Philosophies of Evaluation

Evaluation is the process of collecting and analyzing data gathered through one
or more measurements in order to render a judgment about the subject of
evaluation.
In the educational setting, evaluation is conducted to determine students
progress toward and achievement of program outcomes; the effectiveness of the
educational process in fostering student learning; and the success of the
program in accomplishing its mission of preparing professional nurses for entry
into practice. (Evaluation on college laboratory and clinical practice setting)
Types of Philosophies of Evaluation
Objective approach
Characterized by an emphasis on the achievement of the course objective and
program goals as the primary focus of evaluation.
Assumes learner to have a deficit in knowledge, skills and attitude that is
amenable to education.
Assumes that all behaviors related to clinical practice are reflected in course
objective through clinical experience.
Learning is represented in movement from the existing level of performance to
the ideal level of performance.
Service orientation
Holds a more global or holistic view of the goals of the educational process
wherein a student is compared with the typical or the ideal student performance
which serves as a basis or standard.
The purpose is to ensure realistic portrayal of desired behavior in clinical setting
to identify students strength and weaknesses.
Judgment perspective
Focuses on endpoint evaluation process: the determination of the acceptability of
students performance and the value (grade) that should be assigned to that
performance.
Pass or fail or numerical grading
The judgment perspective enables the clinical instructors to identify and label as
unacceptable certain behaviors that warrant removal of the students from the
clinical area or the course.
Constructivist view
Give greatest consideration to stakeholders (employers of program graduates or
recipients of care)
The instructor will ask what is most important to stakeholders and evaluate
students in relation to their standard.
 Will seek input from staff and patients to evaluate students performance to
determine students clinical grade.
Purposes of Evaluation
Identification of existing ability and aptitude, which provides a base upon which
further learning can be built.
Identification of learning needs or observed deficits or missed opportunities that
should be addressed during the clinical experience;
Assessment of progress toward achievement of course objectives; and
Judgment concerning students achievement of a satisfactory level of
performance at the conclusion of the clinical experience.
Purpose according to type of evaluation:
Process Evaluation (a.k.a happiness rating) assess the degree to which
students and instructors were satisfied with the experience.
Product evaluation concerned with the immediate results of the education
experience, that is, whether students learned. Product evaluation is reflected on
clinical evaluation form used to rate students performance, as well as in students
self-evaluation.
Outcome evaluation focuses on changes in behavior that persist after he
educational experience has ended, or the retention of learning which reflects in the
success in transferring learning to other clinical settings and ability to build
knowledge and skills acquired at one level of the program in successive course.
Impact evaluation attempts to identify changes in health care delivery and
outcomes of care that can be attributed to program graduates.
Program Evaluation assesses the degree to which program goals and outcomes
are being achieved.