Formative Evaluation

According to Dick and Carey, “formative evaluation occurs during the development of instructional materials to determine if there are deficiencies in the materials (Dick and Carey, 2001). Depending on the size or structure of an organization, formative
evaluations can generally be of three types: one-on-one, small group, or field evaluation (taken from Dick and Carey, 2001).
One-on-one gets individual feedback from chosen participants; small group is typically eight to twenty persons who use materials with little to no assistance and are then tested; and the field evaluation represents a mach version of the real product used to edit any final deficiencies prior to going live.

The formative evaluation uses the performance objectives chosen during the design phase as an indicator of whether there are
deficiencies in the materials. Instructional strategies and methods are to follow the optimal performance and any indicator that
they do not is to result in altering the materials to meet that need. The formative evaluation is essential because it is to occur at
milestones chosen during the design phase to avoid facing problems upon completion of the process and/or product. Picking
up on these problems early in the process can save time and money, and assure quality of learning.