CURRICULUM STUDIES

(TSL3143)

TOPIC 6:
CURRICULUM EVALUATION

LECTURER: MS KEE LI LI
OPTION: PISMP SEM 8 TESL 1
 SYNOPSIS

• Topic 6 introduces you to the key concepts and

issues related to curriculum evaluation.
• It provides insights to the various forms of
evaluation in curriculum.
• It also discusses a variety of methods and tools
can be used to conduct evaluation.

2
 LEARNING OUTCOME

By the end of Topic 6, you will be able to:

• explain the term curriculum evaluation
• explain forms of evaluation
• summarise the purposes of curriculum
evaluation
• discuss a variety of methods used in conducting
the evaluation

3
FRAMEWORK OF TOPICS

4
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
• Evaluation is a disciplined inquiry to determine
the worth of things.
• ‘Things’ may include programmes, procedures
or objects.
• Generally, research and evaluation are different
even though similar data collection tools may be
used.

5
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
The three dimensions on which they may differ
are:
• First, evaluation need not have as its objective
the generation of knowledge. Evaluation is
applied while research tends to be basic.
• Second, evaluation presumably, produces
information that is used to make decisions or
forms the basis of policy. Evaluation yields
information that has immediate use while
research need not.
6
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
The three dimensions on which they may differ
are:
• Third, evaluation is a judgment of worth.
Evaluation result in value judgments while
research need not and some would say should
not.

7
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
• Evaluation is the systematic and objective
assessment of an activity, project, programme,
strategy, policy, topic, theme, sector, operational
area or institution.
• As an essential part of the policy development
process, evaluation provides timely
assessments of the relevance, efficiency,
effectiveness, impact and sustainability of
interventions.

8
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
Evaluation is essentially about:
• Are we doing the right thing?
• Are we doing it right?
• Are there better ways of achieving the results?

9
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
Evaluations should:
• provide assessments of what works and why,
highlight intended and unintended results, and
provide strategic lessons to guide decision-
makers and inform stakeholders;
• provide evidence-based information that is
credible, reliable and useful, enabling the timely
incorporation of findings, recommendations and
lessons;

10
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
Evaluations should:
• feed into management and decision-making
processes as a key component to managing for
results;
• inform the planning, programming, budgeting,
implementation and reporting cycle;
• improve the institutional relevance and the
achievement of results, optimise the use of
resources, provide client satisfaction and
maximise the impact of activities
11
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
Evaluations should:
• involve a rigorous, systematic and objective
process in the design, analysis and
• interpretation of information to answer specific
questions, based on agreed criteria and
benchmarks among key partners and
stakeholders.

12
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
• Evaluation is the process of collecting data on a
programme to determine its value or worth with
the aim of deciding whether to adopt, reject, or
revise the programme.
• Programmes are evaluated to answer questions
and concerns of various parties.

13
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
• The various parties include the public who want
to know whether the curriculum implemented
has achieved its aims and objectives; teachers
who want to know whether what they are doing
in the classroom is effective; and the developer
or planner who wants to know how to improve
the planned curriculum.

14
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
• As such curriculum assessment is concerned
about the assessment of the merit and worth of
a program of studies, a field of study, or a course
of study.

15
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
• Curriculum evaluation should be concerned with
assessing the value of a program of study (all
the planned learning experiences over a
multiyear period for a given group of learners), a
field of study (all the planned learning
experiences over a multiyear period in a given
discipline or area of study), and a course of
study (all the planned learning experiences for a
period of 1 year or less in a given field of study).

16
 DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
• Curriculum evaluation can be defined as the
collection and provision of evidence, on the
basis of which decisions can be taken about the
feasibility, effectiveness and educational value of
curricula.

17
 THOUGHTS - CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
Curriculum evaluation is an attempt to throw light
on two questions:
• Do planned learning opportunities, programmes,
courses and activities as developed and
organised actually produce desired results?
• How can the curriculum offerings best be
improved?
McNeil (1977)

18
 THOUGHTS - CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
The aim of curriculum evaluation is to identify its
weaknesses and strengths as well as problems
encountered in implementation; to improve the
curriculum development process; to determine the
effectiveness of the curriculum and the returns on
finance allocated.
Gay (1985)

19
 THOUGHTS - CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
The formal determination of the quality,
effectiveness, or value of a programme, product,
project, process, objective, or curriculum.

Worthen and Sanders (1987)

20
 THOUGHTS - CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
The process of delineating, obtaining, and
providing useful information for judging decision
alternatives.
The primary decision alternatives to consider
based upon the evaluation results are: to maintain
the curriculum as is; to modify the curriculum; or to
eliminate the curriculum.
Oliva (1988)

21
 THOUGHTS - CURRICULUM
EVALUATION
A process or cluster of processes that people
perform in order to gather data that will enable
them to decide whether to accept, change, or
eliminate something- the curriculum in general or
an educational textbook in particular.

Ornstein and Hunkins (1998)

22
PHASES OF CURRICULUM EVALUATION

• Aspects of the curriculum to be evaluated

• Data Collection
• Analysis of Information
• Reporting of Information

23
ASPECTS OF THE CURRICULUM TO BE
EVALUATED

• The evaluator determines what is to be

evaluated which may be the total school system,
a particular district, a particular grade level or a
particular subject.
• The objectives of the evaluation activity are
clearly stated.

24
 DATA COLLECTION

• Identify the information to be collected and the

tools for collecting the data which may involve
interviews, giving of questionnaires, tests,
collection of documents and so forth.
• The evaluator also identifies the people from
whom data is to be collected.

25
 ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION

• The data collected is analysed and presented in

the form of tables and graphs.
• Statistical tools are often used to compare
significant differences and to establish
correlation or relationship between variables.

26
 REPORTING OF INFORMATION

• Reports are written describing the findings and

interpretation of the data.
• Based on the findings, conclusion is made on
the effectiveness of curriculum implementation
efforts.
• Recommendations are made to reconsider
certain aspects of the curriculum.

27
 FORMS OF EVALUATION

• Evaluation is the process of determining the

significance or worth of programmes or
procedures.
• Scriven (1967) looked at evaluation as
 formative evaluation
 summative evaluation

28
FORMS OF EVALUATION

FORMATIVE EVALUATION

29
 FORMS OF EVALUATION

• As the term formative indicates, data is gathered

during the formation or development of the
curriculum so that revisions to it can be made.
• Formative evaluation may include determining
who needs the programme (e.g. students), how
great is the need (e.g. students need to be
taught ICT skills to keep pace with expansion of
technology) and how to meet the need (e.g.
introduce a subject on ICT compulsory for all
students).
30
 FORMS OF EVALUATION

• In education, the aim of formative evaluation is

usually to obtain information to improve a
programme.
• In curriculum evaluation, formative evaluation
can be considered to be the process that looks
for evidence of success or failure of a curriculum
programme, a syllabus or a subject taught
during implementation.

31
 FORMS OF EVALUATION

• In formative evaluation, one would evaluate the

fit between the instructional strategies and
materials used, and the learning outcomes or
what it aims to achieve.
• Sometimes, the learning outcomes in a
curriculum plan and the learning activities may
not fit or match.

32
 FORMS OF EVALUATION

• For example, teachers may want their students

to develop speaking skills but there are no
learning activities which provide opportunities for
students to practise speaking skills.
• Review of the curriculum plan through formative
evaluation may provide useful information for
modifying or adapting selected strategies.

33
 FORMS OF EVALUATION

• In formative evaluation students may be

included to review the materials to determine if
they can use the new materials.
• From these formative reviews, problems may be
discovered.

34
 FORMS OF EVALUATION

• For example, curriculum documents may contain

spelling errors, confusing sequence of content,
inappropriate examples or illustrations.
• The feedback provided by the students could be
used to revise and improve instruction as well as
make decisions on whether to adopt or adapt a
programme.

35
FORMS OF EVALUATION

SUMMATIVE EVALUATION

36
 FORMS OF EVALUATION

• As the term summative indicates, data is

collected at the end of the implementation of the
curriculum programme.
• The effectiveness of a programme can be
through summative evaluation which can be
done after new course materials have been
implemented in full or several months to years
after the materials have been implemented in
full.

37
 FORMS OF EVALUATION

• This type of evaluation assesses whether or not

the project or programme can perform as the
designers intended.
• It considers cost effectiveness in terms of
money, time and personnel.
• It also assesses the training that teachers might
need in order to implement a programme
successfully.

38
 FORMS OF EVALUATION
• It determines whether a new curriculum
programme, syllabus or subject is better than
the one it is intended to replace or other
alternatives.
• These evaluation outcomes can be determined
through formal assessment tasks such as marks
obtained in tests and examinations.
• Other than quantitative data to determine how
well students met specified objectives, data
could also be collected through qualitative
methods such as interviews, direct observations,
and document analyses. 39
 PURPOSES OF EVALUATION
• Evaluation is the process of obtaining
information and using it to make judgments
which in turn are used in decision-making.
• It is systematic, natural and on-going activity
which is planned and purposeful.

40
 PURPOSES OF EVALUATION
There are many purposes of evaluation. These
include:
• Implement changes to improve teaching learning
outcomes of future courses
• Remedy weaknesses of course in progress
• Explain or confirm existing procedures
• Establish accountability ( value for money)
• Extend teacher’s knowledge about practice.
(CPD)

41
 EVALUATION METHODS AND TOOLS
• The methods of data collection and the
instruments used are more or less similar for
both formative and summative evaluation.
• The common evaluation methods used in
curriculum evaluation are interviews,
observations, tests, survey, documents and
portfolios which are record of work or products.

42
 DOCUMENTS
• To get impressions of how a programme
operates without interrupting the programme;
one can review the memos, minutes, etc to get
a comprehensive and historical information
about the implementation of the programme.
• However, one has to be quite clear about what
looking for as there may be massive amount of
documents.

43
A SUMMARY OF DATA COLLECTION METHODS

44
45
 EXERCISE
• Why do you need to evaluate curriculum?

• What’s the difference between formative and

summative evaluation?

• What data collection methods and instruments

can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the
KSSR English language curriculum?

46
 THE END

THANK YOU

47