Week 14/15 — Final Blog

I feel that I have learned a lot about evaluation this semester. Before this class I never realized how many components go into a great evaluation. There is not only the paperwork to fill out if involving people but all the key questions and ideas that need to be created. Careful thought and consideration goes into choosing the main evaluation topic and then branching out into smaller, more detailed questions. From there survey and interview questions need to be worded the right way in order to receive the information needed for a great evaluation. Writing and conducting an evaluation is a lot of work.

I really enjoyed creating my own hypothetical evaluation. I think it puts a new perspective on when things change at my school. It takes many people coming together to make a great evaluation work… not only in creating but actually performing an evaluation. My school is actually creating a resource center next school year. I would like to see how well it turns out and if it is any similar to the one I created.

Week 13 — Final Paper

This past week I feel like I have spent a lot more time on my paper. I have made some changes. However, after reading some of the other papers, I realize mine sounds a bit choppy. This week and next I plan on re-reading and changing some words around. I will also read the comments that my peers have given and adjust where needed. Basically I want my paper to flow more and sound more professional.

My PowerPoint for my final presentation is complete. Before I have to present, I would like to continue to work on my presentation and what I want to say. I will try and time myself and see if I will be less than 10 minutes. If not, I will have to adjust my presentation where needed.

Overall, I think I have just a few minor changes to make on my paper.

Week 11/12 — What I have been working on so far…

This past week I printed out my paper and had a couple people read it over and make grammatical corrections/suggestions.  I am very grateful for having people to read over my long paper.  =)  I also did not look at my paper at all.  Usually I like to take a break from things like this in order to clear my mind.  When I go back to it, hopefully I will have a fresh view and fresh ideas for the paper.  I tend to find mistakes or new ways of wording things when I take a break from papers.  Plus, it is good to take a break every once in a while.

This week I plan on making some changes to my paper and work on my PowerPoint.  Hopefully I will have it complete or basically complete by the end of this week.  It is hard to believe that this class only has a few weeks left before we have to present! 

Also, I had mentioned my hypothetical evaluation to my department chair and she loved that I was doing this.  My school is actually starting a Resource Center next year.  It will be interesting to see what it will be like for my school compared to what I wrote about.

Week 10 — Thoughts and Questions

I really enjoyed this course. I think that this major project really helped me to fully understand the evaluation process. I never knew how many components there were and how much detail it included. I put a lot of thought and energy into this program to make sure that it would help me in a real life situation.

Some things that I would have liked to explore more are other types of evaluation. We focused mainly on Appreciative Inquiry. I would like to know what other ways could programs be evaluated? I also think that in the future, more detailed case studies would be very helpful. The ones we read in our book were great. However, sometimes they lacked detail that might be important for the reader.

In terms of my final course project, I just posted my final draft for feedback. After I receive the feedback I will make changes as necessary. I also have to continue to work on my Power Point presentation. Does anyone know if we submit our Power Point? Or will we be running it ourselves in Elluminate?

Week 9 – Evaluation Systems

An evaluation system is “a means for identifying, developing, implementing and sustaining those things that support evaluative inquiry.”  According to Reframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Inquiry there are five essential components of an evaluation system.  Those components include: Leadership Commitment, Evaluation Vision and Philosophy, Evaluation Strategic Plan, Evaluation Design and Implementation Requirements, and Personnel and Financial Resources. 

 

Leadership Commitment means that all the leaders of the organization are clear on presenting the goals and values and explaining how important an evaluation is.  The evaluation is important because it strengthens the organization.  The leaders have to explain that during the evaluation, they will be working together as a team to improve the organization.

 

Evaluation Vision and Philosophy includes a vision statement and philosophy in which the organization follows.  The vision statement describes the organization’s values and beliefs.  The philosophy “communicates the organization’s preferred model or approach that will guide evaluation practice.”

 

An Evaluation Strategic Plan is the who, what, where, when, and how of the evaluation.  In this plan, details are planned out with who is involved, where it is held, when will it be held, how long will it be held, what will be done during this time, etc.  It is a very detailed plan.

 

Evaluation Design and Implementation Requirements is to ensure that the evaluation system is implemented in ways that reflect professional evaluation practice.  There are four requirements that contribute to successful evaluations.  Those requirements include Evaluation Plans, Technology Resources and Infrastructure, Communication Systems, and Flexible and Responsive Evaluation Practices.

 

Personnel and Financial Resources include having enough people involved to not only run the evaluation but to participate in as well.  There also should be enough money to run the evaluation.  If there is not enough of either of these, then it will not be a proper evaluation.

 

As far as my final course project, I still need to work on my Power Point a bit.  I should also touch up my wording, spelling, and format in each piece of my project.  I really like having each piece due every couple weeks.  It keeps me on track and focused on each part of the project.  I am still a bit confused on our presentation length though.  The lecture said 5 minutes but I read elsewhere 7-10 minutes. 

Week 8 — Survey Questions

Creating my survey was not as hard as I thought it would be. All I had to do was think of my big questions. From there, I wanted to create surveys for both my students and teachers. The teachers are the ones who actually have to know how to use the technology and show the students. With my survey I wanted to see how knowledgeable the teachers were in the area of technology and how much more they wanted to learn. The students are the ones who then use the technology to assist them in their academic learning.

The information I wanted to get from the teachers consists of how knowledgeable they felt with each particular item of technology. I also wanted to know if they received any professional development, if so what kind? Lastly, I wanted to know if there were any other types of technology training they felt would have been important to study. All of these components would help me in further development of technology.

The information I wanted to get from the students consists of which areas they felt strong/weak in and how the Resource Center could help them. Each student that entered the Resource Center had some sort of a benchmark or goal. They may not have known that offhand but most students to have academic goals in general. I wanted to learn if that benchmark or goal was accomplished during the time spent at the Resource Center. Basically, is the Resource Center a valid place for students to go to receive help?

I think the think aloud really helped in the process of survey creating. Any time there is another person reading over questions it is another mind that can find mistakes or think of something even better. By having that other person to look over your work, it can make the survey a spectacular survey. Erik did a great job giving me feedback. I was able to change words, omit questions, and even form new questions. He was able to read the questions different ways than I so he was able to think of new words to add or change. I thought it was a very helpful assignment.

Week 7 — Interviews

Having the right questions is the most important part of AI. Those questions answer how to change or improve your program. Those appreciative questions guide your participants to work together to create a great plan to shape the future of your organization. Sometimes there may be issues with choosing positive questions rather than appreciative questions. When choosing the right questions, one must not ask a question that would make them answer in a positive way. Rather, appreciative questions have the participants focus on the positives. These questions ask the participants to think about their past and tell a story, or vision what they would like the future to look at. Having the right questions provides useful and meaningful data.

When thinking about choosing the right appreciative questions, one must first think about the evaluation and key questions. Your key questions are what you are trying to find out from your evaluation. You must also think about the people you are evaluating and the types of questions that should be asked based on your group.

Sometimes answers can not be received through a survey and an individual must be interviewed. Personal experiences can be shared during an interview. Interviews bring people and groups together. By doing this, it created a more positive atmosphere. These interviews can be done in person, on the phone, or using the internet.

The questions for my interview include:

Question 1: Think back about your time spent at the Resource Center. Describe with some detail your experience with the Resource Center. Also please describe the ways in which you helped students use technology in the Resource Center.

Question 2: What are the most important things you’ve learned about technology while attending the workshops? Having learned what you’ve learned, what do you think are the ways in which technology can help students with 504’s or IEP’s?

Question 3: What are the biggest challenges you experienced while helping students at the Resource Center?

Question 4: Do you have any success stories about your time spent at the Resource Center or making positive changes to the Resource Center or student success?

To choose these appreciative questions, I first thought about the information I was trying to get from my participants: what they did in the center, how technology has helped them, what has been hard, and what they could change to make it a better place. I know I wanted personal examples from my interviewee so I used the words “think”, “describe”, “stories”, and “you”. Using these words has my interviewee focus on personal stories of his or her experiences.

For my class interview, my partner was Erik. He and I met Wednesday night in the moodle chatroom. I really feel that this was a great assignment. By having this assignment, we each had to create positive AI questions. When we asked our partner the question, we were given feedback to fix our questions. Erik was able to tell me what changes needed to be made and other ways of wording my questions to sound more positive. After he gave me his feedback, I too answered questions and gave my feedback.

The feedback I gave Erik included making a question a more open ended question rather than a yes/no answer. I also suggested combining two of the questions into one since they sounded similar. I also suggested changing the wording around to condense a question.

The only difficult part of this assignment was answering the questions. I was not completely familiar with his program so I tried my best to answer the questions.

Week 6- Evaluation Questions

I chose three main questions for my evaluation. Those three questions are:
• How well are teachers properly trained to know what is available at the Resource Center and how to use available technology?
• Are students with IEP’s and 504’s reaching their benchmarks and goals?
• Are all students receiving improved grades due to Resource Center help?

The way I selected these questions is I first thought about what I am evaluating. I am evaluating a Resource Center. At this Resource Center, students of all abilities are being helped by teachers, tutors, and technology. In order for the students to use the technology properly, teachers must be trained to show the students. This is how I came up with the first question. Are the teachers properly trained to show the students how to use the available technology? If not, then they need extra training.

Secondly, students on 504′s and IEP’s need extra assistance on homework, tests, etc. I thought that this Resource Center would be the perfect place for those students to get assistance outside of the classroom. My second question assures that this Resource Center is actually beneficial for those students. By using the Resource Center, students are able to reach their benchmarks and goals.

Lastly, I don’t want to exclude students not on 504′s or IEP’s. All students should be able to go to the Resource Center if they need extra assistance. All students have questions and therefore need a place to get help and answers. My third question includes all students and making sure that the Resource Center is beneficial for them. Is the Resource Center helping students study and achieve higher grades?

I feel that by choosing the three questions I did, I was able to hit the major areas of the Resource Center. Therefore, I can better examine and improve the center.

Week 5 – Appreciative Inquiry and evaluation

There are many similarities and differences between Appreciative Inquiry and evaluation. Both evaluation and AI are used to correct or fix a situation. Many people are involved in the processes. Some work together as groups and some work individually. However, evaluation focuses on fixing problems and looking for what is missing. Appreciative Inquiry focuses on what is working. It also envisions a more positive future and holds discussion groups.

Looking at the book Reframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Inquiry, there are many evaluation competencies listed. These are broken down into six categories: Professional Practice, Systematic Inquiry, Situational Analysis, Project Management, Reflective Practice, and Interpersonal Competence. AI has several similarities with these competencies. Just a few of the most obvious similarities include 2.7 Frames evaluation questions, 3.11 Remains open to input from others, and 4.4 Communicates with clients throughout the evaluation process.

I would have to say that applying AI to the practice of evaluation would be a very easy thing to do. AI and evaluation already have very many similarities that I have listed above. AI just adds the positive view to evaluation. By using AI for evaluation, members converse positive stories and examples that can make their organization even stronger. Several phases are completed until the final phase where their positive visions come true.

This week really made me understand AI and evaluation more clearly. I really like how we had to find the similarities and differences. I would really like to find out what other types of evaluations could be done. I think that would be an interesting topic to study.

Week 4 Annotated Bibliographies

I feel like I spent hours this week researching the articles I wanted to read on Appreciative Inquiry.  I found so many different articles where AI works with different topics.  Those specific topics involving AI include interviews, recovery from dugs/alcohol, faith formation, health/nursing, education, in the workplace, etc.  It is so interesting to see how AI works in every situation. 

 

I also found it interesting to see the specific articles others have chosen.  For instance, Pam chose an article about an interview with Preskill, the author of Reframing Eva luation Through Appreciative Inquiry.  I too read that article but did not choose to annotate it.  In this article, Preskill was interviewed and explained what AI is and how she has used it.  Preskill first heard about AI many years ago and decided to work further with it.  She researched many books and articles and even took workshops.

Patrick choose three completely areas where AI could be found.  His first article involved petroleum and Castrol Marine’s improvement.  His second article describes changes in school culture.  His final article describes school improvement.  It is great that AI can work in different organizations.

Ashley found a great article where is actually helps people and organizations decide if AI is the right method of evaluation for them.  Appreciating Appreciative Inquiry explained that AI does not work for everyone.  I think that after reading Ashley’s annotation that this would actually be a great article for this class to read.  As of now we have already read about what AI is and the types of organizations that use it.  This article probably tells the reader about places where it doesn’t work and how to choose if it is the right evaluation plan to use.