While designing these workshops I incorporated evaluation throughout the entire design process. The following is a summary of the evaluation strategies I used to conduct both formative and summative evaluations for this program.
Formative Evaluation
Expert Reviews:
Throughout the entire development process, but most intensively during the content creation portion, for these workshops, I consulted with members of the professional staff in my office. These individuals included the accommodations specialists and the director. These individuals are experts in the field of accommodations and disability services and thus could provide valuable feedback on what I was designing.
My process for this form of evaluation was, as I created and developed each piece of the workshops I would first ask the accommodation specialists for feedback. After I received feedback from them I would make the necessary changes the then send it to the director for her feedback.
When I would have these experts look over the materials I had created I would ask for feedback about the information that was being conveyed, the organization, the clarity, and overall usefulness of the materials. Once I made updates and edits suggested by these experts I would send the finalized materials out again for one more expert review.
Peer Reviews:
When it came to my second evaluation form, design reviews, I relied on classmates in my Instructional Design course to provide me with feedback on the content I created during the different steps of the design process. My classmates were in the process of designing instructional design plans as well, so they understood the different components of an instructional design plan. My classmates reviewed my work on a regular basis and gave me feedback that I used to improve the program as the semester progressed.
Summative Evaluation
This program launched in August 2017, and was unfortunately not a successful program due to lack of participants. Currently, I am in the process of conducing a summative evaluation of the program to determine how to best move forward with filling the gap in instruction these workshops were meant to fill.
As part of this evaluation, I have been in discussion with the professional staff in my office, primarily the accommodations specialists and the director, about why the program was not successful in attracting participants, as well as what can we do moving forward.
During a meeting I had with the professional staff we determined that the lack of participants was not due to anything I had done in the design of the program, but rather it is a characteristic of our student population. We determined that going forward a workshop series may not be the most effective way of reaching learners. We discussed potentially creating online videos that would be posted on our office website that would help fill the instructional gap these workshops were meant to fill.
Joe Tiner 