Evaluate

The evaluate phase is an important part of the process that is conducted throughout the instructional design (ID) process. It is in any designer's best interest to be constantly evaluating what they are designing. Instructional designers have two types of evaluation: Formative and summative. Formative evaluation occurs before the implementation stage while summative evaluation occurs after to "sum" up the design process. All evaluation has the main goal of determining the best way to make the design work - In our case, does the learner learn? 

So, how did our team evaluate during our time working on Redshift Education VR Instructional projects? 

FORMATIVE EVALUATION 

Formative evaluation can take many forms because it is intertwined in the initial process phases of Analyze, Design,  and Develop. Our goal was to make sure that at each step of our process, the materials or products being designed aligned with our initial analysis and design goals. For example, our team made sure that the intended audience was always at the forefront of each decision made. This allowed the team to ensure that our products would serve the audience that our client wants to reach. 

 
Prototype Test

Building a starting prototype and hosting a usability test is a great way to see if instructional designs work! Our team built informational and instructional prototypes to be tested by people that were similar to our target audience. 

First, we completed a short Qualtrics survey (online survey program) with five key questions about each prototype. 

Survey question examples for prototype usability test

Second, we pooled resources and attempted to contact as many people (who were close samples to our target users) willing to test out our instructional products. We aimed to find volunteers that were already connected to education or instruction; teachers, trainers, support staff. We were able to test our prototypes with several K-12 educators and language instructors. 

Third, we received useful feedback on everything from images used, color choices, instructional wording, graphic speeds, audio volume, navigation ease, and much more. As a team, we use this feedback to adapt and tweak our prototypes for usability and clarity. 

SUMMATIVE EVALUATION

A summative evaluation is completed once the final project has been in use for a period of time. Evaluation of the product as it is being used in a real-world environment makes sure that the product continues to be relevant and useful. Assessments are used to measure learning performance, user satisfaction, use and transfer of knowledge, and relatability of design. Two of the most common aspects of summative evaluation is to find out how users feel about our design and to find out if the knowledge learned is being used. Our client will be responsible for summative evaluations once the products are put into use. 

Click on any phase to explore more of the ADDIE model.

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