To evaluate something,
we need to set criteria for evaluation.
For example,
if we want to evaluate whether
a picnic meal is good or bad,
we may wonder whether it is easy to carry
or whether it needs less water.
Here,
the criteria for a picnic meal are
"easy to carry" and "less water".
Then, what are good criteria?
And how can we define good criteria
to make effective evaluations?
Let's look at the following three common features.
The most important thing about well-designed criteria
is that they are specific,
direct and easy to judge.
When we evaluate,
we tend to use general descriptions like
"good" or "bad".
For instance,
when evaluating a recipe,
we may ask "Is it well-written?"
However,
criteria like "well-written"
are too general to judge.
Instead,
it's better to use specific criteria,
such as
"Are the steps listed in a clear way?"
or "Are the steps beginner-friendly and easy to follow?"
Besides the descriptions like "clear"
and "easy to follow",
you can also think about
other specific aspects for evaluation,
like "Does the recipe provide readers
with some useful tips for cooking?"
Criteria should be measurable.
"Measurable" here means
that something could be described in specific terms
usually expressed as an amount,
a quantity, or a numerical value.
Criteria open to interpretation
often produce widely variable answers,
which make it difficult to get a conclusive evaluation,
while defining a key criteria
and quantifying the results
will make evaluations more precise.
For instance,
to evaluate a dish in a restaurant,
questions like
"How much did people enjoy the dish?"
are not as measurable as questions
with more concrete answers,
like "Were there any complaints after eating?"
You can refer to Questions
in Activity 6 of the textbook,
which require you to answer the questions only with
"yes" or "no".
Then,
you can count how many questions get a "yes".
The more "yes" answers it gets,
the better the recipe is.
Another way to get measurable answers
is to provide a scale ranging from "one" to "five"
or from "very poor" to "very good".
You can find an example
in the Self-reflection activity of each unit.
In this way,
the criteria are measurable
and the results become more distinct.
In other words,
you can "see"
how good or bad something is.
If you work out a long list of criteria,
it's better to categorize the criteria,
that is,
to divide the criteria into a few groups.
This process can help you
organize your criteria systematically.
In Activity 6 of Episode 1,
for example,
the criteria for evaluating a recipe
are divided into three categories,
"Recipe name",
"Ingredient list" and "Directions".
The three categories are put in an order
in which you prepare a dish. The three categories are put in an order
in which you prepare a dish.
In this way,
when people make an evaluation,
they can follow the order and think clearly.
Otherwise,
they may have to jump from one question about
"ingredients" to another one about "directions".
Setting criteria is the basis
for making an evaluation.
Never skip this step.
Thanks for watching.
See you next time!