Rebecca M. Teasdale
Assistant Professor
Educational Psychology
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Contact
Building & Room:
1238 ETMSW MC 147
Address:
1040 W. Harrison St.
Office Phone:
Email:
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About
Rebecca Teasdale, PhD, is an evaluation methodologist whose work focuses on (a) the role of values in envisioning social change and defining quality for initiatives that seek to create change, (b) specifying multidimensional and contextually appropriate definitions of quality and representing those definitions as evaluative criteria that guide inquiry, and (c) methods for centering community and participant values when defining quality and specifying criteria. She seeks to build an empirically supported, descriptive theory of criteria specification and illuminate which definitions of quality—and whose definitions—are prioritized in evaluation practice. She is particularly interested in values engagement, definitions of quality, and evaluative criteria in culturally responsive and social justice-oriented evaluation approaches and practice and in informal learning contexts.
Courses Taught
EPSY 564 Evaluation I: Principles and Methods
EPSY 565 Evaluation II: Theory and Practice
EPSY 540 Applied Qualitative Research Methods
EPSY 542 Advanced Qualitative Data Analysis
Affiliate Appointment
Community and Applied Developmental Psychology, Psychology Department, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Selected Grants
Institute for Museum and Library Services (federal agency), National Leadership Grant for Libraries, Individualized, Equity-Focused Evaluation of Public Library Makerspaces, 2023-2025, PI
UIC Office for the Vice Chancellor for Research, Award for Creative Activity, Making in Chicago: Toward a Framework for Evaluating Public Library Makerspaces, 2022-2023, PI
UIC Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, Faculty Fellowship, Are We Moving the Needle? Evaluation of Policies and Programs to Advance Racial Equity, 2021-2022, PI
Selected Publications
Teasdale, R. M., McNeilly, J.R., Ramírez Garzón, M. I., Novak, J., & Greene, J.C. (2023). “A lot of it really does come down to values”: An empirical study of the values advanced by seasoned evaluators. American Journal of Evaluation. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10982140231153805
Teasdale, R. M., Strasser, M., Moore, C, & Graham, K. E. (2023). Evaluative criteria in practice: Findings from an analysis of evaluations published in Evaluation and Program Planning. Evaluation and Program Planning 97. 102226. doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2023.102226
Teasdale, R. M., Pitts, R. T., Gates, E. F., & Shim, C. (2023). Teaching specification of evaluative criteria: A guide for evaluation education. New Directions for Evaluation 2023 (117), 31-37. https://doi.org/10.1002/ev.20546
Teasdale, R. M. (2022). How do you define success? Evaluative criteria for informal STEM education. Visitor Studies. Advanced online publication. doi.org/10.1080/10645578.2022.2056397
Teasdale, R. M. (2022). Representing the values of program participants: Endogenous evaluative criteria. Evaluation and Program Planning 94, 102123. doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2022.102123
Teasdale, R. M. (2021). Evaluative criteria: An integrated model of domains and sources. American Journal of Evaluation 42(3), 354-376. doi.org/10.1177/1098214020955226
Teasdale, R. M. (2021). “It’s a lab full of art machinery”: Implications of women’s experiences, values, and visions of success for makerspace evaluation. Information and Learning Sciences 12(3/4), 223-245. http://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-08-2020-0177
Teasdale, R. M. (2020). Defining success for a public library makerspace: Implications of participant-defined, individualized evaluative criteria. Library and Information Science Research 42(4), 101053. doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2020.101053
Garibay, C. & Teasdale, R. M. (2019). Equity and evaluation in informal STEM education. New Directions for Evaluation 161, 87-106. doi.org/10.1002/ev.20352
Professional Leadership
Chair, Research on Evaluation Topical Interest Group, American Evaluation Association, 2024-present
Program Co-Chair, Research on Evaluation Topical Interest Group, American Evaluation Association, 2022-2023
Treasurer, Chicagoland Evaluation Association, 2019-2022
Notable Honors
2023-2024, Teaching Recognition Program Award, UIC Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Education
PhD, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Certificate, Program Evaluation, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities
MA, Library and Information Science, University of Iowa
BA, Biology, University of Northern Iowa
Professional Memberships
American Evaluation Association
American Educational Research Association
American Library Association
Chicagoland Evaluation Association
Research Currently in Progress
Dr. Teasdale is partnering with public libraries in Illinois, Louisiana, and Colorado to develop an evaluation framework for public library makerspaces. This work will support libraries nationwide in evaluating their makerspaces for adults along four key criteria: (1) outcomes of makerspace participation; (2) relevance of those outcomes to participants’ values and priorities; (3) makerspace access (i.e., participation by and barriers to participation for different comunities); and (4) makerspace climate and makers’ sense of belonging. The framework will guide libraries in applying an equity and justice lens when assessing makerspace outcomes, access, and experiences. This work is supported by a National Leadership Grant for Libraries from the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services and an Award for Creative Activity from the UIC Office for the Vice Chancellor for Research.