Academic Vocabulary

Jim Burke's Academic Word List

Evaluation

• Evaluation is a systematic determination of a subject's merit, worth and significance, using criteria governed by a set of standards
  • First, determine the purpose of the evaluation.
  • Second, use the purpose to determine the most appropriate standards to use. Possible standards when evaluating writing include:
    • Clarity
    • Interest to the reader
    • Entertainment value
    • Information conveyed, etc.
  • Third, use evidence and reasoning to explain your evaluation.
• Evaluation usually requires summary, but mere summary does not comprise evaluation.
• From Harvard:

Analyzing adds an evaluative component to the summarizing process—it requires you not just to restate main ideas, but also to test the logic, credibility, and emotional impact of an argument. In analyzing a text, you reflect upon and decide how effectively (or poorly) its argument has been made. Questions to ask:

• Bloom's Taxonomy

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