Evaluation in Teaching and Learning

In terms of teaching and learning, evaluation is a process where the learner, educator, or the learning episode is judged. There are different types of evaluation and evaluation modalities. You have probably participated in some type of evaluation in school or at work.
Evaluation is the last step in the teaching and learning process. When you teach patients, you use evaluation in order to consider whether a patient has understood and can apply information they have been taught. If evaluation demonstrates that learning objectives have not been met, then you would document the need for further teaching. As you have learned throughout this course, many factors impact readiness and ability to learn.
Types of Evaluation
Not only have you participated in evaluation of others during your educational careers, you have also been evaluated. You may have taken an exam, written a paper, or presented some information; all methods of evaluation. Evaluation falls into two categories, formative and summative.
Formative evaluation (also known as process) is ongoing throughout an educational episode. The educator evaluates as information is delivered and can make adjustments in content, teaching strategies, materials or the environment as needed (Bastable, 2008). For example, have you ever been in a classroom where the temperature is way too cold? How did the room temperature impact your ability to learn? Adjusting the thermostat is one example of a response to formative evaluation! Often educators will ask a question that helps them recognize whether the learner has understood material. If more clarification is needed, the educator can present information in a different way, or reinforce particular points.
Summative Evaluation (also known as outcome) occurs at the end of a learning episode. The focus of the summative evaluation is whether long term learning has occurred. In the sample teaching plan from week 4, teaching was done with a person with diabetes. Summative evaluation was used to measure whether the patient could choose an appropriate site for injection, and could administer insulin correctly, as they had been taught. Summative evaluation does not always take place immediately a learning episode is completed. For example, all of you have taken the NCLEX exam, a type of summative evaluation.
Summative evaluation has a variety of components and depending on the component being measured, will depend on when the evaluation takes place. Bastable (2008) discusses many types of summative evaluation in in chapter 14.
Of course, both formative and summative evaluation can be used together. Using both evaluation types in a teaching session can provide ample opportunity to make adjustments while information is delivered and to consider changes to enhance content for delivery in the future.
From your Bastable text this week, please focus on the following:
Chapter 14: Evaluation in Healthcare Education