Introduction

The final step of the problem solving cycle is evaluation and learning.Evaluation refers to the careful observation and assessment of the processand the effects of an FPS project. An evaluation should tell whether aproject is successfully completed, whether improvements need to beimplemented and what can be learnt for the future.

Unfortunately, many projects are terminated without an evaluation. Forexample, von Zedtwitz (2002) finds that 80 per cent of research anddevelopment projects are not evaluated. When a project is reaching itsfinalization, other projects loom ahead, which require attention from thecurrent project members. For the project members, it may be more interestingto dive into a new project than to take a step back and contemplate thecurrent one. However, that is a pity, because evaluation and learning arehighly valuable. The evaluation of student projects has an additionallimitation in that these projects are often finished before implementationdue to their limited timeframe. If they do implement an object design, thereis little time left for the effects to be realized and measured.Nevertheless, evaluation and learning are also valuable when implementationeffects cannot yet be measured.

Evaluations can be performed with four objectives in mind. First, evaluationsserve the current problem solving project by determining the resultsachieved and the improvements to be made. This is evaluation in a strictsense. In a broader sense, for which we use the term ‘learning’, evaluationserves three further objectives. As a second objective, evaluation may alsobe oriented towards learning for future problems in the same context. Thisuse of evaluation and learning is particularly stressed in the literature onorganizational learning and knowledge management (see, for example, Busby,1999; and von Zedtwitz, 2002). Third, evaluation and learning can beoriented towards advancing generic scientific knowledge about this type ofbusiness process. Finally, evaluation and learning are necessary forpersonal and professional learning and development.