You will submit this assignment in Topic 4, but you should start this week to allow yourself appropriate time for implementation and data collection.
In real-life scenarios, evaluation efforts can span long time frames, and the focus of work that supports the evaluation effort shifts from early stage to late stage evaluation. In this topic, we explore the late stage evaluation activities that prepare for efficient and appropriate data analyses and communication of results with project stakeholders. Instructional designers must juggle several tasks when conducting formative evaluations. First, they are interacting with learners and delivering instruction. Second, they may be taking notes throughout the instructional experience regarding what is working well, what is confusing the learners, and what is requiring additional development. Third, they are identifying areas of improvement; many actionable insights stem from initial deliveries of new instruction, and instructional designers must be attentive to identify these revealing moments.
Topic 3 starts a two-week window devoted to the next assignment related to the evaluation plan. You will invest time across both Topics 3 and 4, concurrently delivering your instructional solution to learners and implementing the initial formative evaluations. While testing the instructional solution with learners, you will simultaneously collect data to inform the evaluation. Follow your detailed plans from Topics 1 and 2 to guide your efforts.
Topics 3 and 4 are connected due to the nature of the projects you are engaging in. In Topic 3, you should begin to implement your instructional solution, collect evaluation data, and start identifying ways to improve your instructional solution. During this process, keep detailed notes of your experiences. Maintaining a robust and updated researcher journal of your evaluation journey will be key to completing the main assignment in Topic 4, a reflection paper.
To ensure you have captured enough details to complete the upcoming Reflection Paper assignment, document your two weeks of evaluation efforts in detail. Take note of what goes well, what is challenging, and what “aha!” moments you have. Additionally, record any changes you make to your instructional solution or evaluation plan as well as your justification for the changes. As you do, refer to and keep in mind the prompts for the Topic 4 assignment.
Ensure all notes from your data collection/observations are saved for use on your reflection paper in Topic 4.
