Checklist: what is and how to use this assessment tool

One of the most used evaluation tools in pedagogy is the checklist.. Broadly speaking, it allows a comparison between the objectives set, and the learning or tasks obtained. It is a very simple and useful technique to analyze, at different levels, the scope of a specific skill or procedure.

Next we will see what a checklist is, how it is made and what are some related evaluation techniques.

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Checklist: an evaluation tool

In pedagogy, an evaluation instrument is a material or a set of actions that allow obtain relevant information about the teaching and learning process. Thus, a checklist is a material that makes it possible to record the achieved and unachieved objectives of a given process.

It generally has the format of a table with three or four columns in which both the indicators (the skills, behaviors or the elements that are expected to be found both in the person and in a specific task) as well as specific information about the presence or absence of these indicators.

In other words, the indicators are organized as a list within a first column. Two or three more columns are placed to one side, where it is possible to indicate if the indicator is “achieved”, “not achieved”, or in “process”. The above terms may vary depending on what is evaluated. For example, in the case of procedures or elements expected to be found in a written or visual, you can simply include the “yes” and “no” columns to indicate whether they are present or not. missing.

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4 main features

Like all assessment tools, the checklist it has some characteristics that make it different from other techniques. These characteristics can be both an advantage and a disadvantage, an issue that depends on what is to be evaluated. We can identify 4 main characteristics of the checklist: it is pre-structured, it is generally dichotomous, it allows establishing sequences, and it is based on observation.

1. pre-structured

It is a pre-structured evaluation technique, since the evaluation criteria are established before making the observation. First, the goals to be achieved are listed., to later record which of these goals have actually been achieved and which have not.

The fact that it is a pre-structured tool can represent an advantage, since it allows an objective evaluation to be carried out. However, it can also mean a disadvantage because it is difficult to add other elements or lessons learned once the evaluation begins.

2. dichotomous

Related to the above, the checklist is usually a dichotomous assessment technique, that is, In other words, it generally only accepts the options "acquired", "not-acquired", "present", "absent", "yes", "No". In some cases the checklist includes a third option, “in process”. In this sense, the checklist can be a very easily accessible and quite practical tool. But, on the other hand, You can limit the evaluation criteria to very specific learning.

3. sequenced

The checklist allows you to register in a sequential way the tasks that are expected to be achieved or carried out, as well as the order in which they should appear. In the specific context of pedagogy, the checklist is made listing behaviors, skills, attitudes or tasks that are expected to be observed in students. In this way you can set a graphic sequence on progress and pending.

4. observational

It is a tool based mainly on observation. This means that it depends on what the person evaluating has looked at with respect to the person evaluating the task. Depending on how the indicators to be evaluated are structured, the checklist is allows a qualitative-quantitative evaluation.

Related educational tools

Before deciding which evaluation technique is most operative to analyze the achievements of a particular task, it is necessary to define that task. In other words, it is important to start by asking what you want to evaluate, and then ask how.

In this sense, some tools that are similar to the checklist, although they have some differences with it, are rubrics and rating scales. In the first case, these are tables of contents where the expected learning or task can be explained in detail. They serve to measure both the level and the quality of these indicators. Above all, it facilitates the communication of the evaluation criteria between the person who evaluates and the person who is evaluated.

The appreciation scale, for its part, makes it possible to identify the frequency of an indicator. This is also a list but states in more detail whether the expected skill, behavior or task has been achieved. It can be of a descriptive type (what has been observed in the evaluated person is detailed), or it can be of a numerical type (achievements are rated on scales, for example from 1 to 10).

Bibliographic references:

• SENCE (S/A). Evaluation instruments. Retrieved August 14, 2018. Available in http://www.sence.cl/601/articles-4777_recurso_10.pdf.
• Carbonell Sebarroja, J. (2015). XXI Century Pedagogies. Alternatives for Educational Innovation. Barcelona: Octahedron.
• Medina-Diaz, M. del R., Verdejo-Carrion, A. L. (1999). Student learning assessment. San Juan (Puerto Rico): Isla Negra.