EDAC 634 Program Evaluation

	Roles	Commented On
Nicholas Capozzoli	Wrote introduction and reflection, compiled responses, completed final edits, posted to blog	Group 2 Narrative Learning Group 5 Feminist Pedagogy
Claire Maxson	Contacted professional reviewers, reviewed draft	Group 3 Self-Directed Learning Group 5 Feminist Pedagogy
Angela McGee	Reviewed draft	Group 2 Narrative Learning

Program Evaluation

Group 3 – Humanist Learning Theory

EDAC 634

Claire Maxson, Nicholas Capozzoli, Angela McGee

Introduction

Our program was designed to educate adult students on the importance of self-esteem in their everyday learning environment. Through research of the Humanist learning theory we determined that self-esteem is a vital step in a person’s ability to reach self-actualization, which Abraham Maslow noted to be the final step in his Hierarchy of Needs. 

       Maslow’s hierarchy reflects a linear pattern of growth depicted in a direct 
       pyramidal order of ascension. Moreover, he states that self-actualizing 
       individuals are able to resolve dichotomies such as that reflected in the 
       ultimate contrary of free-will and determinism. He also contends that 
       self-actualizers are highly creative, psychologically robust individuals 
       (Olson, 2013). 

Our goal was to develop a program aimed at forcing students to reflect on their current level of self-esteem, how it impacts their overall learning ability and how they can raise their self-esteem. The following list of questions would be administered to all students in the class:

1.      Define self-esteem.

2.      Is self-esteem important?  Why or Why not?

3.      How would one go about building self-esteem?

4.      How does self-esteem influence one’s education?

Once students have answered these questions privately, they would then be asked to pair off in small groups to reflect on how they came to their specific answers. Students will be asked to only share information they are comfortable with and no one will be made to feel embarrassed about their ideas.

Finally a group discussion will ensue where students should talk openly with one and other how their self-esteem is determined and steps they can take to raise their own self-esteem as well as others around them. 

Here is the link to our program design:
http://adultcommeduc.blogspot.com/p/program-design.html

Professionals Evaluations

Reviewer: Maureen Keller, MSEd.

Faculty, Foundations of Success

Ivy Tech Community College-Central Indiana

What Maureen likes most about the program.

Maureen stated that she thought the tabs were really well organized and pulled the program design together nicely. Along those same lines, she also thought there was an excellent full-circle description of how the connections of the topics originated within the group dynamics.  In regards to the rationale of the program, she really liked the context given in the rationale section specifically in relation to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. She thought the explanation of how self-esteem fit into the Hierarchy was well explained and that the classroom activities in the program section were very well described. Furthermore, she thought that the metacognition section helped shed some light on that topic and how it can be used to further adult education. Finally, she enjoyed program tackling the topic of self-love in an education environment. Although it can be a tricky one to describe, as she states, she enjoyed the fact that we introduced the concept in our program.

What should be improved? Why? How?

Maureen recommended that we do some re-ordering of words and phrases to make the program clearer. Specifically in the introduction paragraph, two sentences start with the word “How”. She thought they have great ideas attached to them, however they could be made stronger with the re-ordering of words. Also, she questioned whether we should use the 1^st person narrative in certain parts of the program. She also recommended we clarify the last sentence under the Hierarchy diagram, as she thought it was hard to decipher in relation to the rest of the paragraph.

As far as content was concerned, Maureen suggested we consider using “long-quote” formatting if a quote was going to be 40 words or more. Furthermore, she thought that although it may be necessary for “full disclosure” purposes, the “Journal to Self” information seemed out of place and could be re-order to make more sense. She also stated that while she enjoyed the journaling workshop, she thought it was too detailed in relation to the rest of the program. Finally, Maureen was confused by the context and connection between Confucianism and adult education. She recommended that it be more deeply explained for others to better understand.

Reviewer: Amy Stovall, MSEd.

Assistant Professor

Foundations for Success

Ivy Tech Community College

What Amy likes about the program.

Amy thought the premise of the program design was excellent. She liked that we were discussing self-esteem with adult learners to help them better understand this concept in regards to learning. She thought this program has not only academic applications but also personal and professional applications as well that could help students.

In regards to content, Amy thought the introduction and rationale provided a solid foundation to support the premise of the program. Furthermore, she thought the student activities were engaging and pertinent by using self-reflection as a strategy to build self-esteem. Finally, she liked that we were including a discussion on self-esteem in the program, because she thought it added depth and validity.

What should be improved? Why? How?

Amy commented that overall, she thought the flow of the program design was “terrific”, however she was concerned about how relevant the East meets the West component was. She thought this topic would be an interesting topic, however she thought it would be better served to either stand alone, or in another program where the subject could be given more depth and attention.

 Student Evaluations

After reading the six student evaluations of our program, the overall sentiment was positive. Many commenters agreed that the subject of self-esteem is a very important one, especially for students in post-secondary education. Another well received area of the design was the fact that we included time for self-reflection, with one classmate commenting on how this is a point that is often missed in these types of programs. A couple of people also commented on how they thought it would be very effective for new or incoming students to take this course, and that they wished they would have had the opportunity to take this type of program when they were in school. 

Some questions that were raised were about who exactly would be the target audience for this program and how it would be administered. Our primary thought was to offer this program as a part of either an incoming freshman seminar before students start college, or as a part of the curriculum in a first-year freshman seminar class. However, we would not want it to be limited to just new students, so we also envisioned possibly making the program into a student workshop for students of all ages and backgrounds.

Another important question that was raised was who would be teaching this seminar and if there would be trained professionals available to assist students. The commenters concern was this program could possibly bring up some feelings for the students due to the sensitivity of talking about low self-esteem. This is something we hadn’t really considered but needs to be addressed. Possibly we could include some from student services or health and wellness to be a part of the program when it is administered. If they are not available to be in the classroom, we could have contact information or brochures on hand to ensure students have access to all the support services they may need.

Amendments

After reading all the comments about our program, we now see several areas where improvements could be made. First, knowing that self-esteem is a touchy subject we want students to feel as comfortable as possible when taking the program. Therefore, we need to be sure that at no time does a student feel obligated to share their feelings or pressured to talk about their emotions in front of the class. This also would encompass the concern about having the right staff on hand to help students deal with any negative or uncomfortable emotions that might arise from the seminar.

Second, we want to be sure our target audience is not to small so that we are not missing out on helping a wide range of the student body. After reading some of the comments it was obvious that we did not explain clearly enough how we wanted to administer the program, so we should work on having a clear plan regarding who will take this seminar and when.

Finally, we need to alter our approach of trying to add in non-Western learning approaches and more clearly explain how these ideals fit into the seminar. Instead of just explaining the differences between Western and non-Western learning approaches, we should show students how different philosophies can be utilized and how it can help their self-esteem overall.

Reflection

This assignment posed several complications for our group from the start, however we worked well together overall to develop a solid program. One of the hardest parts for our group was simply establishing what we wanted our program to be about and how we could incorporate each other’s ideas into one cohesive, flowing plan. Once we established that we wanted to investigate self-esteem, we then figured out that was only half the battle. We still had to take all our different ideas about such a wide-ranging topic and formulate them into a program that we would be able to implement and would be effective for students. Through face to face meetings, email and our blog, our group could incorporate each other’s ideas into the model we presented. The whole program was a team effort and something each group member is proud of.

We are very appreciative to our two-professional reviewers for taking the time to read our program and offer their honest opinions about what they liked and how we could improve. We also are grateful to our fellow classmates for their supportive comments and for questioning us on areas they didn’t quite understand.  We know that feedback is important and the best way to improve is to constantly evaluate ourselves.

Conclusion

Below is a chart of each reviewer’s comments and suggestions on how we can improve our design.

Evaluator	Ideas for improving design	Revision ideas
Maureen Keller Ivy Tech	1.      The journal to self-information seems out of place. Consider rearranging for full disclosure purposes. 2.      The journaling workshop has too much detail.	1.      Re-evaluate how this fits into the design and alter its placement. 2.      Reduce the wording on this part.
Amy Stovall Ivy Tech	1.      Reorganize or element the East meets West brochure.	1.      We eliminate this portion form our design and reestablish it as a standalone project.
Classmate Comments	1.      Clarify a target audience 2.      Have professionals on hand to assist students.	1.      In the introduction, we will better explain who will take this program. 2.      Work with student services or health and wellness to have assistance on hand.