Program Evaluation Can Be Defined

Program evaluation can be defined as the measurement of effects of a program through research; this is done focusing on the goals, outcomes, or criteria of the program. Program evaluation is usually necessary in a situation where the policy cannot be changed or fixed. The challenge that is usually faced is the determination of the effectiveness of the evaluation and if the impacts are observable. The best way of determining the effectiveness of such a program is through impact analysis a process that can provide useful information. This can be done by describing the outcomes of the program.

It is always expected that program evaluations entail a bit of original research design and may also involve what is referred to as triangulated strategy. This refers to 2 to 3 research designs such as a quantitative study, qualitative interviews, and a secondary analysis of data which has been obtained from a precious program evaluation. The major steps used in conducting an evaluation are; hypothesis, sampling, designing, and interpretation respectively (McNamara, n.d).

The first step, which is hypothesis, is a very crucial one. The person conducting the evaluation must come up with hypotheses that are not only sensible, but those that are theoretically significant or relevant to the issues being evaluated. The hypotheses must be drawn from within the discipline that is being studied. This step is followed by sampling which is usually not random, in most cases experiments or time-series are the most appropriate that can be used by evaluators. In designing instruments, indexes, or scales which have been employed by preceding researchers are replicated, these are usually those that evaluated the same kind of study. In rare circumstances the evaluator may opt to undertake a personal development, protestation, and validation of the scale. The last step involves interpreting the results which usually culminates into preparation of reports. The reports may be lengthy evaluation, shorter report, or executive summary. Additionally interim and progress reports may be done by evaluators from time to time.

To determine if the course is effective a number of things must be looked into, these include the results, behavior, learning, and reaction (Kirkpatrick, 1959). The first step is observing the reaction of those involved in the course, i.e. The students, a positive reaction may signify success while negative reactions may mean that the course will be less effective at the end. The next step is determining how much knowledge has been gathered by the students. The reaction exhibited from the students may not indicate how much they will learn thus it is important to determine this. What has been learnt will as well play a major part on the subsequent steps. The knowledge and skills acquired by the students can be observed through the change of attitudes after the teaching of the course. This leads to the next step which is determining behavior change which comes about due to the learning of the course. The last step is observing the results, which is measured by the benefits derived by the students from learning the course.