Situated evaluation assumes that the object of study is neither the innovation alone nor its effects, but rather, the realization of the innovation through use.

Origin

Situated evaluation arose in evaluation contexts in which the user (consumer, practitioner, etc.) creates the innovation (treatment, technology, etc.) through a situation of use. The theory draws from Wittgenstein’s ideas regarding language-games (in Philosophical Investigations), Dewey’s theory of situation and inquiry (as in The Logic of Inquiry), and the Dewey and Bentley account of transaction (Knowing and the Known), Bentley’s Inquiries into Inquiry, and Gadamer’s hermeneutic inquiry in Truth and Method. 

Although this emergence is a universal phenomenon, it appears strikingly in the situations of implementing new information and communication technologies. Despite their appearing to be clearly defined and immutable, users find remarkably different ways to recreate them.

Features

In contrast to most evaluation approaches, situated evaluation does not assume that the innovation has an a priori existence. It has several key ingredients: It emphasizes contrastive analysis and seeks to explore differences in use. It assumes that the object of study is neither the innovation alone nor its effects, but rather, the realization of the innovation–the innovation-in-use. Finally, it produces hypotheses supported by detailed analyses of actual practices. These hypotheses make possible informed plans for use and change of innovations (Bruce & Rubin, 1993, p. 215).

An important implication for educators is that the process of re-creation of the innovation is a vital, and inevitable, element in the process of educational change:

When an innovation that calls for significant changes in teacher practices meets an established classroom system, “something has to give.” Often, what gives is that the innovation is simply not used. Rarely is an innovation adopted in exactly the way the developers intended. Our study shows that the process of re-creation of the innovation is not only unavoidable, but a vital part of the process of educational change. Critical analysis of re-creations needs to be an important part of any evaluation. We believe that a deeper understanding of this process will highlight the fact that teachers need more support in attempting these re-creations. Their role in the innovation process is as innovators, not as recipients of completed products.

Bruce & Rubin, 1993, p. 218

Books

• Bruce, Bertram C. (2020). Education’s ecosystems: Learning through life. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Bruce, Bertram C., Peyton, Joy Kreeft, & Trent W. Batson (Eds.). (1993). Network-based classrooms: Promises and realities. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Bruce, Bertram C., & Rubin, Andee (1993). Electronic Quills: A situated evaluation of using computers for writing in classrooms. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• D’Arcy, Cleora J.; Eastburn, Darin M.; & Bruce, Bertram C. (2009, Winter). How media ecologies can address diverse student needs. College Teaching, 57(1), 56-63. 

Articles

• Bruce, Bertram C. (March 1999). Challenges for the evaluation of new information and communication technologies. JAAL, 42(6), 450-455.
• Bruce, Bertram C. (1998, March 3). Evaluation of learning systems. Evaluation of learning systems. Workshop on Information Technology and Learning Environments in Tourism, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Bruce, Bertram C., Bruce, Susan, Conrad, Rebecca, & Huang, Hui-Ju (1997). Collaboration in science education: University science students in the elementary school classroom. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 34(1), 69-88.
• Bruce, Bertram C., Carragher, Bridget O., Damon, B. M., Dawson, M. Joan, Eurell, Jo Ann, Gregory, Carl D., Lauterbur, Paul C., Marjanovic, Marina M., Mason-Fossum, Barbara, Morris, H. D., Potter, Clint S., & Thakkar, Umesh (1997). Chickscope: An interactive MRI Classroom curriculum innovation for K-12. Computers and Education Journal, 29(2), 73-87.
• Bruce, Bertram C., & Leander, Kevin (1997). Searching for digital libraries in education: Why computers cannot tell the story. Library
  Trends, 45(4), (Special Issue: Children and the digital library), 746-770.
• Bruce, Bertram C. & Peyton, Joy Kreeft (1990). A new writing environment and an old culture: A situated evaluation of computer networking to teach
  writing. Interactive Learning Environments, 1, 171-191.
• Bruce, Bertram C. & Peyton, Joy Kreeft (1999, December). Literacy development in network-based classrooms: Innovation and realizations. International Journal of Educational Technology, 1(2).
• Choksi, Beena (1997). Evaluating the use of information technology in the East St. Louis Action Research Project (ESLARP). Unpublished manuscript.
• Grosshandler, Dean J. (1997). Incubators as technology: A situated evaluation. Unpublished manuscript, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Gruber, Sibylle, Bruce, Bertram C., & Peyton, Joy Kreeft (1995). Collaborative writing in multiple discourse contexts. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 3 (3-4), (Special issue: Computer supported cooperative writing), 247-269.
• Gruber, Sibylle, (April 1993). Review: Electronic Quills: A situated evaluation of using computers for writing in classrooms. Computers and Composition, 9(2), 107-112.
• Harris, Genell & Bruce, Bertram C. (1998). Adopting telecommunications:
  A teacher¹s personal quest. OATE Journal, 2, 12-23.
• Harris, Genell & Bruce, Bertram C. (1997). Adopting telecommunications:  Assessing the process a step at time.  Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association spring meeting, Chicago, IL.
• Hogan, Maureen P. (1999). Chickscope realized: A situated evaluation of an inquiry-based sixth-grade classroom.
  Unpublished manuscript, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Levin, James, Levin, Sandra, Morritz, Trudy, Waddoups, Greg, & Waugh, Michael (1998).  Technologies for systemic educational reform: A situated evaluation of Project LINCOL’N. Paper presented at the National Educational Computer Conference.
• Rubin, Andee & Bruce, Bertram C. (1990). Alternate realizations of purpose in computer-supported writing. Theory into Practice, 29, 256-263.
• Twidale, Michael B. (1993).  Redressing the balance: The advantages of informal evaluation techniques for Intelligent Learning Environments. Journal of Artificial Intelligence In Education, 4 (2/3), 155-178.
• Twidale, Michael B., Randall, David, & Bentley, Richard (1994). Situated evaluation for cooperative systems. In Proceedings, CSCW ¹94 (pp. 441-452). Chapel Hill, NC.
• Twidale, Michael B., Rodden, T. & Sommerville, I. (1993). The Designers’ Notepad: supporting and understanding cooperative design. In Proceedings of ECSCW’93 (pp. 93-108). Milan.
• Twidale, Michael B., Rodden, T. & Sommerville, I. (1994). Developing a tool to support collaborative dialogues and graphical representation of ideas. In The proceedings of the NATO ARW. Segovia, Spain. Also in M. F. Verdejo & S. A. Cerri (Eds.). Collaborative dialogue technologies in distance learning (pp. 219-235). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
• Twidale, Michael B., Rodden, T. & Sommerville, I. (1994). The use of a computational tool to support the refinement of ideas. Computers and Education, 22, 107-18.

Theses

• An, Junghyun (2008). Service learning in postsecondary technology education: Educational promises and challenges in student values development. PhD thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Cervantes, Raoul (May 1993). Every message tells a story: A situated evaluation of instructional networking. PhD thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Choksi, Beena (June 2000). CARA (Child Abuse Risk Assessment): A situated evaluation of an innovative learning environment. PhD thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Crockett, Donald (December 1999). Software Evaluation. Masters thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Harris, Genell (May 1993). Gateway to educational change: A situated evaluation of a FrEdMail adoption. PhD thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Kok, Adrian John (December 2003). Situated evaluation of an interorganizational collaboration. PhD thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Levin, Sandra (October 1994). The realizations of telecommunications in high school science classrooms:  An evaluation of teachers’ use of technology. PhD thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Marcovitz, David Michael (May 1996). Support for technology and innovation in the elementary school. PhD thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Snow, Juna (May 2005). Stonesoup: Technology innovation, introduction, and use to support learner-centered education. PhD thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.