Book Review: Evaluation in Distance Education and E-Learning: The Unfolding Model
| Author | Kim McShane-DeBacco |
| DOI | 10.1177/1035719X1101100112 |
| Published date | 01 March 2011 |
| Date | 01 March 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK REVIEWS
Evaluation Journal of Australasia, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2011
54
Just as the advent of new
technologies in educational
contexts creates the conditions
for a re-examination of
education practices, so too does
the expansion and increasing
sophistication of distance
education and e-learning offer
an opportunity for revisiting
program and project evaluation.
Canadian authors Valerie Ruhe
and Bruno Zumbo have seized on
the opportunity afforded by the
expansion of new technologies
in educational contexts to lay
out a comprehensive overview of
evaluation theory and practice
in distance and online education
and e-learning. They approach
the topic with an initial overview
of the theory and practice of
program evaluation and an
outline of respected theoretical
models in distance education and
e-learning, before establishing
the theoretical underpinnings of
an evaluation framework they
term ‘The Unfolding Model’.
Guidelines for conducting
evaluation studies are provided
and the model is then applied to
two relevant case studies.
To invite you in: this book
will appeal to a wide educational
audience. Project managers,
instructional designers and
educational developers should
find the book a useful reference
for the applied planning and
implementation of distance
education and e-learning
programs. Educational
developers, researchers and the
administrators and managers
of educational programs that
depend on new technologies
will also find this publication a
worthwhile, informative read.
In the preface and opening
chapters, the authors make a
convincing argument for this
book and their new model.
Technological change has
quickened, they maintain,
and there has been rapid
expansion of distance and
e-learning courses, with rising
stakeholder expectations
regarding flexibility and quality.
As higher education programs
and courses rely increasingly on
distance education and learning
management systems (such
as BlackBoard and Moodle),
there is a recognisable need in
most institutions to document
effectiveness for continuous
course improvement.
Ruhe and Zumbo distinguish
between distance education
(physical separation of teacher
and learner) and e-learning
(‘training delivered online or
over the internet to support
individual or organizational
performance goals’). Blended
learning environments, which
are only occasionally mentioned
explicitly, ‘combine technology-
driven resources with human
interaction’, local or remote, by
telephone, videoconferencing or
computer conferencing (Ruhe &
Zumbo 2009, p. 2).
In building a broad theoretical
framework for their Unfolding
Model, they review in Chapter
3 eight major theoretical and
practical models of evaluation
in distance education and
e-learning: Van Slyke, Kittner
and Belanger (1998), Belanger
and Jordan (2000), Bates’ (1995)
ACTION Model, the CIAO
Model (Scanlon et al. 2000),
Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick
(2006), Hughes and Attwell’s
(2002) E-Learning Model, the
e3Learning Model (Lam &
McNaught 2005), and Zaharias
(2005). They then outline an
additional nine models that
include scientific evidence,
values and consequences: Gooler
(1979), Rumble (1981), Collis
(1993), Clark (1994), Mann
(1998), Lorenzo and Moore
(2002), Baker and O’Neil (2006),
Ruhe (2002) and Bunderson
(2003). Reflecting the values that
anchor their Unfolding Model,
Ruhe and Zumbo go on to
analyse all 17 models for a set of
recurring ‘dimensions’ or themes
in distance education: Outcomes,
Relevance, Cost–Benefit, Values
and Unintended Consequences.
The evident recurrence of
these themes in the 17 models
reinforces Ruhe and Zumbo’s
view that the evaluation of
distance education must entail
the systematic investigation
and determination of the merit,
worth and value of a program or
project. Those with a background
in educational evaluation may
recognise (in the use of the
terms ‘merit and worth’) the
influence of Samuel J Messick
(1931–1998), an American
psychologist and professor whose
work in the late 1980s and
1990s at the Educational Testing
Service, in Princeton, New Jersey,
USA identified and examined
construct validity. Messick’s
research was focused to a large
extent on investigating validity in
standardised tests used for student
assessment. While familiarity with
Messick’s work is not essential for
fully appreciating the Unfolding
Model, the curious reader is
provided with ample leads and
references to review his work and
ideas.
In Chapter 4, the authors
provide an overview of Messick’s
framework, which they claim
sits in the (Venn diagram-like)
overlap between test validity and
program evaluation. According
Title: Evaluation in Distance Education and E-Learning: The Unfolding Model
AuthorS: Valerie Ruhe and Bruno D Zumbo
Publisher/year: The Guilford Press, New York, 2009
Extent/type: 306 pages, paperback
Price: A$49.95/NZ$68 from Footprint Books which offers a 15% discount to AES members, phone +61 2 9997 3973,
email <info@footprint.com.au>, website <http://www.footprint.com.au> for the latest prices
ISBN: 978-1-59385-872-8
EJA_11_1.indb 54 6/11/11 5:37:11 PM
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