Evaluation Cookbook

1. Identify resources
Find out from the lecturer what resources are available to the students. Hint

2. Decide what information you want to gather about the resources
This might be, for example: resources used, their usefulness, the number of times they were accessed, the difficulty of access, etc. Hint

3. Construct and administer the questionnaire
Hint

Example of a Resource Questionaire

4. Analyse the results
The results can best be collated by coding the responses on a spreadsheet either using the numeral 1 where the student has ticked the questionnaire or by using the numbers 1 (not useful at all) to 5 (extremely useful) to indicate the response.

Example of spreadsheet coding 1

Example of spreadsheet coding 2

Presentation of the results
When all the responses have been entered from the questionnaires, the results can be summed and the comments printed separately along with the resource and response which inspired them. Then the information can be presented in tabular form, as a bar chart or as a pie chart. Alternatively, the results can be displayed on a copy of the questionnaire.

From an analysis of the information, action can be taken to ensure that valuable resources are properly used. For example, the questionnaire may reveal the need for the timetabling of computer access, or perhaps for a clearer introduction to the package and how it is to be used. It will frequently show that where the package is not fully integrated in the course but is seen as an option, it will be used lightly. This should not surprise us; students like lecturers are busy people and seek strategies which have worked in the past to pass the exam.

One of the valuable aspects of the questionnaire is that it covers the entire suite of resources available to the student and therefore will also highlight problems with traditional resources as well as with innovations. So it is a worthwhile exercise even within a course where no new resource has been offered.