Open AccessA Critical Appraisal Model of Program Evaluation in Adult Continuing Education
Author(s) -
Faye Wiesenberg
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
canadian journal of university continuing education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0318-9090
DOI - 10.21225/d5kp4s
Subject(s) - continuing education , context (archaeology) , adult education , process (computing) , medical education , pedagogy , articulation (sociology) , higher education , critical appraisal , psychology , engineering ethics , sociology , political science , computer science , engineering , medicine , paleontology , politics , law , biology , operating system , alternative medicine , pathology
This paper describes a critical appraisal model of program evaluation that was developed specifically for a university continuing education context (i.e., credit and non-credit programs designed to meet the personal and professional development needs of adult learners). The articulation of this model is a result of the first Prairie Symposium on Research on University Continuing Education, held in June 1999, and of ensuing discussions about the need for a proactive, research-based, and adult learner-oriented approach to evaluating programs. The paper begins with a brief overview of the conceptual framework of the model, followed by a discussion of the process and content issues deemed important within a university continuing education context. The model is then illustrated in detail through a case study of the approach used by one university faculty of continuing education to evaluate its graduate program in workplace learning. The paper closes with a discussion of the applicability of this model to other adult continuing education programs.