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BOOK REVIEW
Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, O’Brien Centre for the BHSc Program, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 4N1, E-mail: pkrangac{at}ucalgary.ca
Evaluating students makes me quite uneasy. I have rarely felt comfortable after I have handed the marks in, since I struggle not only with the marks that are given but also with the comments that are made. I envy my colleagues who can briskly and brusquely mark papers, fill out transcript forms, and move on.
My problem stems in part from my attempting to balance the three components of student-teacher interactions (beneficence, autonomy, and justice). I wonder whether students have benefitted from the marks given or the comments made, whether I have respected their autonomy by permitting them to give answers that I had never thought of, and whether justice has been done not only to the individual student but to the class as a whole. Nor have I felt comfortable with multiple-choice exams, since the selection of questions and appropriateness of the answers may not always be objective. These exams rarely tackle difficult questions with uncertain answers, often the only ones worth asking. Over the years, I have learned to live with my unease, since I found precious little in the educational literature that offered useful advice.
Fenwick and Parsons have produced a fine little book that can serve as a useful guide to folks like me. I felt that there could well be others out there who share my unease, hence this review. The book is well structured. In fifteen chapters, the authors discuss issues such as the purposes of evaluation, the philosophy of evaluation, planning, criteria, strategies, developing criteria for evaluation, evaluation of technical skills to evaluating conceptual growth, relational skills, and self-evaluation. Following these fifteen well-written chapters is a set of tool boxes that include ways and means of assessing portfolios, learner journals, learner contracts, the use of case studies, peer assessment, rating scales, assessment of online courses, and even objective tests!
In the Introduction, the authors state clearly, "Every educator works within a unique context of learners, purposes, structures and cultures. Every reader, therefore, needs to be critical and selective when choosing among the materials offered in this book." The first two chapters are entitled "The Purposes of Evaluation" and "Evaluating your Philosophy." I found these to be particularly useful. The authors state quite bluntly, "Evaluation is shot through with issues of power, responsibility, sensitivity, and even personal taste." They suggest that we begin by examining our own beliefs and argue that there is probably no better way to "slip into the shoes of the learner" than to remember being evaluated as a learner. They ask each one of us to think back on our experiences both as learners and as teachers and reflect on those individual experiences. These "think-backs" provide a veritable treasure trove of experiences that can be used to define assessment practices.
Each of the subsequent chapters has much to offer. The organization of the book is very helpful as well. Not only is the print bold and clear, a boon to aging eyes such as mine, but essential points are gathered together in helpful boxes that are shaded slightly to gather attention. One could, in fact, flip through this book and look at the shaded boxes as clues to interesting bits that can be read in greater detail at a later stage.
Those who are impatient and task oriented may prefer to ignore the chapters entirely and plunge straight into the tool boxes. The tool boxes are clearly laid out and offer useful advice to would be users. Each of the toolboxes begins with a section labeled "What is ——?" These emphasize key elements succinctly before specific examples are given. Written assignments are particularly problematic, and the section discusses the nature of such assignments and their practical use and gives clear examples of the writing process and suggestions for scoring as well. Similar thoughtful pieces discuss video, performance assignments, etc.
Bacon noted that some books were to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and a few to be chewed and digested. For the price of a meal in an average American restaurant, this book would provide ample food for thought for several years. Not a bad deal at all.
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