How should an evaluation plan be organized: Introduction

The Introduction section introduces the major sections of the plan as well as the primary people involved in preparing the plan. It informs the reader about the type and amount of information upon which evaluation plan ning has been based, both in terms of human input and review of other materials. Here is a brief example of an Introduction section:

INTRODUCTION:

This document describes the background, purposes, stakeholders, decisions, questions, methods, sample, instrumentation, limitations, logistics, and budget for the evaluation of the Digital Library for Engineering Education (DLEE) being developed by the North American Association of Engineering Professors (NAAEP) with funding from the American Science Foundation (ASF). The design, methods, and instrumentation included in this plan are based on three day-long meetings between members of the DLEE development team (Jane Jones, Sam Smith, and Wanda Watson from DiglibRUS.com) and the evaluation team (Bill Biggs and Tracey Toliver from North Island University), as well as a review of the original DLEE funding proposal and numerous draft design documents accessible on the DLEE development website. This is the first draft of an evaluation plan that is being released for review by members of the DLEE stakeholder community.

The Introduction section of an evaluation plan should answer the following questions:

What is included in this plan?
Who prepared it?
What information was accessed in the planning process?
What is the status of the plan, e.g., preliminary draft or final?