Exploring effectiveness of the programme evaluation practices used in the private educational organization in Karachi

Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Philosophy in Education

Department

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of the stakeholders of a Private Educational Organization about the effectiveness of the programme evaluation practices in improving the quality of the academic programmes. The programme evaluation has been in practice in this organization for the last many years with a belief that it has significantly helped the organization to improve and enhance the quality of the academic programmes. For over a decade now, various programme evaluation approaches have been used; however, so far there had been no concerted effort to know how the evaluation practices are perceived by the stakeholders, and whether these practices have really been helpful in improving the quality of the programmes. Hence, this study was conceptualized. For this study, the phenomenological approach was used to explore the perceptions and experiences of the key programme stakeholders of the organization. Nine individuals from the senior academic management were selected through purposive sampling, as they were involved in designing, planning, implementing and evaluating the academic programmes. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The data shows that whereas 1) there is consensus among key stakeholders that evaluation is a key tool for improvement of programme quality, 2) however, not all key respondents were clear about the purpose, approaches and outcome of the programme evaluation at the organizational level. This lack of clarity leads to the confusion in making appropriate judgment about the effectiveness of the evaluation practices as well as the quality of the programmes, and 3) the evaluation is not always an objective and simple phenomenon rather it is a complex process which is greatly affected and influenced by the beliefs, understanding, knowledge and professional hierarchies of the stakeholders in the organization.

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