The Art of Evaluation:
A Handbook for Educators and Trainers

Tara Fenwick, University of British Columbia
Jim Parsons, University of Alberta

246 pages
Paper, ISBN 1-55077-104-3, $36.95 CDN / US

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SAMPLES:
Contents and Introduction
First page of each chapter

An instructor can know all there is to know about evaluation and still have a difficult time evaluating students well. This book offers practical ways to plan evaluation and develop tools to record and report learner growth. The underlying theme is that good evaluation involves the learner throughout the whole learning experience and is not simply a judgment by an instructor at the end of a course. The book systematically reviews many aspects of learner evaluation from different perspectives and provides practical suggestions about how to conduct evaluation in different contexts to benefit all concerned.

The Art of Evaluation is essential reading for educators and prospective educators who are concerned about the critical role of evaluation in the learning process, and want to know how to improve their own assessment approaches and enable learners to assume active, meaningful roles in evaluating their own learning.

INSTRUCTOR'S MATERIALS: The charts and forms included in this book are available in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. For more information, please contact the publisher.

REVIEW by Susan Elliott-Johns in Professionally Speaking

"This book is very timely as educators across the country continue to grapple with the complex issues involved in authentic evaluation. Written by two Canadian university professors, it pulls together an invaluable collection of resources related to the theory and practice of evaluation and underscores the importance of what we are doing, and why we are doing it, if we are to better understand how to evaluate. Although the book is directed specifically towards instructors in adult education, many examples are equally informative and applicable whether one teaches primary or postgraduate students. This is an excellent resource."

Susan Elliott-Johns, a former principal in Ontario, is currently completing her PhD at McGill University and teaches at the University of Prince Edward Island.

CONTENTS

1. Is Anybody Learning Anything out There? ÷ The importance of authentic evaluation; Nine purposes of evaluation; Principles of authentic evaluation; Four traps in evaluation;

2. Evaluation of You and Your Teaching Philosophy ÷ Examining your own beliefs; Reflecting on your own learning and teaching biography; The dilemma of evaluating other adults; The evaluative context;  

3. What Do You Want Learners to Know? ÷ Why should the evaluation take place?; What should be evaluated?; How should the evaluation be done?; What do you want learners to know?; What does the institution want to know?; Approaches to evaluation; Validity and  evaluation;

4. Developing Criteria for Evaluation ÷ Criterion, normative, and self-referenced evaluation; Choosing a frame of reference; The source for criteria in criterion-referenced evaluation; Establishing developmental criteria; Indicators of criteria; Involving learners in developing indicators;

5. Choosing among the Alternatives ÷ Multiple methods; Choosing assessment methods; Questions to consider before using an evaluation strategy; Questions to consider after using an evaluation strategy; Involving the learner in assessment; Questions to consider before evaluating learnersâ progress; Management and record-keeping;

6. Evaluating Mastery of Technical Skills ÷ Two kinds of knowledge in technical skills; Operations involved in learning a new skill; Context and transfer in skill learning; Coaching and evaluating skills;

7. Evaluating Performance Objectives ÷ Defining objectives for technical skills; Pre-test/post-test approaches to determine skill levels; Choosing criteria for evaluating performance objectives: Begin with the learners; Evaluating entry-level skills;

8. Evaluating Growth in Conceptual Knowledge ÷ New knowledge is actively constructed, not passively absorbed; Everyone creates a personal knowledge; Learners construct new knowledge in different ways; Some assessment measures can strangle conceptual growth; Putting it all together;

9. Evaluating Levels of Conceptual Growth ÷ Bloomâs taxonomy; Using Bloomâs taxonomy; Formats that assess levels of understanding; Limitations of Bloomâs taxonomy;

10. Evaluating "Relational" Skills ÷ How to talk about relational skills; Relational wisdom; What can and canât be measured; Selecting criteria for measuring relational skills;

11. Towards a Dynamic Assessment ÷ The problem with conventional assessment; Dynamic assessment÷an empowering alternative; Approaches to using dynamic assessment; How to incorporate dynamic assessment in classrooms; Constructing tasks for dynamic assessment in classroom situations;

12. Helping Learners Evaluate Themselves ÷ Why self-evaluation is a critical goal; Using self-assessment; Beginning self-assessment; Methods that prompt ongoing, informal self-evaluation; Methods for formal self-assessment;

13. Building Evaluation into the Learning Process ÷ Focusing the learners on assessment; Opening evaluation activities; Mid-process evaluation activities to be used during instruction; Follow-up activities for ongoing evaluation;

14. Evaluating for Grades ÷ The meaning of a grade; What does a grade mean to you, the instructor?; What grading means in an educational institution; Grade curves; Deriving the grade: issues to consider; Alternate methods of deriving grades; Maximize your minimal time; Reporting grades to learners; Trouble-Shooting;

15. Evaluating Yourself as an Instructor ÷ Expanding self-evaluation and growth; Returning to your beliefs; Evaluating learner satisfaction; Learner reports to instructors; Questioning your own practice as an evaluator.

Toolbooks ÷ Assessing Portfolios; Assessing Learner Journals; Evaluating Written Assignments; Assessing with Video; Assessing through Performance Observation; Using Rating Scales; Using Participant Course Evaluations; Using Learner Contracts; Using Case Studies for Evaluation.

Index

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