The appraisal of teaching and the evaluation of courses in New Zealand polytechnics is topical as it has become a requirement of managers in polytechnics to implement staff appraisal and provide for staff development. All polytechnics have staff development personnel who are likely to be involved in either supervising staff appraisal and course evaluations or providing training in response to staff appraisal outcomes. In addition there are currently three regional training units in the country, providing initial level training to new staff. Trainers report that there has been an increase in the demand for information and advice on strategies for examining the effectiveness of both teaching and learning, with a focus on the improvement of course design and delivery. A request from the Media Centre within Christchurch Polytechnic to explore such strategies and a personal interest of the researcher to pilot the role of an external evaluator led to this research project. The department agreed to the presence of the external evaluator (who was known to all staff, and a staff member volunteered a 20 week course in Radio Journalism as the subject of the evaluation. This case study was aimed at designing an evaluation strategy, which used a variety of data collection methods, both quantitative and qualitative, to gain information about the course. The evaluation emphasised staff support and development, to facilitate course improvement and was to be primarily diagnostic and formative rather than judgemental and summative.