What is evaluation and why evaluate?
When I go to a shopping mall to buy clothes I don’t buy them at once. I walk into a few shops, choose a few items that are appealing, and check the material, design, colour, and size; then walk into to the fitting room with a couple of chosen items, try them on one by one standing in front of the mirror; sometimes get my hubby’s or daughter’s feedback before deciding to buy… Is it part of evaluation where I measure the quality in terms of price…? I wonder!
I browsed the web and landed on wiki which states, citing the American Evaluation Association’s definition as ‘assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products, and organizations to improve their effectiveness’.
Why evaluate?
Evaluation for me is to learn, learn what mistake have I made and how to rectify them to see the best outcome. Evaluation can be carried out at the beginning of a project to see the needs (need analysis) or during the process to see how the project is going and what are the shortcomings and at the end of the project to see if the needs were met and if not why.
Mareena this is a wonderful analogy for evaluation, and all of us can relate to clothes buying. What you are doing when measuring the quality of the clothes "in terms of price" is evaluating from a cost-effectiveness perspective. This must influence the decision to buy, and will vary in different contexts and situations. For example, you may spend more than normal on one item if buying a garment for a wedding.
ReplyDeleteCan you also see evaluation as a way to celebrate what is working well? Sometimes I think we tend to see it from a problem-based focus but this does not need to be the case. Do you agree?
Hi Bronwyn
ReplyDeleteI like your phrase “evaluation as a way to celebrate what is working well”. It is true though that sometimes we take a negative approach towards it. It shouldn’t be so. I hope the lessons that we learn from this paper will bring a change in our 'attitude…'
Thanks
Mareena
It's really satisfying to get some good feedback from your learners - it can be a real boost to your professional self esteem and you should take the time to celebrate your achievements! Good comments can also be used to market or promote learning to new potential students &/or other decision makers.
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