Learner’s Evaluation - the Four Levels of Evaluation

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sensitivity to feelings and consistently avoiding situations that unnecessarily embarrass learners (p. 66).

Weaknesses:

The author’s biggest weakness as a teacher were managing time as the author tries to juggle work and study among others and the use of english as the primary mode of teaching and preparing writing this paper were a challenge as English is not the author’s first language and so he finds it difficult sometimes to express feelings and explain complex sentences to simple words.

Methods to Improve Performance:

Up until now, the author always challenges himself in learning and adapting to english words by reading magazines, journals, books and communicating in english at work and at home. Whenever the author came across an english word that is unfamiliar to him, he consults the dictionary or ask friends for help. Peer interaction also helps him to become more convenient in speaking english. With regards to time management, the author decided to quit his full-time nursing job to a permanent part time so he can equally focus on school-related activities and work. These two methods will definitely help the author become more effective as a teacher as he does not need to be rushed when writing thesis papers, performing teaching sessions and will be more comfortable in speaking english when educating clients.

Resource Evaluation

During the assessment process, the author discovered that M.T. is a visual learner therefore he worked with the participant in choosing the appropriate resources time and environment needed in this teaching project. Aside from one-on-one teaching that gave the participant an active part of the teaching project as she frequently asked questions, clarified concerns and stated misunderstanding, the author used a powerpoint presentation that includes essential pointers on ways to manage hypertension using a large font size, white background and images that portray lifestyle changes which according to M.T. enhanced the author’s discussion. At the end of the teaching session, the author gave M.T. a brochure that includes a detailed list of an overview of hypertension and the three lifestyle changes that were the main focus of the health teaching. The learner stated that the quality of the teaching materials used during the process were easy to understand and accessible. M.T. also stated that proper tools and the quiet and calm environment were both helpful in achieving the objectives and goals of the teaching project.

The author also evaluated the readability of the brochure used in the teaching project entitled “Controlling Blood Pressure” (Alberta Health Services, 2009) using Fry’s Readability Formula (Rankin, et al., 2005, 248-250). The ability of a person to comprehend written educational materials depends on its readability. According to Rankin et al., (2005), Fry’s Readability formula “applies from grade 1 through grade 17, and compared to some formulae, the Fry does not require as extensive a test sample” (p. 248). The first step used to determine readability of the brochure, “Controlling Blood Pressure” (Alberta Health Services, 2009) using Fry Readability formula was to select three 100-word passages (Rankin, et al., 2005, p. 238) (See appendix A). Next is to count the number of sentences in each 100 words and count the total number of syllables in each 100- word passage (Rankin, et al., 2005, p. 248). The average number of sentences and syllables per hundred words are determined by dividing the totals obtained from the three samples by 3 (Rankin, et al., 2005, p. 248). These averages are plotted onto a graph; the intersection of the average number of sentences and the average number of syllables determines the reading level of the content (See Appendix B). Overall, according to Fry’ Readability Formula, the brochure “Controlling Blood Pressure” (Alberta Health Services, 2009) is superior with a score of 5 as shown on Appendix C.

References:

Rankin, S. H., Stallings, K. D., & London, F. (2005). Patient education in health and illness (5th

ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Vaismoradi, M., & Parsa-Yekta, Z. (2011). Iranian nursing students’ comprehension and

experiences regarding evaluation process: A thematic analysis study. Scandinavian

Journal of Caring Sciences, 25(1), 151-159. doi:

http://0-dx.doi.org.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/10.1111/j.1471-6712.2010.00805.x