The Art of Evaluation: A Handbook for Educators and Trainers.

This book introduces adult educators and trainers to the principles and techniques of learner evaluation in the various contexts of adult education. The following are among the topics discussed: (1) the purposes of evaluation (the importance of authentic evaluation; principles of evaluation; traps in evaluation); (2) evaluating one's philosophy (the dilemma of evaluating other adults; the evaluative context); (3) planning for evaluation (approaches to evaluation; validity and reliability; alleviating anxiety); (4) developing criteria for evaluation (criterion, normative, and self-referenced evaluation; indicators of criteria); (5) choosing a strategy (multiple evaluation methods; management and recordkeeping); (6) evaluating technical skills (operations involved in learning new skills; context and transfer in skill learning); (7) evaluating performance (defining objectives for competency); (8) evaluating growth in conceptual knowledge; (9) evaluating levels of conceptual growth; (10) evaluating relational skills; (11) approaching dynamic assessment; (12) helping learners evaluate themselves; (13) integrating ongoing evaluation into the learning process (focusing learners on assessment; opening, mid-process, and follow-up evaluation activities); (14) evaluating for grades (the meaning of grades to instructors and educational institutions; alternative methods of deriving grades); and (15) evaluating one's practice (expanding self-evaluation and growth; evaluating learner satisfaction). Sixty-two sample rating scales and evaluation activities and 12 toolboxes are included. The bibliography contains 39 references. (MN)