Program Evaluation: Part 3

Homework Assignment for Week 3 of Program Evaluation

HW 3/ Discussion = 15 Points 

First, Think About It

In every program, there will be a training/educational component. Think about your program for a moment. Reflect on the goal of your program (Summative Evaluation) plus the specific learning outcomes (Formative Evaluation) you hope the participant will master. If they don’t master the instructional material provided by the program (outcomes), how can they make improvements in their performance?

Example:

Goal: Diabetics will be able to treat their own daily healthcare needs. (Summative)

• Outcome 1: Students will be able to use the appropriate equipment to take a blood sample.
• Outcome 2: Students will be able to analyze the blood sample to make necessary decisions about insulin intake.
• Outcome 3: Students will be able to correctly administer insulin shots either in their stomachs or legs.

Obviously, the program would be responsible for teaching the students these skills. Also, there would be a correct way to complete the task and a wrong way, and while people were learning, there would be the idea that the more they practice the closer to “correct” they would become. That space in between wrong and correct is called “the extent to which” the student has mastered the task. Like what letter grades might represent, A, B, C, D, F! 

Second, Research It

Therefore, if your program will train/educate people then you should consider Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels for Evaluating Training Programs. Go back and reflect on what each level is and what it hopes to accomplish.

Third, Answer the Discussion Question

• To help the reader, start by providing the Goal of your program and list each intended learning outcome.
• Explain how you might use all of Kirkpatrick’s 4 Levels of Evaluation in your training program and why. Be as specific as possible. This is how you will eventually know if your program is working or not and if changes need to be made.

Provide constructive feedback to at least one other person. Feel free to discuss any interesting points in the evaluation of the program or about the problem in general. It is ok to have interesting side conversations that relate to the topic at hand.

Reply