Evaluation in Continuing Education: A Pilot Study

In a pilot study of evaluation and quality control instruments in engineering continuing education, pre-conference questionnaires, formal testing, interviews and post-conference questionnaires were given a preliminary evaluation at a national symposium for engineers conducted at the University of Kentucky. The pre-conference questionnaire was found to be a valuable instrument for determining the comprehension levels of the participants. The course tests were used as a criterion for awarding CEUs for participants in formal minicourses. In aition, interviews were used to measure attitudes of participants toward evaluation procedures and the post-conference questionnaire was used as an aid to structuring future conferences. The most sgniflcant rinding of the pilot study was that participants did not object to the formal tests administered in the mini-courses.