I have spent a lot of time talking with you about updating your technology education to improve learning for very complex topics. This week’s post is about evaluating already existing curriculum.
An assignment for my 1 credit hour course that accompanies me teaching a for-credit course involved getting midterm evaluations from students and then assessment your course design. I received some very positive feedback, but I had one student who got very confused at week 3 in the course when I assigned two chapters at the end of the book. This student, and others, are demanding an orderly, organized curriculum where the student will not get confused when traversing the expanse of complex learning theories. 
My professor asked me to turn in my midterm evaluations and assess any changes I might make for the rest of the semester or for next semester. My student saying she/he was confused based on chapter order really made me stop and think…what if I move the topic of assessment from the semester beginning to the end? It actually makes sense because my students will have more background on WHAT to assess. This is a bit of a coup because I only teach one of three different courses on this same topic. We share midterms and final exams. I will see how my professor responds to my thoughts of mixing up topics in my class.
Just like my for-credit course evaluations, you want to use existing course design when working to revise your curriculum to improve learner outcomes. However, you must be most careful to not repeat what you have been do all along. If you do, you will get the very same learning outcomes. That defeats the purpose of updating course curriculum.
But you should not have to recreate the wheel. Instead you can use Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation model where yo:
- Determine students’ reaction to their learning and their environment. It is your own students who can gauge their own learning, and they know if your training has been effective.
- Determine if your students achieved the level of learning you want. This totally involves using assessment techniques like in-class projects and having your students tell you what they have learned. The key here is assessment, folks. How on Earth can you gauge your students’ amount of learning without assessing it?
- What your students’ behavior of using the skills you have taught. Stay in touch with them. Encourage them to advance their learning by taking more classes from you. Talk to other teachers.
- Determine your students’ results. You can do this by watching their web sites or their YouTube/Vimeo sites. Get to know where they post their work. Learn their blog address; show them how to create a blog and how to post their work.
The following is a visual of Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation (Wolf, Hill, & Evers, 2006). Click on it to get a bigger version.
The most important thing is to gauge your students’ reactions and learning outcomes. The Kirkpatrick model is a good way to systematically evaluate your students’ learning. You can then use this information to update your curriculum.
References
Wolf, P., Hill, A., & Evers, F. (2006). Handbook for curriculum assessment. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: University of Guelpho. Document Number)
