JamieDoiron EDTECH505 ChapterandReadingSummaries

Chapter 1
Chapter1gavemeanoverviewofwhatanevaluationisanddiscussedthemainparts: objectives,dataandanalysis.Ofthosethreeparts,itbecamecleartomethattheobjectivesare farandawaythemostimportantpartofanyevaluation.Withoutaclearobjective,howcanyou knowhowtostructurealloftheothercomponentsofanevaluation?

Chapter 2
Chapter2discussedthereasonstoperformanevaluation,thebenefitsanddrawbacksofdoing one,andthefactorsthatinfluencethesuccessoftheevaluation.Ithinkitiscrucialthatthe reasonfordoinganevaluationiswelldefinedandunderstoodbystakeholders.Ifthereason behindanevaluationisknown,itcanhelpshapetheevaluationsobjectives.

Chapter 3
Chapter3coverstheevaluationprogramcycle,thephasesoftheevaluation,andthetypesof monitoringactivitiesthatareongoingduringanevaluation.Thischapterreallyhighlightedthe differencesbetweenformativeandsummativeevaluationforme.Iunderstoodwhattheywerein aclassroomcontext,butIdidnotunderstandhowtheycouldbeappliedtoanevaluationbefore readingthischapter.Theformativeevaluationservesasacheckpointorevenbaselineanalysis andthesummativeevaluationoccursneartheendoftheevaluationperiodtodetermineifthe objectivesweremet.

Chapter 4
Chapter4discussedtheEvaluatorsProgramDescription,whichisadocumentcreatedbythe evaluatorasastartingpointfordiscussingtheprogramtobeevaluatedwiththeappropriate stakeholders.Itcanhelpbuildrapportwiththeindividualsinvolved,whichisacrucialstepinthe evaluationprocessbecausehavingaworkingrelationshipwithstakeholdersmakestheentire processrunmoresmoothly.

Chapter 5
ThemostimportantthingIgainedfromchapter5wasthedifferentmodelsforevaluation: discrepancy,goalfree,transaction,anddecisionmaking.Byreadingaboutthedifferenttypes,I wasabletodiscernthatmyevaluationprojectisadiscrepancymodelbecauseIwillbe comparingaproducttotheneedsoftheendusers

Chapter 6
Chapter6waspartlyareviewforme.Iunderstoodthedifferencesbetweenqualitativeand quantitativedata,butIdidnotknowaboutallofthedifferentlevelsofdata:nominal,ordinal, interval,andratio.IdontanticipateusingthisformyevaluationprojectbecauseitisunlikelythatI willbedoingawholelotwithdifferentdatatypes,butitisgoodinformationtohavenonetheless.

Chapter 7
Chapter7wasanotherchapteraboutdata,butthistimeitdiscusseddatamanipulationand analysis.Ittalkedaboutthedifferencesbetweenmean,medianandmode,whichtookmeback tomyseventhgrademathclass.Itwasagreatrefresherforme.TypicallywhenImanipulate dataitisinadatabaseusingSQL,sounderstandingthattherearewaystomathematically manipulateandanalyzedatawasagreatreminder.

Chapter 8
Chapter8discussedthedifferencebetweenevaluationandresearch.Istillamfuzzyonwhat researchis,butIdefinitelyunderstandwhatevaluationisandthatmyprojectisanevaluation project,notaresearchproject.Imfranklynotsurewhytheyevenincludedthischapterinthe book,itseemsalittleoutofplace.Itisunlikelythatsomeonedoingaresearchprojectwould purchasethisbookandwanttoreadaboutresearchprojectswhentheycouldgetanyoneofa numberofbooksmorefocusedonthesubject.

Chapter 9
Chapter9wasinvaluablenowthatmyevaluationprojectiscomingupsoon.Iwassohappyto seethedifferentcomponentsoftheevaluationreportlaidoutandexplainedinmoredetail.This hasputmymindateaseandIfeelmorereadythanevertofinalizeitandsubmititforgrading.

Internet Readings
Iamgoingtofocusmyinternetreadingssummaryontheweek10readingsregardingsampling:
http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/Samplingguide.pdf http://www.wadsworth.com/psychology_d/templates/student_resources/workshops/res_methd/sampling/sa mpling_01.html%20

ThereasonforthisisthatIhadliterallyzeroexperiencewithsamplingpriortothiscourseand thesereadingswerethenewestformeasthecontentwasalmostly100%thingsIhadnever encounteredbefore. WhatIlovedaboutthesereadingswasthattheytookwhat,tome,isareallyscaryandunknown concept,andmadeitunderstandable.Thecoursetextexplainedwhatsamplingwas,butitdid notsinkinwithmethefirsttimeIreadit.BothofthedocumentsthatIlinkedabovecoveredmore

orlessthesametopic,butindifferentways.IwalkedawayfromthereadingsfeelinglikeIcould explaintosomeonewhoknewnothingaboutsamplingwhatthedifferenceswere.Italsoleftme withalotofquestions.IwonderedwhatsamplingmethodswereusedforsurveysthatIsawon TV.Whydidtheyneverdisclosehowtheysampled?Whyisthemarginoferrorseemingly always+/3%?Howdotheycomeupwiththatnumberanyway?Thereadingsansweredmany questionsIhadaboutsamplingandleftmecuriousaboutalotofthingsthatIencounteronan everydaybasis.