Critical Evaluation Toolkit

Ideas for Critical Evaluation Skills' assessment

• Trial and evaluation of two sets of syllabus material, (Primary Investigations and Queensland School Science Syllabus Modules) e.g., lessons within an assigned Unit/Module. Primary Investigations is a whole primary school science program developed for Australian conditions. The Queensland School Science Syllabus Modules approach a problem using a constructivist approach to teaching science.

• The assessment requires students to work in small teams of three. The students are set a task to critically evaluate their unit/module and to present their evaluation to their colleagues in the form of a poster session. This is a very demanding 10 minute presentation that does not just focus on the module itself (it is not teaching or micro-teaching). The students are asked to imagine that they are teachers attending a professional development workshop or a conference for other teachers who, like themselves, are busy people who want solutions to specific problems.

• In the poster session each team is required to critically evaluate the unit/module from a variety of perspectives. To achieve this they need:
  • To evaluate the material's (unit/module's) success at effectively communicating the message to students at a particular level;
  • To evaluate the material's success at integrating a number of ideas;
  • To explain why the material was presented in a particular way;
  • To explain and demonstrate the material that they are talking about;
  • To identify any difficulties or problems with equipment, lesson outcomes etc; and
  • To identify any safety and/or class management issues.
• The students are required to work as teams of three with each member undertaking a particular role, e.g., as a Director, a Manager or a Speaker. It is left up the students to form a team and to elect a Director, a Manager and a Speaker for their team. This reflects the process the school children will be asked to follow when working on the units/modules. Each member of the team is required to wear a badge designating his/her role and must complete specific well-defined tasks associated with the role. For example, the director is responsible for calling team meetings, chairing team discussions, keeping records of what team members have agreed to do and generally, overseeing the entire assignment.

• The second part of the assessment is the written group report, where each team is required to critically evaluate and critically analyse their module in terms of everything they know about education (their discipline). So they are not just thinking in terms of science but they are thinking in terms of their whole program. To achieve this they need:
  • To analyse each of the individual lessons within the allocated unit/module for specific teaching values;
  • To identify key points; and
  • To write the report within the assigned two page limit.
• To attain the desired outcomes from the critical thinking assessment, academic teaching staff identify and select four appropriate units from Primary Investigations and four appropriate modules from the new syllabus (eight modules). The units/modules are allocated through a system of chance as each team draws a number out of a hat, which indicates the module they are to critically evaluate and when they present.

Effective methods for assessing Critical Evaluation Skills

• The students are made aware of the marking process as they are given the marking criteria before they are required to do their poster presentation or group report.

• The poster presentation counts for 10% of the course marks, and the students are assessed on:
  • Their evaluation of the assigned material (lessons within the assigned Unit/Module);
  • Their effectiveness in communicating the merits and limitations of the assigned information;
  • Their effectiveness in explaining and demonstrating the features of the assigned information; as well as
  • Meeting the time limits of the presentation;
  • The quality of the activity displays;
  • The quality of the poster or other displays; and
  • The creative delivery of the presentation.
• Written feedback on the poster session is given to the students after all the groups have presented.

• The group report counts for 15% of the course marks, and the students are assessed on:
  • Their ability to succinctly analyse and evaluate a large amount of information (lessons within the assigned Unit/Module);
  • The identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the material;
  • The identification of any difficulties with the equipment or safety issues related to trialling and evaluating the material; as well as
  • The quality and effectiveness of the report.
• As these are team assessments, the team receives a mark. Marks are not given to individual members of the team unless there is a situation where it would be unfair for the non-performers in the team to benefit from the efforts of other team members. In such cases the assignment grade reflects the group's perceptions of an individual's overall contribution.

What students like about Critical Evaluation Skills' assessment

• The students appreciate the fact that they are asked to think laterally and that they are given the opportunity to critically analyse the suitability of modern curriculum resources.

• The students engage with the assessment because it is a creative activity and it enables them to use a number of other skills, e.g., teamwork; oral and written communication skills.

• Through the assessment, the students learn valuable skills that will assist them to analyse and evaluate large amounts of information and to communicate the key ideas succinctly.

Further comments

• The assessment enables the students to develop analytical skills that they can use throughout their career, e.g., using these skills to assess material presented to them during a professional development workshop. Alternatively, these critical evaluation skills can be used on information that they will present to their colleagues.

• This method of assessing is one that has been used for nine years and continues to be rated highly in students' evaluations.

• The students enjoy learning from their colleagues, as they get to hear at least seven other presentations and are exposed to a variety of communication styles and methods. For example, some groups use very highly focused graphics, others use role-playing, while others use music. The students are also trained in drama, music and art and this assessment gives them the opportunity to use all those skills.

• The students value the poster sessions because they are an effective medium for exposing class members to many new teaching ideas over a very brief period. During each poster session each group is required to hand out to other members of the class, a two-page summary/evaluation sheet of their module. Students retain these summaries as resources, which they will be able to draw on when they are teaching in a classroom.

• Feedback from the students shows that they don't want to change the assessment. They feel the poster presentation and the group report are well worth the extra work required.

The most difficult aspect/s of assessing Critical Evaluation skills

• This assessment asks student to think outside the box as they are essentially asked to reflect back on the whole of their Bachelor of Education program. They must imagine that they have had two or more years of teaching in the school environment and then reflect on the process of being a teacher. The most difficult part of the assessment is getting the students to think laterally because most assignments they do requires them to look inwardly. This assignment asks them to look outwards. Although it is an understandably difficult task, the students' standard of work is impressive.

Course information

• Primary Science Education 2 - 3031CTL

• Course details can be found at: http://www.ua.gu.edu.au/subject_outlines/CTL/2004/s2/3031CTL.pdf

• Course Lecturer: Dr Rick Swindell
  Senior Lecturer
  School of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning