Wednesday 4th October
Dr. Frania Hall is a Senior Lecturer & Course Leader of MA Publishing at LCC, she went from industry into academic research as a teacher. She talks about the evaluative mindset – tools and practises for evaluation. How to apply these ideas to your Action Research project She recommends using evaluation as a way of understanding what works.
Evaluation as a starting point for research. The process of themes – research and evaluation cycles help build evidence to lead you to the next step. A force for positive good. Evaluation can be embedded into your process, becoming part of your practice.
Cite what is it you are evaluating, interventions, justice actions, embedding social purpose. Use pedagogical thinking, how are we monitoring whether these are working? How do we report on them and share best practise? Evaluation is about monitoring. Consider how can you drive change through the pedagogy you undertake. Who’s responsibility is it to evaluate? Typologies for evaluation. Educational enhancement. Evaluation if properly communicated can enhance your argument.
Evaluation
- Structured, objective
- Emphasis taking action and sharing
- Formalised for reporting
- Change narrative
Evidence – Knowledge – Sharing
Cycle of ‘what works’ model of evaluative practices. Interlinks with teaching, learning and design. Evaluation should be a part of my experimentation. Concerned with the quality of my teaching. Choose methodologies to collect appropriate data – for me that is via both staff and students.
Learning – Testing – Capturing information – Setting targets
A starting point to this cycle is experimentation
- Evaluative mindset
- Formal ways of capturing, reporting and sharing
- Develop a critical cycle of improvement
Create a framework
- Primary research – interview staff, pose five or six questions
- What are the benefits and barriers?
- Have the data to prove it
- Quotes from staff
- For students – relevance and value, being empowered, experiments
- Create a padlet as a trusted record
- There are lots of ways to collect data
Activity
- Is there information you need in order to plan your intervention?
- Are there tests you need to do to start your action?
- What baseline information do you need to structure it?
- Do you need to carry out a few interviews?
- Conduct a pilot survey?
- How could this support the decisions you make about your intervention?
I attend a breakout group with Kevin and Jackie online, we discuss my ARP.
- What do you hope for the students to gain? (As a first question).
- A physical workshop as a starting point.
- Ask for feedback at the end of the workshop.
- Use a survey (confidential)
- Ask – What have you gained from this workshop?
- Sustainability / craft used to embed a sense of social purpose
- How can we craft to embed a sense of social purpose into my course?
- Next – fill in the ethics form, that will help define the questions we need to ask.
The question & Analysis
How can I use craft to embed a sense of social purpose into my course?
Consider ‘Analogue Tuesday’ GB&I final year students did a workshop I helped design and organise last year making mock-ups of their creative concepts out of cardboard and Lego. They have to use physical resources and avoid using anything digital.
- Interview the second years who did that mock-up session – how did they find it?
- Interview Rachel Climate Justice course leader
- Interview George Carbon Literacy trainer
Plan
Documenting and evaluating that action – what next, evaluate again and again.
- How could I use craft to embed essential social purpose into graphic branding and identity? –
- Making
- Sustainability
- Materials
Don’t confuse action – do something different with your teaching practise, then see what happens – that is the evaluation.
I can plan third year interviews on a Friday afternoon at some point when they are in the studio and I’m not teaching. This is research that can be evaluated to help me develop my next steps.
What is research or evaluation? make the recording of this session again and make notes
- Next, print the ethics form tomorrow in college and fill it in over the weekend
- Monday start writing up what I’ve done so far, then reading and draw a plan of my actions for the coming weeks.
Capturing information
- Doing interviews, seeing which to progress
- Work out what works
- Evaluation is a positive thing
- Response to stakeholder concerns
- Lots of methodologies for collecting data
Doing an evaluation involves the students – inclusive, what might they need. Help students to know where they are in their learning journey. Formative assessment is a piece of data. Evaluation -pre, post and pro speculative.
Data
- Mixed methods
- Inclusive
- Ethical
- A reflective moment, a padlet
- All of it builds a picture
- Audio, captures comments
- Photography and draw the making
Find out if Analogue Tuesday is being repeated as a session this year? If they doing this in SIP (Final year students Self-Initiated Project) can I come in, conduct interviews and take photos? I am reminded that the evaluation process can help development. Create a partnership with students. Through my ARP students will reflect on their learning. Staff assess effectiveness, what words, adaptive as a process. Students have shifted from passive to learning.
I need to design a quote, question – identify an issue. Plan how you are going to do it – try something based on collected data and assess it. Share your findings, feed forward.
Tools
- Designed to collate research
- Design an evaluative sheet
- Evaluation short term and longer impact
- Acknowledge data you actually have – interview students who did analogue Tuesday last year
- Visual mapping
- A padlet 3 quotes 5 minutes
- Progress wheel
- Audio capture
- Observation – engagement in class
IMPORTANT
I need to speak to my teaching colleagues Sandra and Joanna to find out if they are teaching analogue Tuesdays in SIP this year?
Design a process for evaluation
How might you develop an evaluative process in your daily practise? A cycle of data. In a Workshop breakout room I meet with Monica, she support students and wants to evaluate how well the international students are engaged, settled in and integrated with European students. Attendance, if it isn’t good / drop out / why? With first year students evaluate how they are enjoying the courses, digital learning – loan a laptop etc. I give my GB&I first year students a tour of the building at LCC, they see all the amazing facilities available but I wonder if students actually know how to book these?
Think about evaluation throughout our practise, building positive, inclusive partnerships with students, making evaluation meaningful and relevant. Be open with students, ‘let’s try something if it doesn’t work let’s try something else’ I love this, it’s incredibly freeing to feel that something doesn’t have to be successful when it is experimental with a desire to facilitate change.