An Evaluation of the Context Curriculum — Dispelling a Myth

Student surveys were conducted during each of the two semesters of the first year of operation of the Context Curriculum at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. The processes of the evaluation used are related to current ideas on evaluation. The evaluation relied heavily on the development and use of student questionnaires. Later in the year teaching staff and departmental heads were surveyed. Teaching staff were consulted about the questions to be included in the student questionnaire and also about the procedures to be used for analysis of the student responses and distribution of the summaries of responses. Special care was taken to ensure that the summaries for particular classes were revealed only to the class teacher. The evaluation showed that most students and their teachers are positively disposed towards the Context Curriculum. However, students were generally unsure of their department's support of the Context Curriculum. The opinions of teachers of the Context Curriculum and heads of department were more polarised than those of students. Both students and their teachers reported that they believed that other students and staff were unimpressed by the Context Curriculum. The evaluation showed this to be a myth.