A model of criteria for the common good as a tool for the evaluation of educational software

This descriptive content analysis explored educational software evaluation forms for the use of criteria related to the concept of the common good, a major tenet of social responsibility, within the major software evaluation form categories of instructional design and content. The premise of the study was that educational software evaluation forms may serve to enhance the socio-cognitive development of secondary students, if evaluation criteria for the common good were included in the instructional design and content categories. The population consisted of thirteen educational software evaluation agencies which evaluate for the YZ Group (pseudonym), an educational evaluation organization. Nine of the twelve respondents submitted the requested data, the software evaluation forms currently in use. Both the instructional design and content categories of each software evaluation form were studied utilizing a research procedure of descriptive content analysis. A model of criteria for the common good, to be used as an educational software evaluation form category, was developed based upon fifteen tenets related to the common good derived from the literature. All data was compared to these tenets. Although representing a modest sample of the educational software evaluation population, the results of the study indicate the YZ Group is representative of a broader population (similar educational software evaluation groups) for the following reasons. First, the YZ Group, and the individual agencies which comprise it, evaluate educational software for other popular evaluation groups and their publications. Secondly, the agencies of the YZ Group are public school districts, public/private universities, and professional educational organizations, as are many of the agencies comprising other popular software evaluation groups, such as the UV and WX Groups (pseudonyms). The results of this content analysis strongly indicate that criteria for the common good are most often neglected from educational software evaluation forms. The evidence demonstrated the categories of instructional design and content on software evaluation forms included criteria promoting the common good at a rate of only 17.7%. The study also indicated that software evaluation forms were devoid of criteria for the detection of bias and stereotyping at a rate of 55.5%, as only four of the nine educational software evaluation forms included such criteria.