EDTECH 505 Syllabus

EDTECH 505 Course Syllabus (Fall 2013)
EDTECH 505: Evaluation for Educational Technologists
Instructor: John T. Thompson, Ph.D. Office Hours: As needed. (Contact Dr. Thompson via cellphone or email to set up an office visit via Skype.com or other synchronous Web conferencing application.) Skype: john.thompson62 Email: johnthompson1@boisestate.edu Phone: 716-860-0341 cellphone (Eastern time – two hours ahead of Boise time)
Course Description and Prerequisites Procedures for evaluating educational programs, training systems, and emergent-technology applications. Prerequisites: EDTECH 501, EDTECH 503
Course Objectives The goals of this course are for students to learn important concepts and practices in the field of evaluation including: management, models, data sources, analysis, and reporting results. The unofficial version of these is to empower you to become a consumer of research, and give you the tools to skillfully evaluate educational materials. Why the emphasis on evaluation research? Program evaluation is the single area of research application that most links researchers to practitioners. Program evaluation investigates the effectiveness or impact of interventions and social programs. One engages in program evaluation research to learn which aspects of a program are working and which are not. This is a pivotal course in your degree program. You will learn the process of planning evaluation research, design data collection instruments, and analyze data. These skills are critical if you write grants, a thesis, dissertation, or article for publication in an educational research journal. They are also critical if you are in the position of evaluating the effectiveness of instructional practice, programs, software, curriculum, etc. Teachers, principals, program evaluators, instructional designers, district technology coordinators, and consultants are a few examples of people who might require these skills.
Plan of Study Impact
EDTECH 505 is a required course for the Educational Technology master’s degree programs. The major assignments for the class are important pieces of work that will be presented in the student’s final electronic portfolio.
Course Goals
1. Define a number of terms related to the field of evaluation and research and apply them to various projects
2. Describe what is meant by evaluation and its role in educational technology
3. Discuss the rationale for conducting an evaluation
4. Identify the role of and audience for evaluation
5. Describe an “Evaluator’s Program Description” and the uses for one
6. Describe similarities and differences between evaluation models, their components, and how they contrast with research models
7. Discuss types and levels of data as well as data collection tools
8. Discuss the issue of sampling as it applies to evaluation
9. Describe the rationale for and the components of an evaluation report
10. Select appropriate evaluation strategies and procedures for a given educational program or instructional product

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Course Materials Required Textbook
Title: The ABC’s of Evaluation (3rd ed.) Authors: John Boulmetis & Phyllis Dutwin Publisher: Wiley Copyright: 2011 ISBN: 978-0-470-87354-0
Description from publisher: “Thoroughly revised and updated, the third edition of bestselling The ABCs of Evaluation offers an introduction to program evaluation. This comprehensive textbook covers topics such as stakeholder relationships, program design, data collection and analysis, reporting results, and other important steps in the evaluation process. The ABCs of Evaluation shows how to select participants for the evaluation and how to deal with multiple goals and objectives—including those of the organization, the staff, and the client. The authors illustrate the circumstances under which each evaluation model can be used, and offer tips on identifying data sources and collecting the data. This revision includes substantially increased coverage of theory, methodological approaches, the business of evaluation, the evaluator’s role and responsibilities, RFPs and the grants process, logic models, data analysis, and writing the evaluation report. Also included are new cases and scenarios from various evaluation realms in social sciences, education, health, and human services. Throughout the book, charts, graphs, models, and lists help organize, extend, and facilitate the understanding of each evaluation concept.”
Recommended Book (but not required)
Title: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th Ed.) Publisher: APA
Author: APA Copyright: 2009 ISBN: 978-1433805615