Office :  
  213B Willard Hall
Newark DE 19716-2922		  
  Contact:  
  Phone : 302-831-1651
Email: hampel@udel.edu		  
 
   
 EDUC 863  
Principles of Educational Evaluation—Spring, 2006
Professor  

Robert Hampel

213B Willard Hall
Hours by appointment

Phone : 302-831-1651 (O), 302-658-6346 (H)

 
   

Readings

 

Carol H. Weiss, Evaluation (Prentice Hall, 2d ed.)
Occasional handouts in class

Course description

  

This graduate seminar focuses on program evaluation. I hope you will acquire the following four skills:

--Comprehension of the key terms used by program evaluators

--Awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches to, and methods of, program evaluation.

--Ability to gauge the caliber of any program evaluations you read in the future

--Ability to design a technically sound and politically feasible program evaluation.
 

Course requirements

 

It is crucial that you link our readings and class discussions with an evaluation of your own. Weiss ties her points to specific examples; I will connect my comments to particular cases; and you should relate your work to an evaluation. To do that, you will critique a completed evaluation as well as design a new evaluation as we read Weiss. Later in the term, you will carry out one part of that design. See the third page for the due dates and the weights of the assignments in the course grade.

Please let me know if you cannot attend one of our sessions. More than two absences will require make-up work. I can always be reached at the office, at home (before 10pm), or by email.

Reading assignments and discussion topics

  

2/9 Course overview

--Your preconceptions of program evaluation

--Your past experiences with evaluations

2/16 Why evaluate? (Weiss, Chs. 1, 2, 14; Handout)

--Differences between pure and applied research

--Why isn’t informal evaluation sufficient?

2/23 Understanding the program ( Weiss, Ch. 3)

--Why are most programs complicated?

--Why is it necessary to ascertain the “program theory”?

3/2 Planning an evaluation ( Weiss, Ch. 5 first, then Ch. 4; Coalition of Essential

Schools handouts)

--How should the evaluator work with the “stakeholders”?

--How can you focus an evaluation yet keep it flexible?

--Qualitative vs. quantitative methods: false dichotomy?

3/9 Data and measures ( Weiss, Ch. 7 first, then Ch. 6)

--How to select from the vast array of measures

--How to scrutinize the readily available measures

--Pointers on interviews

3/16 Technical considerations (Weiss, Chs. 8 and 9)

--Unit of analysis, time series, control groups, comparison groups, selection

bias, and randomized experiments: what does the non-statistician need to know?

3/23 Analysis and communication of your findings (Weiss, Chs. 12 and 13; Handout— debate between Michael Patton and Carol Weiss)

--What are the most difficult steps in Table 12.1?

--How can evaluators disseminate their findings?

--How can evaluators influence decision-makers and other stakeholders?

3/30 Spring break

4/6 Presentation and discussion of your proposals

4/13 Qualitative research (handouts)

4/20 Quantitative research (handouts)

4/27 No class--Individual meetings with the instructor

5/4 Ethical issues in program evaluation (handouts)

5/11 Presentation and discussion of work done since April 6th

Assignments and Due dates

 

2/23 Logic map with explanation (3pp) Bring 18 copies of the map

3/23 Critique of an evaluation done in/on your worksite (6-8pp)

 4/5 (by noon) Evaluation design (8-12 pp)

 5/10 (by noon) Evaluation results (7-10pp)

 Course grade: logic map (10%), critique (25%), design (40%), and results (25%).

Insightful class participation can raise grades on the borderline. For any work that is unsatisfactory (C+ or lower), you will have the opportunity to redo it, with the new and old grades averaged.

 
 
Copyright ©2000 Robert L. Hampel. Feb 01, 2006.
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