Evaluation Tools and Techniques

So let’s go back to where we started from, with our competency framework and the set of CEPNET principles as discussed in Module 1.

These CEPNET 6 core competences have been supporting and underpinning our project vision.

• Navigating- media and information literacy
• Interpreting- critical thinking
• Interacting with others- interpersonal skills
• Interacting with self- intrapersonal skills
• Creativity and agency- innovative thinking
• Taking responsibility-global citizenship

As we have presented these modules, it is these competences that you have in the back of your mind as you work with your students and get them to debate, research and present. You have already assessed that they have made progress as they moved through the phases, but now we want to think about these competences.

A key focus within our framework, given the importance of the SDGs within the overall approach, is the extent to which we can foster within children the knowledge, skills, concepts, attitudes, values and dispositions that motivate and empower them as citizens to take positive actions to live justly, sustainably and with regard for the rights of others.

Our competence framework is explained in great detail in our Teachers Handbook and elsewhere on this site, so please feel free to re-acquaint yourselves with it, because now we will turn to the tools and techniques that you might use to dig a bit deeper with your class to see what they think.

There are many examples of creative ways to gather children’s thoughts on their learning, such as

• Rating Scale
• The Body Exercise
• On line surveys
• Checklists
• Target Board evaluations
• Jelly Bears tree
• Graffiti Wall/Comment Board
• Spider Diagram
• Continuum

As you are considering how best to build evaluation into your CEPNET work, this template offers some ideas in relation to participatory evaluation methods. It might sound like a mouthful, but it is really a continuation of the CEPNET ideas in practice, except it is providing you with some activities and ideas for thinking more about evaluation.

Our teachers made use of a collective ‘target board’ so that the responses of the students can be very visual.

It is a good idea to gather feedback from the children in relation to how they have experienced each lesson and each phase. It can be cumbersome, but if you have someone to help out, it can make it easier. Maybe one of the Children’s Council can be appointed as the “data gatherer”. A different group in the class can be asked each time. They can be encouraged to use post-it notes and give ratings in one colour and feedback in a different colour. These notes can be collected over the 10-12 weeks of a CEPNET cycle and can help with a final review. You can use some of these comments during the final showcasing event to give some insights to the audience about how the students were feeling at different stages in the project.

A summative evaluation (at the end) can also help out if you are finding the process evaluation (ongoing) hard work. You can make use of the following templates to help you out. Below you will find a template for students, teachers and for parents and guardians. As above, you may not fancy taking on such an extensive review, but the tools are here at your disposal if you need them. For even further review potential, you will also find some ideas about carrying out a focus group with your students…

Have a read of an evaluation reports that was based on these tools. In the case of this report, we were fortunate to have an evaluation expert in charge…