Weeks twelve and thirteen: Analysis of data and results

Image: Numbers_graph.png by surachetch

Although the next two weeks are scheduled for you to analyse the data you have collected, most of you will not be at this stage. However, you can still have a look at some of the material and start thinking about how you are going to analyse and organise your results. Remember to give feedback to at least two others on their evaluation plans.

Things to do:

• View the presentation called Preparing evaluation results - questionnaire responses.
• To view the presentation in full screen click the icon at the bottom right of the slide.
• You can also look at the spreadsheet Descriptive statistics % Frequencies which accompanies the presentation to see how some samples of data have been analysed.

• Look at Helga Wientjes' draft evaluation report. Unfortunately some of the Figures are not appearing - unfortunately Helga is away so permission cannot be obtained to access the other Figures but there are some there to look at.
• Investigate some other examples of results and reports in the Resources area to see what others have done.
• Decide how you will present your data - tables, graphs (what type of graph).

Post your initial ideas to your blog and ask for help if you need enlightenment.

• Write descriptively about your results - again check out some examples.
• Submit a draft of your results to the lecturer via Digital Dropbox, your blog or via email.Remember to notify the lecturer on email when this is done.
  
• Post a summary of your results to your blog.
• Provide feedback to at least two other people on their blogs.

Weeks ten and eleven: Conducting your evaluation

Image: Focus Group Discussion by Singapore2010

The next two weeks are scheduled for conducting your evaluations - no worries if you are a little behind with finalising your plan - you can still organise times to collect data from your participants. Some of you have negotiated extensions and will be at a different phase to the class, and this is fine. There are some pointers for your plans further on in this post. Remember to make contact if you need advice.
Presentation
There was a remarkable turn out to Gordon Robinson's presentation about Maintenance Evaluation and you can listen to the recording if you were unable to make the session. It was very informative and interesting and Gordon and Craig told us about the Blender resource they use to ascertain the suitability of their training courses for eLearning. More on this later.

Plans
It is great to see so many plans up and running for us to give feedback on. People have been sending out email notices and links so make sure you give feedback to at least two people's plans. I will be giving detailed feedback on your draft plans so make sure if you have your plan on Google documents that you provide access for me - add me as a collaborator - I wont be re-writing your plan but will be able to add comments. Thanks to those of you who have done this already.

Some general tips
A few things have come to light as I am reading your plans.

• Check the assessment and marking criteria to make sure you have included everything - my feedback will help with this.
• Remember to prepare the plan as if you are writing a proposal to present to your managers, and/or people who know nothing about your work.
• Write in third person not first person
• Introduction - this needs to give a brief overview of the evaluation and lead the reader into the structure of the proposal. See Michelle's introduction for her plan plus you need to outline the sections which will be in the plan which Michelle has not yet done, but which Rachel has done well in her plan.
• Sections can be shuffled around, for example - combine purpose and questions, combine sample and instrumentation etc. Whatever suits your approach to writing a plan as long as the items are included.
• Timeline and budget need to be as real as possible. For example if mentioning your time - estimate the hours and add a $ amount - this gives you some practice in thinking through how long this sort of project may take.

Theory and articles - where possible base your plan on a similar type of evaluation which you have read about.

• - the task you were given in previous weeks was designed to prepare you for this - so if you have not read an article or two about a current evaluation project you may be disadvantaged. Not only regarding time but also in having something theoretical on which to base your project - we can learn a lot from others' approaches.
• References - use APA referencing - include at least one article.
  
• Searching for articles - there is lots of stuff in the Resources area on the wiki so this is a good starting point.
• Internet searching - there are lots of open and free articles around.
  
• Remember to save to delicious and tag with eval09 so they go directly to the course wiki - material just in - area for others to see. You can also search delicious.
  
• MIT library searching - have a look on the library site. You can also request articles if not available electronically or are in other libraries in NZ.
  
• Google Scholar searching - search and if you have to pay for articles look for them in the MIT library journal database - failing that ask me as I have access to a University database.

Week nine: Prepare and present an evaluation plan

Image: Presentation area by Plutor
Now that you have your ideas for your evaluation projects coming together you can gather them up into a formal plan. I am impressed by the level of activity so far. Once you are happy with your draft plan you can present it to the class for feedback on your ideas. Some of you have already done this on your blogs, and others are waiting for my feedback before "going live". By the time I get round everyone, week 9 may well be over, however this is not critical as you can still begin organising the logistics for the evaluation for the next couple of weeks and some of you still have questionnaires etc to develop.
Things to do:

• Thursday 7 May 7-8pm NZST - attend a guest speaker presentation with Gordon Robinson via the Elluminate Meeting link. Gordon will speak about the evaluation plan he used for the 2008 course when he carried out a maintenance evaluation. The title of his talk is: Evaluation plan for the Hazardous Substances Awareness course.
• Choose a medium for your presentation. Straight on your blog is fine or you may wish to link from Google documents or create a separate slide show presentation.
  

• Check the suggestions for the presentation in the Assessment and Marking Schedule.
• Provide feedback to at least two other plans.
• Incorporate feedback and submit the written evaluation plan (Part two A: Negotiate and write an evaluation plan) in the Digital Dropbox in the course Learning Management System (let me know on email if you do this) or on your weblog or via email to the lecturer.
• If you prefer you can put your plan in Google docs and post a link to it on your blog - remember to publish it as a web page and give the lecturer access as a collaborator.