory if the references are clearly in support of your argument and current.
For the purpose of this assignment, a theory is defined as an idea (i.e., a thought or a suggestion) or set of ideas that help in explaining a phenomenon and although it cannot be fully proven, a theory is always based on evidence (previous research) and careful reasoning not hearsay.
Remember: Your program plan (assignment 2) is the basis for your future evaluation plan (assignment 3). Also, start your assignment with a short introduction to your paper (tell what is being covered) and finish with a short conclusion (tell what you have covered in the essay). Use the marking rubric below to check if all sections of the assignment have been fully addressed.