"WHAT'S A DEVELOPING COUNTRY?": FIELD TRIALS AND REVISIONS OF A DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR ADULT AMERICANS

The United States and the Third World are interdependent economically, politically, environmentally, culturally, and socially. Yet indications are that U.S. citizens have little understanding of, and poor attitudes about, that interdependence. Development education helps people better understand and appreciate the international development issues which affect their daily lives. Responding to this perceived need for development education, Communications for Development (CFD), a non-profit coalition of development and media professionals, has produced a broad-based, multi-media learning package entitled "What's a Developing Country?". This development education package consists of a series of exercises supported by handouts, a slide-tape presentation, and a 100-page facilitator's manual, including an annotated bibliography. "What's a Developing Country?" is designed to be used by teachers and facilitators with high school-age and older participants in a variety of settings. This dissertation research focused on the field trials conducted for formative evaluation of "What's a Developing Country?". The purposes of the field trials were to gather information about the ability of the learning program to achieve desired results and to discover what improvements, if any, were needed in the program. Field trials were conducted with three representative groups: high school students, university students, and an adult education group. Formative evaluation data were gathered via pre-/post-tests, standardized feedback forms, standardized observer forms, and facilitators' journals. The field trials had three chief results. First, the program was validated in terms of the achievement of learning objectives and in terms of basic design, content, materials and methodology. Second, the field trials provided a rich source of recommendations for improving program effectiveness. Third, the field trials served to highlight unresolved issues which indicate the need for further data collection and analysis. "What's a Developing Country?" is the first in a series of development education materials planned by Communications for Development. The design and production of these future materials have also benefited from the field trials of "What's a Developing Country?". A basic model has been developed and validated, and lessons learned in the field trials can be applied to future development education packages.