writing sandwich

 The following was part of writers retreat:


area/discipline: education
topic: learning and teaching projects
sub topic: evaluation of such
2nd sub topic: higher education sector

working title:
a case study of the evaluation of learning and teaching projects in higher education: practices and perceptions

Problem:

In the higher education sector, grants can be obtained from internal and external sources to fund research into learning and teaching. The internal grants tend to be of around 12-18 month duration with specific guidelines as to how the projects should be conducted and results disseminated. Evaluation of these research projects should enable the research to become more rigorous and to supply evidence that the research is meeting its aims. However there some evidence from the literature that this evaluation is not taking place. One such study has investigated a number of completed internally funded learning and teaching projects and shown that evaluation is influenced by the perceptions of the project leaders.

Aim:
The aim of this study is to follow three project leaders as they conduct their research projects and invistigate how the evaluation unfolds. To identify factors that are at play which influence the evaluation. Observe what and how they evaluate and...


WOW factor of my project:
If money is to be spent wisely on research in learning and teaching, results and findings  of such research projects need to make an impact. We need to reflect and learn from such findings and incorporate them into the development cycle. This will ultimately result in better student learning. The findings from this study can be used to educate researchers about the value of evaluation and get them to see it as a learning mechanism rather than a punitive one. We also need to find a way to incorporate evaluation findings into the next round of projects such that they too can make an impact. So in a way to generalise findings so that a wider audience can benefit from the project.