U.S.

ARMY COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER

Course Evaluation Format:
US Army Spouse Workshop: Understanding the structure and roles of the Brigade Combat
Team
1. OVERVIEW
There has been an ever growing need for an optional course that gives Army spouses the
opportunity to become better acquainted with Army unit structure. A detailed breakdown of a
Brigade Combat Team and how it functions will provide spouses with an in depth understanding of
specific jobs. The workshop will also take the time to highlight the importance of spousal roles
within a Brigade Combat Team and how those roles are directly and indirectly effecting the
Brigades readiness. This would allow them to be more in tune with why their Soldier trains the
way they do and would allow them to become more supportive of their job and its impact on the
organization.
This course will be provided to the new military spouse as the family begins to in process their
new duty station. It will be the responsibility of the post in-processing center to manage and
facilitate the course. As, this course is optional for new spouses it will be the responsibility of the
Soldier to encourage their spouse to attend the course. Soldiers will also be authorized to attend
the course with their spouse to provide comfort and support. The course will also be available
retroactively to any spouse that has an interest.
There will be two types of evaluations used during this course, formative and summative. These
evaluation methods are key to ensuring that the course content is being comprehended by the
learners based upon their individual feedback. Smith and Ragan (2005) tell us After evaluating
the performance of a group of students, the designer knows whether they have achieved the
objectives of instruction (p. 327). The formative evaluations will be taking place during the
course, allowing learners to provide feedback in real time. The summative portion of the
evaluation will take place at the end of the workshop in the form of an end of course survey. This
will provide the instructor and designer with the necessary feedback needed to enhance the
course for future learners.
2. FORMATIVE EVALUATION
This evaluation format will take place during the workshop. The instructor will have the ability to
make on the spot changes or improvements based on the feedback that is being provided.
Trying out materials with learners can help instructional developers determine where revisions
are necessary (Smith & Ragan. 2005, p. 327). With this only being a one-day workshop there will
the instructor will have to conduct these evaluations while moving through the course objectives.
There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. They are the views and opinions of
those involved.
Sample Questions:

What are your thoughts of how the content has been presented thus far?
Is the information being presented too complex for this program?
Is this program currently meeting your expectations?

What has been the most challenging portion of this lesson?

Is the course material relevant and up to date?

3. SUMMATIVE EVALUATION
This evaluation will take place at the end of the workshop in the form of an end of course survey,
provided digitally to the participants. The survey will assess how the participant perceived the
workshop overall. There answers will provide data on whether the course material and design
were effective in meeting the course goals and objectives. After all of the data is collected, the
information will be provided to the course stakeholders to give them an understanding of the
course appeal, effectiveness, and overall efficiency (Smith & Ragan, 2005). As to allow
participants to reflect on the information and instruction, they will be given one week to take the
survey. The questions will be presented using the Likert Scale and fill in answers.
See Appendix A for survey

References
Smith, P. L., & Ragan, T. J. (2005). Instructional design. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons.

APPENDIX A: Summative Evaluation

1. How likely is it that you would recommend the workshop to a friend or colleague?
Not at all likely
0

Extremely likely
2

10

2. Overall, how would you rate the workshop?

Excellent

Very good

Good

Fair

Poor

3. What did you like about the workshop?

4. What did you dislike about the workshop?

5. How organized was the workshop?

Extremely organized

Very organized

Somewhat organized

Not so organized

Not at all organized

6. Ho well did the workshop meet your expectations? Was is?

A lot better than expected
Worse than expected

Better than expected

About what I expected

A lot worse than expected

7. Were you given all necessary materials required for course success?
Yes

No

8. Was there enough time permitted for learning comprehension?

Yes

No

9. Was the workshop length too long, too short, or about right?
Much too long

Somewhat too long

Slightly too long

Slightly too short

Somewhat too short

Much too short

10. Is there anything else youd like to share about the workshop?

About right