Activity: Evaluation “Café”

 Activity:  Evaluation “Café”

 This discussion format allows participants the opportunity to express their expectations and concerns out loud. Discussion members should be broken up into 3-4 small groups (at least 2 people in each group). A discussion prompt is then displayed to the whole group at the front of the room. At each “café” table, individuals are given 2-3 minutes to think about and take notes on the prompt. Then, each small group discusses the prompt and takes notes. After about 5-7 minutes, participants must stand up and re-shuffle themselves, creating new small groups for the next prompt. This process can be repeated several times, though 3-4 prompts generally allows for ample discussion. At the end of the café sessions, smaller groups share the notes created at their table with the larger group. Possible prompts include: “What comes to mind when you think about evaluation?” “What do you expect to get out of the evaluation partnership?” and “What are your concerns about evaluation and/or the evaluation partnership?”