Here’s an example of how we are using the model for our online tutored courses.
Level
1
(Satisfaction)
2
(Learning)
3
(Behaviour)
4
(Results)
Description
How do participants
feel about the course?
How do participants demonstrate learning?
How did individual practice improve?
How did we achieve organisational goals?
Application to NAU online tutored courses
Participants are asked to give us their views on practical aspects of the course. This includes such aspects as relevancy, content, duration, tutor support, and whether they would recommend the course in a post-course survey.
All our tutored courses are designed to enable participants to develop their practice as they learn. We therefore test this by asking participants to complete a pre-course survey in which participants indicate knowledge of topics covered and extent to which it is part of their current practice. At the end of the course, participants are asked to rate themselves again. We then analyse the difference.
To date, evidence on for this level has arisen out of case studies written for ConnectEd or colleagues taking the time to send in an update. This is valuable information and we will build on our evidence base by surveying course participants six months after they have taken a tutored course in order to gather data on this. For those of you who took a course in the Autumn, watch this space!
This is a difficult one to answer. Does a school with high performing educators lead to excellent student outcomes and more parents wanting to send their students to the school? John Hattie’s research on performance indicators shows that there are a range of factors that have a positive impact on student outcomes. And research on what influences parental school choice also comprises a range of factors1. Teacher PD is one of these factors so we have to be careful not to identify correlation as causation.
university.nae.school
1 http://www.internationalschool.info/choosing-the-right-school-and-the-survey-says/
https://www.mumsnet.com/surveys/choosing-a-school-important-factors-for-parents
Do you have any advice that will help us as we try to get better at evaluating our work in order to improve our impact on PD and student learning? Let us know in the Quality Assurance discussion area on NAU.
Kirkpatrick's evaluation model: How we use it