One-on-One Formative Evaluation Report

EME 5603
Christine Whitt
21 November 2013

Introduction
The purpose of the one-on-one formative evaluation, which was conducted on November 13th,
November 18th, and November 19th, was to test an instructional unit on verbs prior to putting the
unit to use with a small group. By completing the on-one-on formative evaluation, I was able to
make changes to the unit and perform a preliminary assessment of how the unit works.

Learner Characteristics
Target Audience
The target audience consisted of three students selected from the 6th grade Language Arts class at
Brandon Academy. Brandon Academy is a private school located in Brandon, FL. The following
characteristics were found based on the learner analysis:

Most students in the 6th grade Language arts class are new to Brandon Academy (60%).
The students in the class have already learned about nouns and subjects in a sentence

(prerequisite skills for the lesson).

Students feel confident in language arts and feel they are capable of being successful
completing assignments in this subject area.

Participants in the One-on-One Evaluation

The three students chosen from the class represent the three groups that are in the class.

Two female students and one male student

One student is new to the school in the last month; the other two have been with the class

since the beginning of the school year.

One student is new to the USA.

All students speak, read, and write fluent English.

Table 1 Summary of Learner Characteristics

Learner

New in the last

New to the United

Gender

Comfort Level with

Leaner 1
Learner 2
Learner 3

Month
No
Yes
No

States
No
No
Yes

F
F
M

Nouns
Very Comfortable
Comfortable
Comfortable

Procedure
The information for the one-on-one formative evaluation took place over the course of three
days.
Table 2 Session Information
Learner
Learner 1

Time
10:30am-11:15 am

Date
November 13, 2013

Place
Language Arts Classroom-

Learner 2

10:30am- 11:15am

November 18, 2013

Brandon Academy
Language Arts Classroom-

Learner 3

10:30am-11:15am

November 19, 2013

Brandon Academy
Language Arts ClassroomBrandon Academy

During each one-on-one formative evaluation I followed the following procedure:

1. I greeted each student and explain the purpose of the formative evaluation. I also asked
any questions that each may have about the evaluation.
2. I began the pretest with the students informing them that they are not expected to know
the information presented and to not spend too much time thinking up an answer. I

informed them that they could skip a question if they did not know the answer. I marked
the start and stop times for each.
3. I had each student begin the lesson. Stopping to ask questions or give further instruction
when necessary.
4. When finished with the lesson, students took the post test. Again, I marked the start and
stop times.
5. Students concluded by completing the attitude survey and giving any other verbal
feedback.
6. I thanked the learners for their participation.
Data Collected
I.

Pretest Data
The purpose of the pretest is to determine to what extent the students already knew
the information present in the lesson. Questions were asked similar to those that will
be assessed at the end of the unit in the post test. Learners were asked to answer what
they thought was correct, but not to spend too much time on only one question. Table
3 below represents the data collected from the pretests.

Table 3- Pretest Data Collection

Learner/
Time

Terminal Obj:

Obj 1:

Given a simple sentence the learner will

Given a set of verbs the learner will correctly identify if the verb is a

Number of

correctly identify the verbs in a sentence and

being verb (Linking) or a doing verb (Action)

Items

5 6

8 9

10

11

12

13

14

16

20

Correct
#
%

5
C

7
C

8
I

9
C

15

75

6 7

10

11

12

13

14

16

20

classify as action or linking

Learner 1/
17 min

Learner 2/

8 9

4 min

Learner 3/
4 mins

# Learner

5
I

6 7

45

10

11

12

13

14

16

20

7
I

8
I

9
C

11

55

14

16

20

0 1

0
0 0 2

5
2

7
2

8
1

9
1

6 7

8 9 1

11

12

13

14

16

20

0 3

0
0 0 6

10

7
6

8
3

9
3

10

6 7

Correct
3

13

12

11

8 9 1

8 9

5
C

Correct
% Learner

10

10

10

10

5
6

Information obtained from the pretest was as expected. Learners appear to

understand the concept of what a verbs is within the sentence, but do not know which
type of verb they are identifying. Leaner one scored the highest, but also took the
most time to think about the questions. Learners also performed better on the part of
the pretest where the verbs were given to the learners vs having to pick the verb out
of the sentence on their own.
II.
Module Data
a. Initial Reaction
Learners seemed a bit intimidated by the module. Learner 2 asked in surprise, I
have to do this on my own. I explained that it was written out step-by-step and
would be easy to follow.
b. Introduction/ Objectives/Prerequisite Skills

All three learners mostly skipped over this section of the unit. They scanned
through it, but didnt have any questions or comments.
c. Warm up
Learner one said the wording of the instructions were confusing. She said it
wasnt clear on if she was actually supposed to fill in the blanks or just read it.
She suggested making the specific instructions stand out.
d. Definitions
All 3 learners were able to complete the practice. Learners 2 and 3 had to make
corrections after the feedback. Learner 1 stated that the examples were clear and
helped her with the practice.
e. Steps 1-3
Learners commented that they thought the directions were clear, but it was noted
that the feedback and examples were missing the correct information. I was able
to verbally give them feedback and made a note to fix this on the final unit.
f. Review and Extra Practice
All learners were able to complete the extra practice. All 3 noted that the
instruction was easy to understand and the sentences were similar to those seen in
steps 1-3.
g. Learning Fatigue and Time
Learners did not seem to experience learning fatigue. Each student completed the unit
without flipping through or rushing. Learner 1 did ask if she needed to complete the extra
practice if she felt she understood the material. Below is a table identifying completion
times for each learner. The average completion time was 24 minutes not including the
pretest and posttest.
Table 4- Start and Finish Times
Learner
Learner 1
Learner 2

Unit Start
10:46am
10:38am

Unit Finish
11:03 am
11:07am

Total Time
17 min
29 min

Learner 3
III.

10:35am

11:02am

29 min

Post Test Data

After learners completed the instruction unit, they were asked to complete a posttest

similar to the pretest administered prior to the unit. Questions in the post test were similar in
form and function, but the actual wording was different. Table 5 below displays the results on the
posttest.

Table 5- Posttest Results

Learner/

Terminal Obj:
Given a simple sentence the learner will correctly identify

Obj 1:
Given a set of verbs the learner will correctly identify if the verb is

the verbs in a sentence and classify as action or linking

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

a being verb (Linking) or a doing verb (Action)

11
12
13
14
15 16
17
18

19

20

19

95

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

17

85

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

17

85

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

66

10

66

66

10

10

66

10

66

66

100

100

100

100

66

100

10

10

10

10

Time
Learner 1/
3 min

Learner 2/
4 min

Learner 3/
7 mins

# Learner
Correct

% Learner
Correct

Number of
Items Correct

When comparing the results from the pretest to the posttest it is evident that learners
performed better on the assessment after the instructional unit. In all but one question all learners
were able to correctly identify the linking verbs from the action verbs when given just the word.
Only one learner missed one question. When identifying the verb and then classifying, all three
learners were able to answer correctly on 40% of the questions. The other 60% of the questions
two of the three learners were able to perform correctly. Learner 2 did seem to be confused by
some of the directions, which may have led to an incorrect response. When comparing student
score to the pretest, learners had a 70%-85% learning gain. Learner one increased 20%, Learner
2 increased 40%, and Learner 3 increased 30%.
IV.

Attitude Data
After the completion of the unit each learner was asked to complete an attitude survey.

The purpose of this survey was to obtain feedback on the lesson by having learners answer
specific questions about the learning unit. Most questions asked required learners to rate
answers on a scale from one to five, with one being not at all and five being very. The second
part of the attitude survey asked open ended questions for each learner to supply answers.
Table 5 below represents the data on the rankings and Table 6 represents the answers to the
open ended questions.
From the ranked questions I was able to see information related to format, examples,
process, and interest. Question number 11 relates to the format of the lesson, two of the
learners ranked it a 4 and one ranked it a 3. When looking to the open ended question it was
noted that learner 3 liked the use of bold print, but that he wanted more color. Questions 6-9
related to the examples and explanations in the module. This area was ranked all 4s and 5s

indicating that the learners found the examples and explanations helpful. However, I have to
consider that I was able to supply the answers in the feedback as they were not located in the
packet. Question 10 addressed the process of the model and again received 4s and 5s
indicating that the process was helpful. The remaining questions addressed interest and
comfort level with the material. One learner found the module moderately interesting, while
the other two enjoyed the lesson. Each learner said they were not familiar with the material
prior but do feel comfortable performing the skills on their own now.
Table 5 Results from the Attitude Survey- Rankings on 1-5
Question

Ranking By Percentage
1

1. How interesting was this lesson?

2. Was the skill taught in this lesson useful to you?
3. Were you previously familiar with the skill taught in this
lesson?
4. Can you perform this skill on your own?
5. Was it clear what you were required to do?
6. How clear were the explanations?
7. How clear were the examples?
8. Did the practice problems prepare you for the test?
9. Did the solutions to the practice help?
10. Was the breakdown of the skills easy to follow?
11. Was the format attractive?
12. How satisfied were you with the overall lesson?

66

33

33
33

33
66

33
33
66
33
33

33
66
33
66
66
100
33

33
33

33

66
66
33

66

Table 6- Response to Open Ended Questions

Question
13. What did you like about the instruction?

Response
Learner 1: I like how it gave me the examples and when I
finished I could see what was the real answer. If I got it
wrong, I was able to see the differences.
Learner 2: That it gave examples to each segment. It also
made me do the question. It made me be sure if I got the
activity or not.
Learner 3: I liked that they were very clear to understand

16. What did you dislike about the instruction?

and they were in bold font.

Learner 1: None. I like it a lot and thought it was helpful.
Learner 2: It gave the same sentences over and over again.
Learner 3: Everything was good.

19. How should the instruction be changed to

make it better?

Learner 1: I dont think it should be changed. I like how it

gave me a little explanation and have me an example.
Learner 2: They should give a different sentence for each
segment, activity, and example.
Learner 3: There should be colors to make it attractive.

22. Any final comments or suggestions?

V.

Revisions

Learner 1: So helpful.
Learner 2: No
Learner 3: No

Based on the feedback from the learners both during the lesson and on the attitude survey,
a couple of changes have been made to the instructional unit. The changes made come
from suggestions and observations made during the unit. One change that was no made
was changing the example sentences as learner 2 suggested. I did not make this change
because the process is better illustrated by using one example throughout the unit to walk
learners through the steps versus a new set of examples each step. The changes that have
been made are illustrated in the table below.
Page Number Change Made
1.
Color was added to the title and

3.

Reason for Change

Suggestion of learner to add

running man

interest at the beginning of the

Change directions for Warm Up

unit
Learners did not understand what
to do and had to be instructed
verbally.

7,9,11

Examples now provide the answer

It was pointed out during the

8,10,12

Answers added in feedback

evaluations that this was left out

It was pointed out during the
evaluations that this was left out