Continuum Research Methods

1) What is Educational Evaluation?
Introduction: definitions and terminology
-What is evalution?
-Why undertake evaluation?
-Who is evaluation for?
-Dimensions of evaluation
-What is the relationship between evaluation and research?
2) Modals and approaches in educational evaluation
-Approaches and models in educational evaluation
-Two overviews
-The Classical research model
-The illuminative evaluation model
-Other models of evaluation
-Ways of characterising research and evaluation questions
-The politics of educational evaluation
-Recent trends and developments in educational evaluation
3) Innovation and models of change
-Introduction
-The Concerns-Based Adoption Model
-John Harland and Kay Kinder: a typology of continuinh professional development outcomes
4) Research strategies and techniques for educational evaluation
-Quantitative and qualitative data
-Research strategies and techniques
-Experiments as a research strategy in educational evaluation
-Case studies as a research strategy in educational evaluation
-Design experiments as a research strategy in educational evaluation
-Research techniques in educational evaluation
-The case study for a multi-method approach
5) Planning and doing an evaluation
-Key questions when planning and undertaking an evaluation
-What is being evaluated?
-What form will the evaluation take?
-What pratical issues need to be taken into account?
-What questions will the evaluation address-
What use will be made of the findings?
-What types of data will be collected to help answer the evaluation questions?
-What techniques will be used to gather data?
-Who will gather data?
-What ethical considerations need to be addressed?
-How will the evaluation be reported?
6. Evaluation in practice: some examples of studies
-Example 1: A new science course for non-science specialists
-Example 2: An evaluation of a programme aimed at accelerating cognitive development
-Example 3: A thinking skills programme for primary school students
Summary
Glossary