N. Zimmermann/ H. Fahrun
Evaluation is the structured interpretation and giving of meaning to predicted or actual impacts of proposals or results. It looks at original objectives, and at what is either predicted or what was accomplished and how it was accomplished. So evaluation can be
formative, that is taking place during the development of a concept or during a seminar, with the intention of improving the value or effectiveness of the proposal of the project. It can also be
assumptive, drawing lessons from a completed action of the project or a finished seminar.
Focuses of reflection
Goal Achievement
- Group: Regarding the aimed interaction and cooperative learning in the group
- Topic: The coverage of the foreseen topical aspects
- Individual: Learning/development goals (in particular competency development, see below)
- Process: The proceeding of the collective learning process
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Methodology
- The choice of methods and their mix
- The ability of facilitators to implement their methodological concept
- Process moderation
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Content
- Coverage of the necessary thematical aspects in a satisfactory deepness
- Inclusion of knowledge from the field participation/citizenship/democracy and how it was connected to the goal of the training
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Space/Context
- Facility: Opportunity to learn, to cooperate, to meet, to feel well accommodated
- Group: Opportunity and ability to involve, interact, relate to the other learners
- Individual needs: Possibility to satisfy individual needs inside and outside the scheduled activities: social, cultural/spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional
- With special attention to special needs
- Inclusion of the local environment: in seminar work, in topical aspects
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Competency development
- Participant's acquisition of competencies
- Participant's development towards feeling self-empowered and their ability to democratic participation
- Your acquisition of competencies as a facilitator
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Management
- Event management, logistics, problem-solving
- Cooperation within the facilitation team
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Mixing methodologies for reflection
Take care for a range of different ways to assess and interpret the needed data - the findings and evaluation from your participants. The principle of method mix is valid as well for evaluation. Offer your participants variation in terms of
Method Mix: Reflection and Evaluation
Style
- Appropriate methods for your target group
Confidentiality:
- Anonymous, half-public, or public
Group Relation
- In a plenum, in other collaborative ways, or in individual work
Addresses different senses
- Individually speaking or dialogue, writing, or moving
Quantitative or qualitative?
How deep should or needs your evaluation go? When you want to know how your participants feel, you ask them to show you “thumb up/down”. Afterwards you know that ten persons feel well and three of them not so well. Or you ask detailed qualitative questions, with which you find out why they feel themselves like that or what they need to feel better. You use a quantitative and a qualitative method – both of them are all right, when they suit the situation, they often complement each other.
Results in colour or...
Choosing your method you should also consider the form, in which you need results. Language, pictures, photos… Many things are possible and they can complete a particular situation or also contrast it. It is important with most methods to formulate a question as concretely as possible.
As self-evaluation is crucial for independent learning, we include here as well methods, that help indicviduals to document learning outcomes, inspirations, insights in and individual way.
Participative Evaluation of Learning
There are situations where we don't like to face critical thinking, when we are tired after intensive days of facilitating, when we face confrontative discussions. On the other hand decisions are only good decisions when they reflect all perspectives. Having a diverse group in a seminar means having different tastes and impressions. Making the seminar relevant for all those individuals is a difficult task. Realizing this and accepting the gap between your planning and your realistically evaluated results is an important step. It’s your challenge of making the gap smaller.
An overview over different methods for evaluation for evaluation in between and at the end of a learning process.
Reflection and evaluation are inherent parts of the educational processes. They both can be divided into categories: within the facilitators’ team and between the facilitators’ team and the participants. Here we offer definitions for both of these terms.
Here you can find a self-assessment checklist for facilitators.
Reflecting Teamwork
Within a learning process trainers are during the whole time busy. They conduct the training steps, prepare their units and plan the next steps. And what is a leisure activity for their participants is sometimes as well a kind of duty - to mix with participants getting-to-know more about their needs, wishes and experience which they have no space to show in the concrete program activities. This energy-taking tasks should not prevent groups of facilitators to reflect and assess their cooperation. In regular team meetings it is time to reflect the teamwork until now, to evaluate it and to apply the plans for the next steps according to the needs of the team members.
“A teamwork makes the dream work” said someone once. We tweak it like this "reflective and constructive teamwork makes a seminar work".
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Example: Aquarium
A cooperative evaluation in a training. Each participant marks his or her fish. Near the surface means +, at the ground means -.
Evaluation is the structured interpretation and giving of meaning to predicted or actual impacts of proposals or results.
Our Handbooks
E. Heublein, N. Zimmermann
Holistic Learning
Second Handbook for Facilitators: Read more
N. Zimmermann/ H. Fahrun
A cooperative evaluation in a training. Each participant marks his or her fish. Near the surface means +, at the ground means -.
