«p>Evaluation of the Project »PrA Teaching Material for General Education”

Questions of key interest are:

• How might teaching material for the general education component appeal visually to learners on a PrA programme?
• What methodological and didactic barriers need surmounting?
• How is the quality of the material assessed?

Modules 1 and 4 are to be evaluated. Module 1 has already been evaluated in the pilot phase. The feedback on Module 1 will influence the content, layout and design of the next modules.

Following the publication of Module 4, learners and teachers will be interviewed about the content and look of the teaching material. Once all modules have appeared, as many teachers as possible will be surveyed online and asked for their assessment. A discussion with experts will provide a qualitative complement to this feedback.

The data survey is based on

• group discussions with learners
• interviews with teachers testing the material in the pilot phase
• web-based teacher surveys
• panel discussions with vocational training experts

The following excerpt from the expert interview is provided as representative for the entire evaluation.

I1: I was at a meeting last week, and she said, ah, that something was available. And so I said, yes, they even have teaching material.

I3: Yes, that’s it.

I4: That is what is good about the teaching material, that I can say it that way.

I2: Yes, but that means something. That is an expression of status and importance. (Excerpt from the expert interview)

The formative evaluation (in the pilot phases), when learners and teachers were surveyed, provided the following feedback:

The teaching material was welcomed by the learners. They found the thematic units interesting and important and the tasks full of variety. Especially teachers who were just starting to teach found that the material was very relevant and would facilitate standardized teaching.

It was recommended that further development of the teaching material take its orientation from ‘Easy-to-Understand Language’ or the ‘20 Minuten’ level. Many learners appreciated the existing easy-to-understand language. Learners with reading difficulties would like texts in still simpler language or even texts read aloud. For this reason, interactive support for reading and understanding the texts and individual concepts was very important.

The summative evaluation was conducted after all five modules were published. The majority of the teachers and learners who participated in the online survey and the experts were very or quite satisfied with the teaching material. The following recommendations were given:

• The teaching material should include some further topics (e.g. sexuality, guardianship, Internet and Internet risks).
• Vocational career planning goes on for young people after completion of the Practical Education and Training scheme (PrA); for all learners, the teaching material should pay sufficient attention to this aspect.