Evaluating professional development for blended learning in higher education: a synthesis of qualitative evidence

Successful implementation of blended learning initiatives requires careful planning and consideration of multidimensional factors. Focusing on evaluation and accountability for the design of professional development initiatives (PDIs) is the next step towards creating efficient and effective PDIs. This is especially needed since the Covid-19 pandemic has seen a dramatic shift towards using, and training for integration of digital teaching tools in higher education. The purpose of this qualitative research is to synthesize how professional development initiatives for blended learning in higher education institutions can be evaluated. Following a systematic review of the literature, fourteen empirical research articles were withheld and analyzed qualitatively using an inductive coding framework inspired by the 5 levels of evaluation by ( Guskey, T. R. (2000). Evaluating professional development. Corwin Press.). The results show that evaluation can be organized into five categories which correspond to the five evaluative levels for professional development by Guskey. The study concludes with recommendations and approaches for each evaluation category with a particular focus on higher education contextual challenges.