ABSTRACT
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO EVALUATE COURSE DESIGN? If the basic principle of ‘designing by learning outcomes’ is followed, evaluating a course would seem to be a simple process of gathering data to see whether students have achieved those learning outcomes. Th is form of evaluation usually is carried out, at best, by questionnaires and sometimes interviews with students, and, at worst, by considering students’ fi nal grades. Th e shortcomings of both of these methods are legion (e.g. Garson, 2007). Nevertheless, they both ‘work’ as long as the questions posed by the evaluation are answerable by simple quantitative or qualitative data. However, as we have said throughout this book, web 2.0 is not just a set of technologies; it is also an attitude toward teaching and learning. Evaluating attitudes or the degree of change in either teachers or learners is much more complex, and given that both the attitudes and the technology are in continual evolution, traditional approaches to evaluation are no longer appropriate.
