3D1-9 Qualitative Evaluation, Data, and Measures - see details to questions below. Please follow the instructions given.

The three qualitative evaluation methods identified by McDavid & Huse (2013) were qualitative program evaluation, inductive approach, and holistic approach.

According to the article, Qualitative Program Evaluation Methods indicated that “qualitative methods are commonly used in evaluations in order to explore specific facets of programs and give voice to participants”. The qualitative evaluation methods can provide in-depth information that can assist in enhancing the quality of a specific program (Qualitative Program Evaluation Methods).

According to McDavid & Huse (2013) defined inductive approach, as a method that “starts with ‘the data’ namely narratives, direct and indirect (unobtrusive) observations, interactions between stakeholders and the evaluator, documentary evidence, and other sources of information, and then constructs an understanding of the program” p200.

The Holistic Approach defined by McDavid & Huse (2003) is “discovering the themes in the data, weighting them, verifying them with stakeholders, and finally, preparing a document that reports the findings and conclusions” p200.

In the article, “Measuring Change in a Short-Term Educational Program Using a Retrospective Pretest Design”, centered around the Pennsylvania Governor’s School International Studies having a summer program that gives gifted high school students a challenging introduction to the study of internal affairs. The program administrators wanted to understand the effect of the program on the student’s understanding of their knowledge surrounding the core issues (Moore & Tananis 2009). For the past four years the program administrators began using the retrospective pre-post design. The results from the pretest yielded that the students consistently overestimated their understanding of International Studies in the beginning. The program administrator found that using the “retrospective pretest items were more biases than pretest items in certain context” (Moore & Tannis 2009 p200). The authors concluded that the retrospective pretest perhaps could be the most effective way of capturing data that is accurate of pre intervention function than a pretest given before the program begins.

For this article, this learner would use the inductive approach for this article. This approach will allow the researcher and the program administrators to evaluate the program effectiveness through the data that was collected through the pretest, test that were administered throughout the course, and other data. This approach will allow for interviewing the participants throughout the five week program to determine if the students are learning and meeting the intended goal of the International Studies program. The program administrators can also observe the interactions between the participants.   

For this particular study, it would be important to test the students prior to taking the course, and then conduct weekly testing, and a final to determine the comprehension of the material. There would be periodic interviews and/or questionnaires to establish how the students feel, how the material is being presented, and feelings towards varying factors regarding the material. Since this is a five week course, conducting initial interviews, mid-course interviews, and an exit interview will allow the program administrators to get real time information in conjunction with the weekly testing. All of the information would be gather to compare testing to the interviews and questionnaires to have a more solid information regarding the program effectiveness. With this data collected over a period of years, the program administrators would have a more solid understanding if the program is beneficial.  

Reference:

McDavid, J. C., Huse, I., & Hawthorn, L. R. (2013). Program evaluation and performance measurement:                 An introduction to practice (2nded.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN:                                    9781412978316.

Moore, D., & Tananis, C. A. (2009). Measuring Change in a Short-Term Educational Program Using a Retrospective Pretest Design. American Journal of Evaluation,30(2), 189-202. doi:10.1177/1098214009334506

Reference:

McDavid, J. C., Huse, I., & Hawthorn, L. R. (2013). Program evaluation and performance measurement:                 An introduction to practice (2nded.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN:                                    9781412978316.