Evaluate

Guiding Questions

    • What questions should I ask myself as I revise my work?

    • What questions should I ask myself at the end of a project?

    • How can reflecting on the research process improve my research skills?

Before you conclude the research process (and ideally all along the way) you will EVALUATE your work. Teachers, classmates, relatives, librarians, and others can be great sounding boards, so go ahead and phone a friend.


Source: Cute Penguin Couple by Adam Foster under a Creative Commons license

Overview

The last stage of the research model is to EVALUATE your work.

During this stage you will consider the PRODUCT of your work to date, doing some serious REVISION. You should also take the opportunity to consider the PROCESS you have gone through, engaging in REFLECTION.

While you are your first and most important evaluator, remember that there are other people who can help you: your teacher, the school librarian, the Learning Center staff, National Honors Society tutors, staff from Robbins or your nearest public library, and trusted friends and relatives. You are not in it alone!

Keep your eyes on the ball. Refer back to the teacher's assignment or your stated purpose regularly. Try to EVALUATE your progress at each step in the research process, rather than waiting until the end. Remember, because research is recursive, you can move between any two steps.

Hopefully as you EVALUATE your completed research you will feel a sense of accomplishment and increased self-awareness that you can take with you to the next challenge.

Tool Tips

Tools you might use during this stage:

    • Assignment sheet, rubrics, checklists provided by your teacher (which you've been consulting all along, right?)

    • Feedback tools for editors

    • Google Docs (share so collaborators can edit or just comment)

    • Kaizena (audio feedback add-on for Google Docs)

Portfolio tools to collect your work over time

Notable Quotable

"The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."


Source: Albert Einstein, Theoretical Physicist