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What Are the Different Types of Evaluation Tools?

Whitney Leigh White
Whitney Leigh White

When choosing between evaluation tools, it is important to understand the different types and their purposes. Participant-oriented models are frequently used to evaluate the average consumer’s opinion of a business and/or service. Models that are scientific-experimental based are fact driven and can be used to conduct research on any topic. People who create pages and/or sites on the Internet often use web accessibility evaluation tools. Supplemental evaluation tools are also large in number and come in the forms of questionnaires, open-class discussions, minute papers, and more.

Many businesses and organizations prefer to use participant-oriented evaluation tools because they reflect multiple realities by using inductive reasoning and discovery techniques. These types of models tend to focus on a participant’s description and judgment of the topic being evaluated. It is usually best to use this type when the objective of the evaluation is to comprehend and interconnect the complications and details of programmatic tasks or activities. Participant-oriented models are also advantageous for those looking to follow the intuitionist-pluralist philosophy of evaluation. If not conducted appropriately, these models do sometimes produce results that are hard to interpret; this is mostly because they are not standardized.

Questionnaires are commonly-used evaluation tools.
Questionnaires are commonly-used evaluation tools.

Evaluation tools that are based on scientific-experimental models have many uses. They can help to produce cost-benefit analyses to the distributor, as well as create and monitor experiments. When accurate and impartial results are desired, a scientific-experimental evaluation tool is beneficial to use.

Web developers have an assortment of evaluation tools to choose from, and many of them are available for free on the Internet. Some tools provide dependable persistence backend, store project configuration files in different databases, and more. Other models help to evaluate the accessibility of web pages and how well they can be viewed.

A webmaster may want to evaluate the traffic that a site receives.
A webmaster may want to evaluate the traffic that a site receives.

Any time that an evaluation tool is used and additional information is needed, it is wise to utilize a supplemental tool. Questionnaires are simple supplemental tools and are very valuable when teaching material to an audience. Open class discussions can be used as a simple or complex evaluation tool. Teachers often use this type of model when identifying whether or not students comprehend the material being taught.

Employee evaluation methods may include a comprehensive essay written by a supervisor or boss.
Employee evaluation methods may include a comprehensive essay written by a supervisor or boss.

For a quick supplemental evaluation tool, distributing a minute paper is useful. A minute paper is exactly like a questionnaire, but those who fill one out spend no more than a minute answering any number of questions. Some teachers distribute minute papers at the end of every lecture, while others may only use them once or twice a quarter.

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    • Questionnaires are commonly-used evaluation tools.
      By: Elenathewise
      Questionnaires are commonly-used evaluation tools.
    • A webmaster may want to evaluate the traffic that a site receives.
      By: Dmitry Strizhakov
      A webmaster may want to evaluate the traffic that a site receives.
    • Employee evaluation methods may include a comprehensive essay written by a supervisor or boss.
      By: iofoto
      Employee evaluation methods may include a comprehensive essay written by a supervisor or boss.