Introduction
A program evaluation is intended to measure the program outcome by means of checking the level of the students’ mastery of the new facts learned and skills received after using the program with educational purposes. The evaluators may use formative methods in order to compare the results achieved with the goals previously defined or summative methods in order to analyze the peculiarities of a certain institution and to choose the program, meeting all its requirements. But all the standardized evaluation methods may involve some uncertainties, that is why the alternative approaches are often used. Different types of questionnaires may be used with different purposes and can be referred to the formative or summative methods.The true-false questions and the scalar questions may be used as the questionnaire instruments with the purpose to evaluate the students’ attainments with the goals of the program or the level of implementation of the program.
Main body
As to the reliability of these instruments it can be measured by the consistency in results received. Use of true-false questions simplifies the students’ task compared to the open-ended format, for example. The chance to guess the right answers appears to them, but it means that the compiler of the questionnaire has to take pains in order to make the answers as unpredictable as it is possible. This instrument suggests a lot of possibilities for checking not only the knowledge, checking how knowledgeable the student is in this or that topic, but the skills received as well, as the evaluator is free to use not only theoretical but a practical part as well. The evaluation of results of this kind of questionnaire takes minimal efforts and the computer may be used for it. “Accuracy is achieved by minimizing sources of error as much as possible and obtaining an estimate of how much error remains” (Mertens, 2009, 380). The percentage of the occasional results is minimized on condition that the questionnaire is correctly composed and the questions concern different sections of the topic. On these conditions the sources of error are minimized, the results may be regarded valid and meeting the established criteria. Then the evaluators may use them for improving the existing educational unit or demonstration of the achieved or not achieved goals.
The scalar questions questionnaire can lead to important conclusions as well. Speaking about this instrument, it should be admitted that the questions must concern not only the students’ personal attitude towards the material, as it may be regarded subjective but the questions concerning different sides of the problem and different dimensions of it too. Though this instrument of survey will always bring to partial uncertainty of the results presupposed by the psychological peculiarities of the students, it still may be used effectively, while demonstrating the general level of the students’ knowledge and skills received and their personal attitude to the subject and the whole program consequentially. It is much more difficult to establish the reliability and validity for the results of this questionnaire. Every piece of this type should be taken separately and the personal traits of the student should be taken into consideration, so that it is preferable that the evaluator should be personally acquainted with the student. However, Fitzpatrick admitted that it can lead to the conflict of interests (Fitzpatrick, 2004, 267). The results of the evaluation process may be used for improving the educational unit and attracting attention to its weakest points.
Conclusion
In order to increase the reliability of the evaluation the teachers, school administrators or psychologists may also use the “ex post facto evaluation”, comparing the results of the same questionnaires conducted at different periods of time or comparing the results of different groups. Both true-false questions and the scalar questions may be used effectively, the choice of the instruments should be determined by the goals of evaluation and its character.
Reference
Fitzpatrick, J.L., Worthen, B.R. & Sanders, J.R. (2004) Program Evaluation: Alternative Approaches and Practical Guidelines. Pearson/ Allyn Bacon.
Mertens, D.M. (2009) Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology: Integrating Diversity with Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods. SAGE Publications.