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Summary: A classic guide for evaluation techniques
Review: Dr. Tessmer is a well-recognized expert in the field of instructional design. He has published other books on task analysis in instructional design. In fact, his book on formative evaluations is one of the favorite books used to teach formative evaluation in graduate instructional design courses. Another book to consult on this topic is Formative Evaluation for Educational Technologies by Barbara N. Flagg. A useful book on summative evaluation techniques is Program Evaluation: Alternative Approaches and Practical Guidelines by Blaine R. Worthen and others. The Tessmer and Flagg books are specifically focused on instructional technology products.Chapter one explains the purpose behind conducting a formative evaluation and what the benefits of such an evaluation are. Chapter two gives fairly detailed information about planning a formative evaluation. The remaining four chapters each describe one of the four typical types of formative evaluation: expert review, one-to-one, small group, and field test. This book contains a great deal of practical step-by-step information. It is obviously written by someone who has conducted many instructional design reviews and evaluations. The discussion for each of the four evaluation approaches contains a lot of sound advice on associated pitfalls as well as specific procedures. Procedures are well-defined in a step-by-step format. Example forms and questionnaires are provided where appropriate. This book is a "must have" for any instructional designer or evaluator. If you are looking for guidelines on program evaluation, especially summative evaluation, then check out the Worthen book. If you are looking for help with front-end analysis, check out Task Analysis Methods for Instructional Design, by Jonassen, Tessmer, and Hannum. This is an excellent resource, and I hope that Dr. Tessmer will someday write an updated version of this classic.
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