The Role Evaluation Has to Play:
Evaluation Following Presentation of a Course

Context:
This article, the third of three on the role of evaluation in course design, describes the part evaluation plays after the course has been presented.

Source:
Melton, R. F. 1997. "The Role Evaluation Has to Play." From R. F. Melton, Objectives, Competencies and Learning Outcomes: Developing Instructional Materials in Open and Distance Learning, p. 112. London: Kogan Page.

Copyright:
Reproduced with permission. Non-exclusive World English language rights. ISBN 0749421738. Kogan Page Limited, Tel: 0171-278-0433, Fax: 0171-837-6348, website: www.kogan-page.co.uk.

Evaluation following presentation of a course

It should not be assumed that once a course is presented no further evaluation will be required. Evaluation should be seen as an ongoing process, with evaluation following the presentation of a course providing an opportunity to collect data under real-life study conditions, on a larger scale than so far possible, and front a wider variety of perspectives. Problems that have remained hidden up to this point may well surface. It may well be that some changes will need to be made immediately, while others could be delayed until the course is subsequently remade.

Once a course has been produced it is likely to become one of several presented by an institution or by an education authority, and it makes sense for the institution or authority concerned to set up an evaluation system that can examine the strengths and weaknesses of all its courses rather than focus on one in isolation. The intent here is to identify factors that need to be taken into account in setting up an evaluation system; these can be summarized as follows:

• Within a behaviourist approach to evaluation one would expect measurement of student achievement against ultimate course objectives to be an important part of the evaluation process. However, we need to look out for unexpected outcomes and factors that may have a major say in determining outcomes, and to do this we must build a strong illuminative dimension into the evaluation system.

• We should identify the criteria by which the success of each course, or group of courses, is to be judged. It goes without saying that student achievement against the ultimate objectives for each course, or group of courses, will be one of these criteria, but we must also recognize that success may depend on a variety of other criteria.

• Once the measures of success have been identified, we need to identify problem areas and the underlying causes, and we need to ensure that the data collected are in sufficient depth to help us to overcome the problems identified.

• Any attempt to develop an evaluation system that covers all aspects in both depth and breadth runs the risk of being too onerous and too expensive to implement in practice. If this is to be avoided we must develop an evaluation policy that takes into account the way in which data will be used in practice to make improvements. Such a policy will need to include schedules for the redevelopment of materials and financing to cover the changes envisaged.