Big6 Skill 6-Evaluation

 

Teacher:

Very good students!  I was very impressed with your presentations and I think you worked very well in your groups.  I can tell that a lot of you understand the complex issues of situation.  Let’s move on to the final step and perhaps the most important step in the Big6 Research Process—Evaluation.

 

Ronald:

Doesn’t that mean that you give us a grade!

 

Teacher:

My grade is part of the assessment, but we do the evaluation together.  We judge the product and evaluate the process and you can think about it and decide to how to do it better next time.  That is why this step, Evaluation, is so important.  Not because it changes anything for this project, but hopefully taking time to reflect on both the product and the process will prepare you to do an even better job on the next project you have.

 

Elana:

I can think of several things that I’d do differently next time.

 

Ronald:

I did it all perfectly!

 

Teacher:

Well, I’m sure everyone has some room for improvement.  So, I’m going to give you a few minutes to respond to these evaluation questions that I’m handing out and then we’ll discuss your responses.  Here are the questions I’d like you to answer

1.      What worked?

2.      What didn’t work?

3.      What did other people do well?

4.      What was hardest for you?

5.      How will you improve your process next time?

All right, I’m going to give you some time to think and write. Get to work.

 

(FADE)

 

Teacher:

Okay, I see that most of you have finished up with the writing part.  Let’s go ahead and discuss your responses.  Mrs. L is here to join us as well.  Elana, you already mentioned that there are some things you would have done differently?  What specifically about your product would you have changed?

 

Elana:

Well, I had some difficulty editing my video and then I got short on time, so in the end, I think that my video had a lot of content in it that was extra.  I would have really liked to have edited parts of the interview, with other background information.  I think that would have really helped the audience understand my interviewee’s responses.

 

Paul:

I agree with you Elana.  I mean your video was good and everything, but it got a little long at points.

 

Elana:

Yeah.  Some of the interview questions and answers should have been edited out.

 

Teacher:

Good evaluation, Elana.  Now what would you do differently next time?

 

Elana:

Well, I guess I thought I could do all the editing myself.  I just wasn’t sure how to go about it.  I think that the next time I want to do a video, I should script it all on paper first and then if I don’t know how to do something find help.  I have lots of friends who could have helped me, but it was too late to ask them by the time I figured out I didn’t know what I was doing.

 

Librarian:

So, your basically saying that your process for organizing your information was not as good as it could have been and therefore was reflected in your product. 

 

Elana:

Yes, I guess so.   But, I did get some good feedback from my neighbor.

 

Teacher:

Really?  How so?

 

Elana:

Well, I had given a copy of the tape to my neighbor that I interviewed and he e-mailed his family back in the Middle East to tell them about it.  They were really excited that we were learning about it and e-mailed me.  They shared their thoughts and viewpoints about the Middle East situation.  We’ve e-mailed back and forth a couple of times.  It was really cool.

 

Teacher:

That is very exciting.  E-mail can be an excellent tool.  I hope that those of you who used e-mail to communicate with Mrs. L and me throughout this project thought that it was helpful.

 

Elana:

I really liked using the e-mail.  I could be at home and still be able to ask you questions.

 

Paul:

I don’t have a computer at home, so I learned how to use e-mail from the public library so I could contact you.

 

Librarian:

Great. You could also use the school library computers to e-mail your teachers or myself.  Who else wants to share their evaluation about their product or process?

 

Paul:

I was feeling pretty good about my presentation until I saw some of the others. 

 

Teacher:

Really what did you notice in theirs that you thought was lacking in yours?

 

Paul:

Well, the presentations that I really liked told a personal story.  Like it was a real person involved in the conflict talking or writing.  Mine was really general.  I talked about a group of people not a single person.

 

Teacher:

Your presentation was very informative. 

 

Paul:

Oh yeah it was factual, but not personal.  I didn’t talk about feelings or day-to-day living.  I just thought that those presentations were more interesting.

 

Librarian:

Well, what would you do differently next time?

 

Paul:

I could have thought more about my audience when it came time to organizing the presentation.  Mine read like a textbook. If I had thought about it more, I would have figured out that a story would have been better.

 

Teacher:

Good.  How did you feel about your research process?

 

Paul:

I felt good about it. Last time we did a research process, I didn’t stick to the BIG6 research steps and it didn’t go very well.  So I made sure I stuck with the process.  And I also, really tried to use the time in the library wisely.  I didn’t do that last time either.

 

Librarian:

It sound like you did some good evaluating of your process on your last project and really made some improvements for this project.

 

Paul:

Definitely.  The last research project went really badly.  The Big6 process really helped me through this one.

 

Teacher:

How about you Ronald?  How did you feel about your research process?

 

Ronald:

Well, I guess that I could have done better.

 

Librarian:

How so?

 

Ronald:

Well, I wasted a lot of time in the library and then had to do a lot of it at home.  And it wasn’t really until I started to put the presentation together that I realized that I didn’t really have a lot to say, so I had to do a lot of the research at the last minute. 

 

Librarian:

Mmhmm.

 

Ronald:

The part of the presentation that I felt the best about was the part we worked on together.  I thought the maps were really good and explained a lot.

 

Elana:

Yes, I thought that was the best part of your presentation too. 

 

Ronald:

Thanks. 

 

Teacher:

So how could you improve for next time, Ronald?

 

Ronald:

Well, I know I should make better use of my time, but I’m not sure really what I would have done differently.

 

Librarian:

Let’s look at each step of the process and figure out what went wrong.  Did you feel like you had completely understood the task?

 

Ronald:

Oh yeah.  I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing.

 

Librarian:

All right, what about the next step-- that of information seeking strategies?  Did you feel comfortable determining the range of possible sources and making priorities?

 

Ronald:

Well, brainstorming the list of sources with the class was helpful, because I didn’t really know there were so many options.  But I really thought the Internet would be the best source.  Besides I’m not really sure how to use those other sources.

 

Librarian:

I think that it is very common for us to go to the same sources over and over because we are comfortable with them.  But Big6 Step #2 is very important in that it asks you to think about the topic and figure out what sources would be best to find answers for the topic.  As you’ve learned sometimes that means branching out to new resources.

 

Ronald:

Yeah, but I don’t know how to use all those other resources.

 

Teacher:

Well, there is always someone you can ask for help

 

Ronald:

I know, I know, I should have asked the librarian.

 

Librarian:

Remember, my job is to teach you how to use the resources.  Always feel free to ask me for help or come to me with specific questions.

 

Teacher:

Well, you really limited yourself by focusing on the Internet as your one source of information, but let’s move on.  What about step 3, Location and Access?

 

Ronald:

Well, I’m pretty good at finding information on the Internet so that wasn’t a problem.  I did print out a lot of paper that I ultimately never used.

 

Librarian:

Yes, I remember this.

 

Ronald:

And I guess that as I was using the Information…

 

Librarian:

Big6 step #4?

 

Ronald:

Yeah, I guess that I wasn’t really focusing on the information I needed, er, my research questions.  I was just looking for stuff on the general topic.  So when I got to the point of organizing my research I had a lot of information on the whole conflict, but not a lot of information on my particular people group. 

 

Teacher:

It sounds like you really understand what you could do better the next time you do a research process.

 

Ronald:

We are going to have to do another research project in this class!?

 

Teacher:

Definitely.  And you’ll have to do more research projects in future classes.  But soon you’ll start mastering the Big6 steps and the process won’t be so difficult.   Look at Paul, he learned a lot from his mistakes on his last research process and he really improved on this one!

 

Librarian:

Research is a life skill.  You will continually have to access, evaluate, and use information.  I spent this weekend researching what type of refrigerator to buy. When you graduate and start looking for a job, you’ll need to do research to find the right career for you. 

 

Teacher:

And if you ever want to go on a vacation--there is a lot of research involved with that process!  Research will never go away and that is one of the reasons we require you to do so much research in school.  We want you to learn the subject, but we also want you to practice the Big6 research steps so you’ll be prepared for what lies ahead in the “real world”!

 

Teacher:

Yes ,indeed.  Okay, I think we are done with this project, but I know that what you have learned about the situation in the Middle East AND about research will remain with you.  Very, very good work, students.