Tips To Remember When Interpreting Your Findings
- Interpret evaluation results with the goals of your program in mind.
- Keep your audience in mind when preparing the report. What do they need and want to know?
- Consider the limitations of the evaluation:
Possible biases Validity of results Reliability of results
- Are there alternative explanations for your results?
- Have the different data collection methods used to measure your progress shown similar results?
- Are your results similar to what you expected? If not, why do you think they may be different?
Module 4 Summary:
To reiterate, we restricted the content of this module to the practice of question-generation. We did so because the quality of the questions asked during the process of program evaluation influence the types of data collected and the interpretations and recommendations made. Use your program’s purpose statement as the basis from which to ask questions about the effectiveness of programming and students’ learning. When the answers to your questions begin to emerge, the next step in the process is identifying recommendations and actions for program improvement.