Designing in evaluation
When evaluation is ‘designed in’, it is not seen as a static one-off process but as a core component of the development cycle:
Design – Deliver – Evaluate – Review
Design:
- Specify aims and design activities, resources and tools to best target these aims
- Develop VLE site and in-person activities
- Engage in testing and peer-review
Deliver:
- Provide induction and socialisation activities, support and sustain participation in module activities, and focus learning on the module outcomes and assessments
Evaluate:
- Take steps at key stages to understand the student learning experience in order to achieve the goals of your evaluation process
- Triangulate
Review:
- Use evaluation data to reflect on key aspects of design and delivery of the module.
- Redesign as appropriate
Whether the module is being run for the first time or it has run many times, this cycle continues to inform improvement.
It will inform potential new approaches such as introducing interactive tasks, group activities, feedback approaches, tools, or forms of assessment and allow you to specifically evaluate how well the methods match the intended learning objectives.