Additional information can be found in Module One See Evaluation. (Not yet available on the web-site)
There are many reasons for collecting evaluative evidence in education. This evidence can take many forms and be put to many purposes. Teachers may want to know if their teaching is effective; administrators may want to know whether the cost of running a course is justified by the number of students it will attract; heads of department may want evidence to assist them in appraising individual members of their staff.
In this unit our focus is on just one kind of evaluation, called formative evaluation. Its focus is on the collection and use of diagnostic information to improve teaching and learning. Its aim is to identify areas where there is room for improvement, rather than to justify what has been done or to advertise achievements.
A second kind of evaluation that academic staff frequently find themselves involved with is summative evaluation. Although this type of evaluation is not focused on in this module, it is important that the difference between formative and summative evaluation be well understood.
Summative evaluation is undertaken for the purpose of making a qualitative judgment. For instance, at the individual level, data might be collected to make a judgment about promotion. At the departmental level, information might be gathered for accreditation of a new or revised course.
The main purpose behind collecting data for a formative evaluation is to have information that will be diagnostic and will, for instance, indicate ways in which revisions might be made to a course or teaching methods improved.
While they often use similar kinds of data, summative and formative evaluation have quite different purposes. Formative evaluation calls for a willingness to have weaknesses disclosed. Summative evaluation understandably causes those being evaluated to try to show things in their best possible light. In our experience, the combination of a formative and a summative purpose in any single evaluation activity will seriously prejudice the outcomes. For the purposes of collaborative learning we disclose our concerns in a spirit of reciprocity, our intention is entirely formative. We are not engaged in judgment of each other although we will evaluate the evidence that we collect in order to better understand our teaching and to develop appropriate action to improve student learning.
Formative evaluation is best seen as a natural part of good teaching. It is a process by which, in our role as teachers, we collect information about our work and make decisions about the actions that might be taken to improve student learning through changes to curriculum, teaching methods and student assessment. It is primarily diagnostic. It is concerned with the effects of our teaching on students' learning and the ways we can change teaching so that it best brings about the sort of learning we value.
This sort of evaluation is an activity that is created and directed by its participants. It is analytical and is born of a desire to learn more about which aspects of teaching promote effective learning of specific subject matter by particular students. It entails and fosters a professional, reflective attitude towards ways of improving teaching that is demonstrated in continued striving for ever greater degrees of excellence. It is about being driven by self-set goals and standards rather than simply responding to the externally imposed criteria of discipline reviews or accreditation submissions. External criteria will play a part in the development of individual goals, but in a thoughtful, not a mechanical way. Real change occurs when individuals begin to see their roles from a new perspective and act accordingly. The purpose of the peer review activities in this unit is to help each other see our work as teachers from a new perspective.
It is important to be clear why formative and summative evaluation must be kept separate. Teachers, like students, will not readily reveal weaknesses if they feel data will be used for formal, judgmental purposes. On the occasions when formal judgments need to be made, collection of evidence separate from the formative processes is necessary. Teachers cannot be expected to be open about problems and failings if they are aware that the same evaluation is to serve as data in support of promotion. The quality of formative evaluation will be seriously diminished if academic staff only feel able to show and discuss their strengths certainly there will be little learning take place
In this unit we use evaluation in a climate of honesty, trust and reciprocity in order to maximize the learning opportunity. We actively search out weaknesses, experiment with new approaches and seek the improvement in we do to facilitate student learning.
See the AAHE Home Page and check out Teaching Initiatives Project, Professional Evaluation of Teaching.
Forsythe, I. Jolliffe, A. & Stevens, D. (1995) Evaluating a Course: Practical strategies for teachers, lecturers and trainers, Kogan page, London.