ADDIE Process- Evaluation

This post is part 5 in a 5-part series on the Phases of the ADDIE Process of Instructional Design. 
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A critical phase in the ADDIE Process of instructional design is evaluation. To evaluate means to judge effectiveness.  This "phase" is a little misleading, because in reality you should be continually evaluating your work at every phase through formative evaluation, described below 

 Summative evaluation is performed to determine how effective a given piece of instruction is at improving student learning and usually takes place after a piece of instruction has been implemented.

Gathering Formative Feedback
A formative evaluation is performed to solicit feedback and guidance during the design process with the purpose of improving and refining the instruction. Formative feedback is gathered during this process, and there are several important things to remember: 

• Gather data iteratively and at every step in the design process. You should make sure you are on the right track as you move through the design phases.
• Focus on refining and improving instruction. Your goal should be to make the instruction more effective, more efficient, and more engaging for the students.  Gather feedback from many different sources, including:

1. Experts. Ask people who know the content to review your instruction. This will help ensure that the content is accurate.
2. Designers. Ask other instructional designers to review your instruction and give you feedback on how you could make it more clear and effective. Instructional design is the creative application of research-based principles, and creativity can be enhanced through collaboration and brainstorming.
3. Editors. Have a course editor review your materials to help improve their quality. This could be seen as part of the design process, but I mention it here because it is formative in nature and improves the quality of the instruction.
4. Learners. Test your instruction on your learners to see how it is received. Your instruction should be tailored to the needs of your target audience, and their feedback will help you improve the quality of your instruction.

In our MS Degree at Franklin University, we follow a stronger formative evaluation process to improve the quality of each of our courses. Each course undergoes at least two revisions based on data gathered from each of the sources described above. We see a dramatic increase in student satisfaction with our courses as we continually refine and improve them.


Here is an excellent video providing more ideas on evaluation in instructional design: