Overview
This evaluation test provide you a simple procedure to evaluate the level of the trainees analysing competences (dicatic axis). The test allows to evaluate each trainee individually before and after the training, and to assess the progression during the training by comparison between the two tests. The test is based on the idea that at most the trainees are competent, at the most they are able to analyse and criticize an existing pedagogic sequence using various terms and linking them.
Task
The trainees have to analyse and criticize an existant pedagogical sequence about a given topic. At most they are able deconstruct in a coherent way the sequence identifying and citicizing objectives, relevant activities and relevant resources, at most they are considered as competent.
The sequence is given by the trainer. Another elements may be given by the trainer or be left free to the trainees appreciation (for example, assessing the relevancy of the sequence to another specific audience).
Method 1 – Free page for responding: “Analyse the following pedagogical sequence.” This method is especially interesting with presumed high-level trainees (for example in-service teachers) or to highlight the spontaneous approach they put in place. This method is less interesting with presumed low-level trainees (for example in-training future teachers) because they may not see what is expected.
Method 2 – Responding in formatted questions: “Analyse the pedagogical sequence following the different items: (i) objectives, (ii) activities, (iii) resources, (iv) timing (etc.)” This method is especially interesting with presumed low-level trainees (for example in-training future teachers). This method is less interesting with presumed high-level trainees (for example experimented in-service teachers) because the guided answers may be not sufficiently discriminant (all high-level trainees will reach the maximal level, avoiding to highlight a progression during the training).
Method 3 – Mixed approach: in a first time use a free page for responding (Method 1 above), in a second time ask more formatted questions (Method 2 above). This mixed method is especially interesting when you don’t have indications about the level of the trainees. It is also really discriminant between low and high-level trainees. The main inconvenient is that answering the questionnaire is longer, and the repetition between open and specific questions may disturb some trainees.
Method 4 – Mindmapping. The sequence is presented in a mindmap showing alignment between objectives, tasks, resources, evaluation, and so on. The mindmap may be created with “traditional” tools (paper and pencil) or with specialized digital tools (like Mapmind, XMind, etc.). Using a specialized software may be intimidating for some trainees unfamiliar with digital tools; using specialized software makes the mindmap sharing easier on the Platform.
Interpretation
Each answer is individually coded with the following scale:
| Level | Criteria | Interpretation |
| 0 | The trainee is unable to analyse a pedagogical sequence. His/her answer is incoherent and/or focus on the content without preoccupation for methods and mean (“it says that…”). | The trainee has no analysing (didactic) competence. |
| 1 | The trainee is able analyse a basic pedagogical sequence. His/her analyse counts a few keywords indicating that he/she makes the difference between content, objectives and method (“objective”, “method”, etc.). | The trainee has basic analysing (didactic) competences. |
| 2 | The trainee is able analyse and/or evaluate a pedagogical sequence. His/her analysis counts most keywords indicating that he/she masters the whole process: objectives, task, ressources, evaluation, timing, etc. | The trainee has good analysing (didactic) competences. |
| 3 | The trainee is able analyse and evaluate a pedagogical sequence and to justify interest (or limitations) of each element. His/her analysis counts all keywords indicating that he/she masters the whole process (objectives, task, ressources, evaluation, timing, etc.) and makes links between these elements showing their coherence/alignment. | The trainee has excellent analysing (didactic) competences and may be viewed as an “expert” in these compétences. |
The progression is evaluated by comparison between the scores before and after the training. You should expect that the final score is (individually and/or globally) higher at the end of the training that at the beginning.
Extra comments
It is recommended that the same evaluator does the scoring in the pre-training and post-training tests to ensure that the interpretation of the scoring indicators are constant.