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Unit 4: Programme Management & Project Evaluation

Assessment activities may also lead to more expansive research on learning projects. The Notes
scholarship of teaching and learning provides many exciting (and much needed) opportunities
to form partnerships with the cognitive and social sciences.
There are a few basic principles that will help you effectively develop your own assessment
plans to best meet the needs of your project:

 Clearly define project goals and expected outcomes at the start.
 What is the purpose of the assessment? Who will use the results and in what way?
 Identify the baseline data you will need to document change.

 There is an arsenal of assessment techniques that are available; pick the right tools and
metrics that will provide the information required to meet your needs.
 Assessment is done throughout the course of a project for varying reasons: formative
assessment is done to provide feedback for ongoing activities, and to inform any needed
mid-course corrections; summative assessment is done to measure a project’s overall
success; longitudinal assessment tracks impacts beyond the duration or initial scope of the
project.

 The assessment plans should be integral to the development and management of the
project, not just added on as an afterthought.
 Develop partnerships with colleagues who have knowledge and expertise in assessment.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:

8. The ………………… clearly sets out the direction and purpose of the programme.
9. If the ………………….. of The Golden Thread are not in place you will undoubtedly run
into trouble.

4.6 Cost Benefit Analysis

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is the weighing-scale approach for decision-making. All the positive
elements (cash-flows and other intangible benefits) are put on one side of the balance and all the
negative elements (the costs and disadvantages) are put on the other. Whichever weighs the
heavier wins.
You may have been intensely creative in generating solutions to a problem, and rigorous in
your selection of the best one available. This solution may still not be worth implementing, as
you may invest a lot of time and money in solving a problem that is not worthy of this effort.

Cost Benefit Analysis or cba is a relatively simple and widely used technique for deciding
whether to make a change. As its name suggests, to use the technique simply add up the value of
the benefits of a course of action, and subtract the costs associated with it.
Costs are either one-off, or may be ongoing. Benefits are most often received over time. We
build this effect of time into our analysis by calculating a payback period. This is the time it takes
for the benefits of a change to repay its costs. Many companies look for payback over a specified
period of time – e.g. three years.

In its simple form, cost-benefit analysis is carried out using only financial costs and financial
benefits.

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