Download or read book Evaluation as a Tool for Research Learning and Making Things Better written by Satu Kalliola and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2014-04-11 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is one of the first of its kind to bring together a variety of perspectives on evaluation from a multidisciplinary international perspective. The book, with its content derived from leading experts in their chosen fields of practice, illustrates the potential of evaluation to demonstrate the impact and efficiency of social interventions. Examples are given of comparative effectiveness research, realist evaluation, and systematic reviews, as well as of holistic and authentic evaluation, the use of advisory groups, and qualitative needs assessment. The volume also presents some special evaluation tools used by national governments and which are used to influence a variety of professional practices. The key features of the book are: • An international panel of experts sharing the expertise in evaluation. • Multiple perspectives on evaluation theory, methodology and practices articulated through a range of interdisciplinary perspectives. • A primary focus on client-, patient-, and, more generally, human-centredness. • Practical examples of contrasting evaluation methods in use. • Helpful tips and advice offered throughout. The book is compiled from the work of the plenary speakers, plenary panel and selected workshop presentations at the 8th International Conference on Evaluation for Practice, Eval2012, held in Finland in 2012. The contributors come from Australia, Brazil, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Republic of Korea, the UK, and the USA. In line with the traditions of the conference series, some contributions here are joint endeavours from academics and practitioners. Evaluation as a Tool for Research, Learning and Making Things Better is recommended for both academics and practitioners, and will be useful for individual researchers, researcher communities and students, who are interested in and conduct evaluation research in various contexts, including as part of service development programs, and for public and private organizations which pursue good service quality with an impact.
Download or read book Understanding by Design written by Grant P. Wiggins and published by ASCD. This book was released on 2005 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.
Download or read book Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-01-19 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Economic, academic, and social forces are causing undergraduate schools to start a fresh examination of teaching effectiveness. Administrators face the complex task of developing equitable, predictable ways to evaluate, encourage, and reward good teaching in science, math, engineering, and technology. Evaluating, and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics offers a vision for systematic evaluation of teaching practices and academic programs, with recommendations to the various stakeholders in higher education about how to achieve change. What is good undergraduate teaching? This book discusses how to evaluate undergraduate teaching of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology and what characterizes effective teaching in these fields. Why has it been difficult for colleges and universities to address the question of teaching effectiveness? The committee explores the implications of differences between the research and teaching cultures-and how practices in rewarding researchers could be transferred to the teaching enterprise. How should administrators approach the evaluation of individual faculty members? And how should evaluation results be used? The committee discusses methodologies, offers practical guidelines, and points out pitfalls. Evaluating, and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics provides a blueprint for institutions ready to build effective evaluation programs for teaching in science fields.
Download or read book Evaluating Professional Development written by Thomas R. Guskey and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explains how to better evaluate professional development in order to ensure that it increases student learning, providing questions for accurate measurement of professional development and showing how to demonstrate results and accountability.
Download or read book Science Teaching Reconsidered written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1997-03-12 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Effective science teaching requires creativity, imagination, and innovation. In light of concerns about American science literacy, scientists and educators have struggled to teach this discipline more effectively. Science Teaching Reconsidered provides undergraduate science educators with a path to understanding students, accommodating their individual differences, and helping them grasp the methodsâ€"and the wonderâ€"of science. What impact does teaching style have? How do I plan a course curriculum? How do I make lectures, classes, and laboratories more effective? How can I tell what students are thinking? Why don't they understand? This handbook provides productive approaches to these and other questions. Written by scientists who are also educators, the handbook offers suggestions for having a greater impact in the classroom and provides resources for further research.
Download or read book Evaluation Essentials written by Marvin C. Alkin and published by Guilford Publications. This book was released on 2017-09-25 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thoroughly revised and updated, this engaging text has given thousands of students and new evaluators the practical information and expert advice needed to conduct or use evaluations. In 26 concise sections, the book describes how to articulate answerable evaluation questions, collect and analyze data using both quantitative and qualitative methods, and deal with contingencies that might alter the traditional sequence of an evaluation. Special strengths of the text are its attention to individual, organizational, and community culture and emphasis on building collaborative relationships with stakeholders. An in-depth case study and related end-of-section exercises (including group activities) help students put themselves in the evaluator role. Other pedagogical features include section titles written as questions, bulleted recaps of each section, "Thinking Ahead" and "Next Steps" pointers, cautionary notes, and suggestions for further reading. New to This Edition *New and expanded topics: evaluation contracts, budgeting, surveys, data visualization, qualitative coding and memoing, factors affecting evaluation use, and context-sensitive evaluation. *Revised case study with extended exercises that guide the reader to complete a simulated evaluation. *End-of-section "Quick Read" links to recommended American Evaluation Association blog posts. *Four entirely new sections (such as "How Do You Strengthen Relationships with Stakeholders?" and "How Do We Plan a Process-Focused Evaluation Design?"), plus other changes and additions throughout.
Download or read book Assessing Impact written by Joellen Killion and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2017-11-08 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Design high-impact professional learning programs with results-based evaluations You want to make sure that the time, effort, and resources you are investing in your professional learning programs is truly making an impact on educator effectiveness and student achievement. Joellen Killion guides you step by step through the rigors of producing an effective, in-depth, results-based evaluation to measure effectiveness and retain stakeholder support. The methods outlined here: Adhere to changes in federal and state policy relating to professional learning and educator development Facilitate the use of extensive datasets crucial for measuring feasibility, equity, sustainability, and impact of professional learning Help you make data-informed decisions and increase quality and results
Download or read book Retrieval Practice written by Kate Jones and published by . This book was released on 2021-01-20 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: retrieval practice is a low effort, high impact strategy - very worthwhile for teachers to know about. This book explains it in simple terms
Download or read book Knowing What Students Know written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2001-09-27 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Education is a hot topic. From the stage of presidential debates to tonight's dinner table, it is an issue that most Americans are deeply concerned about. While there are many strategies for improving the educational process, we need a way to find out what works and what doesn't work as well. Educational assessment seeks to determine just how well students are learning and is an integral part of our quest for improved education. The nation is pinning greater expectations on educational assessment than ever before. We look to these assessment tools when documenting whether students and institutions are truly meeting education goals. But we must stop and ask a crucial question: What kind of assessment is most effective? At a time when traditional testing is subject to increasing criticism, research suggests that new, exciting approaches to assessment may be on the horizon. Advances in the sciences of how people learn and how to measure such learning offer the hope of developing new kinds of assessments-assessments that help students succeed in school by making as clear as possible the nature of their accomplishments and the progress of their learning. Knowing What Students Know essentially explains how expanding knowledge in the scientific fields of human learning and educational measurement can form the foundations of an improved approach to assessment. These advances suggest ways that the targets of assessment-what students know and how well they know it-as well as the methods used to make inferences about student learning can be made more valid and instructionally useful. Principles for designing and using these new kinds of assessments are presented, and examples are used to illustrate the principles. Implications for policy, practice, and research are also explored. With the promise of a productive research-based approach to assessment of student learning, Knowing What Students Know will be important to education administrators, assessment designers, teachers and teacher educators, and education advocates.
Download or read book Practical Evaluation for Educators written by Roger Kaufman and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2005-07-20 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Roger Kaufman and his colleagues have produced what is simply the best practical book on educational evaluation published in the past few years. It is current, clearly written, and structured in a way that educators can apply it in a huge variety of educational contexts." -Richard Clark, Professor University of Southern California "As an evaluation book written for educators and education, this publication delivers on its promise. It provides a practical, professional, and comprehensive approach for planning and conducting evaluation studies that are meaningful and effective for understanding and improving the education enterprise." -Dale W. Lick, Professor College of Education, Florida State University, Tallahassee "The book describes how to ask and answer the right questions in order to measure the gaps in results and their consequences...Readers will be able to custom tailor an evaluation plan for their specific situations. Practical examples and scenarios along with how-to-do-it guides show readers how to apply the concepts and tools presented." -James D. Russell, EdD, Professor, Visiting Research Associate Educational Psychology and Learning Systems Institute Florida State University, Tallahassee "This book puts evaluation in a framework of societal needs, while simultaneously being results-oriented and practical. This is a unique combination of ′how to′ with ′why′ that is of immense importance in the present time when the public value of education seems to have been lost ...(while) citizens also demand specifics." -Elizabeth D. Capaldi, Vice Chancellor & Chief of Staff State University of New York Use program evaluations to define measurable results and deliver meaningful outcomes! Finding a straightforward approach to educational evaluations is the most important step toward discovering and reporting the meaningful results underlying the hard work of education. Kaufman, Guerra and Platt present program evaluation as a trouble-free process that any educator can effectively complete while providing the evidence required to justify and validate any educational endeavor. Drawing from the education, business, and military fields, this accessible resource shows educators, administrators, politicians, learners, and parents how to distill evaluations to uncover what works and what doesn′t. Practical Evaluation for Educators breaks down the program evaluation process into four easy-to-understand steps: Align and direct evaluation questions into useful queries aimed at the intended results of educational programs Observe to gather pertinent, valid, and useful data Compare the results of what was accomplished to what was planned to be accomplished Use the data by taking action and adjusting programs to bring them into alignment with societal needs When educators see evaluation as a simple, useful tool for improving programs, measurable results become meaningful.
Download or read book Computer Assisted Language Learning Concepts Methodologies Tools and Applications written by Management Association, Information Resources and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2019-01-04 with total page 2194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a diverse society, the ability to cross communication barriers is critical to the success of any individual personally, professionally, and academically. With the constant acceleration of course programs and technology, educators are continually being challenged to develop and implement creative methods for engaging English-speaking and non-English-speaking learners. Computer-Assisted Language Learning: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source that examines the relationship between language education and technology and the potential for curriculum enhancements through the use of mobile technologies, flipped instruction, and language-learning software. This multi-volume book is geared toward educators, researchers, academics, linguists, and upper-level students seeking relevant research on the improvement of language education through the use of technology.
Download or read book Evaluation as a Tool for Improving Science Education written by Judith Bennett and published by Waxmann Verlag. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an overview of some of the key issues that have engaged educational researchers and potential >users
Download or read book Evaluation Essentials written by Marvin C. Alkin and published by Guilford Press. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The alphabet represents knowing the basics, using a widely shared framework, following a sequence, and comprehensiveness. This book delivers all those for evaluation. The style is personal. The examples are easy to understand.... Whether you are new to evaluation or are a professional looking for a refresher on fundamentals, this book offers an alphabet soup sure to please the palate."---Michael Quinn Patton, author of Developmental Evaluation --
Download or read book Making Evaluation Meaningful written by PJ Caposey and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2017-06-24 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Re-evaluate your perspective on teacher evaluation to truly transform school performance! The tools, strategies, and reflections in this book provide realistic solutions to the problem faced by many schools: meaningless evaluation. A considerable amount of time, energy, and money is spent on the teacher evaluation process, yet the question remains whether it is truly transforming the learning of teachers and, therefore, students. This practical guide shows how evaluation can become the tie that binds all school improvement activities together to: • Bring clarity and purpose to all educators making their roles more effective • Improve teacher practice since they receive better support • Increase student achievement and overall school culture
Download or read book Beyond Test Scores written by Jack Schneider and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-14 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Test scores are the go-to metric of policy makers and anxious parents looking to place their children in the best schools. Yet standardized tests are a poor way to measure school performance. Using the diverse urban school district of Somerville MA as a case study, Jack Schneider’s team developed a new framework to assess educational effectiveness.
Download or read book Learning and Performance Assessment Concepts Methodologies Tools and Applications written by Management Association, Information Resources and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2019-10-11 with total page 1757 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As teaching strategies continue to change and evolve, and technology use in classrooms continues to increase, it is imperative that their impact on student learning is monitored and assessed. New practices are being developed to enhance students’ participation, especially in their own assessment, be it through peer-review, reflective assessment, the introduction of new technologies, or other novel solutions. Educators must remain up-to-date on the latest methods of evaluation and performance measurement techniques to ensure that their students excel. Learning and Performance Assessment: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source that examines emerging perspectives on the theoretical and practical aspects of learning and performance-based assessment techniques and applications within educational settings. Highlighting a range of topics such as learning outcomes, assessment design, and peer assessment, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for educators, administrative officials, principals, deans, instructional designers, school boards, academicians, researchers, and education students seeking coverage on an educator’s role in evaluation design and analyses of evaluation methods and outcomes.
Download or read book Standards Based and Responsive Evaluation written by Robert E. Stake and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2003-10-30 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book begins with the main strategic choices an evaluator needs to make between approaches: quantitatively,by explicating criteria, needs, standards, and performances, or qualitatively, by studying the activity, aspirations, problems, and accomplishments of the participants and critical observers. After reading the text, students will have a better appreciation of evaluation as a process that needs to be custom-fit to the situation. Throughout the book, Stake presents evaluation as a series of choices for the reader: - To remain independent or to join with program staff or stakeholders - To value personal experience as evidence or to shun it as biased - To aid development formatively or to assess the existing program summatively - To use issues, goals, gains, efficiency, or problem solving as the key conceptual structure - To invest small or large in trying out and validating data-gathering procedures - To support the standards and ethical codes of professional associations
