METHOD

Assessment Scale

Students place phenomena, data, or examples on a scale based on specific criteria, such as impact, relevance, risk, or sustainability.

This method helps students structure their assessments, argue for their choices, and see connections between different factors.

BEFORE

Decide what the students are going to assess. This could be, for example, carbon footprint, source credibility, or risk level. Then define, for example, three relevant response options that can be placed on a scale, such as low, medium, and high.

1

Appoint or let the students identify the data, examples, or phenomena they want to assess.

2

Students gather knowledge to qualify their assessment.

3

They argue for their assessment and agree on the answer with their partner/group.

4

Students present and explain their placements to other groups or to the whole class.

Didactic tips:

  • Instead of three levels (low, medium, high), the scale can have more response options (e.g. 1–10) or symbols (emojis, colours).
  • You can encourage students to develop their own response options and assessment criteria.
  • Students can first assess individually before agreeing as a group.
  • Students may adjust their responses up or down the scale as they gain new knowledge or hear arguments from others.
  • If students cannot agree on their answer within their group, use the Simple Majority Voting method.
  • The scale can also be a physical line on the floor, a board/poster, or a digital scale in an online tool.
Tags: Assessing, deciding
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MODES OF ORGANISATION:

  • Individual
  • Pair
  • Group

TOOLS / MATERIALS:

  • Physical rating scale (e.g. a line on the floor, a board, or a large sheet of paper)
  • Digital tools (e.g. Padlet, Google Slides, or Jamboard)
  • Cards with examples, phenomena, or data