e • val • u • a • tion
" the process of determining the adequacy of instruction and learning" (Seels & Richey, 1994, p. 54)
" the process of determining the adequacy of instruction and learning" (Seels & Richey, 1994, p. 54)
During this degree program I conducted an evaluation on Ben Donnelly’s Swing Dance 201: Role Switches dance class. I observed his classroom activities and practices to determine their effectiveness and their contribution to the students’ perceptions of their learning and the value of the course.
I faced several challenges during this evaluation. First, I learned quickly that, just because a teacher is open to being evaluated, it does not mean they are open to changing every teaching practice they have ever developed over the years (nor would that necessarily be a good idea)! The biggest challenge was choosing which elements of Ben’s practices to focus on improving as the highest priority that also were within the scope of his current capabilities and goals.
In response, we developed a collaborative attitude of, “Let’s workshop this idea together and see how we can get it to work in your context. What do you think?” Often by working together we were able to develop recommendations that felt both attainable and aligned with good teaching practices.
Secondly, when making these recent recommendations for Ben, I found it challenging to accept the current conditions he was teaching in and to problem-solve to find solutions that would work for his context right now. For example, even though it would be better practice to conduct a learner analysis on each learner’s past dance experience and motivations for learning dance, he had no access to information about his students before they walked in on Day 1, so that recommendation would not have been useful to him. By way of solution, I equipped Ben with tools about scaffolding and learner differentiation so that he could meet different students where they were at different skill levels when they walked in on Day 1.
Finally, articulating the results of an evaluation in an easily digestible format was challenging. In response I learned to create infographics to capture key takeaways from my Program & Product Eval report in the Visual Literacy class. I also used lots of data visualization in the report itself, plus plenty of headings and subheadings with a clear visual hierarchy and table of contents.
As a result of the Swing 201 class evaluation, Ben has told me that he is energized about improving his teaching practices, trying the new approaches we developed together, and designing new course materials to better serve his students’ needs.
Before ITMA, I did not feel qualified to evaluate another teacher’s practices or course planning, but now I feel I have tools to design strong and well-considered evaluations based on the specific needs of the stakeholders. I look forward to applying these same skills and techniques to the evaluation of my own products to better understand how well they meet their intended goals and where they can be improved.
