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

Below we will look at what a checklist is, how it is done and what some related evaluation techniques are.

Checklist: an evaluation tool

In pedagogy, an assessment instrument is a material or a set of actions that allows to 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 goals of a given process.

It usually takes the form of a table with three or four columns explaining both the indicators (the skills, behaviours or elements expected to be found in both the person and a particular task) and 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 the side, where it is possible to indicate whether the indicator is “achieved”, “not achieved”, or in “process”. The above terms may vary depending on what is being assessed . For example, in the case of procedures or elements expected to be found in a written or visual work, the “yes” and “no” columns may simply be included to indicate whether they are present or absent.

4 main characteristics

Like all evaluation tools, the checklist has some features that make it different from other techniques . These characteristics can be both an advantage and a disadvantage, depending on what you want to evaluate. We can identify 4 main characteristics of the checklist: it is pre-structured, it is generally dichotomous, it allows for the establishment of sequences and it is based on observation.

1. Pre-structured

This is a pre-structured evaluation technique, as the evaluation criteria are established before the observation is made. First, the goals to be achieved are listed , and then it is recorded which of these goals have actually been achieved and which have not.

The fact that it is a pre-structured tool can be an advantage, as it allows an objective evaluation to be made. However, it can also be a disadvantage because it hardly allows for the addition of other elements or learning achieved once the evaluation starts.

2. Dichotomous

Related to the above, the checklist is usually a dichotomous assessment technique, i.e. it generally only accepts the options of “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, can limit the evaluation criteria to very specific learning .

3. Sequenced

The checklist allows you to record in a sequential manner the tasks that you expect to achieve or perform, as well as the order in which they should appear. In the specific context of pedagogy, the checklist is done by listing behaviors, skills, attitudes or tasks that are expected to be observed in students. In this way, a graphic sequence can be established on the progress and on the pending ones .

4. Observational

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

Related educational tools

Before deciding which evaluation technique is most operational for analyzing the accomplishments 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 resemble the checklist, although they have some differences with it, are the headings and scales of appreciation . In the first case, these are tables of contents where the learning or the expected task can be explained in detail. They serve to measure both the level and the quality of these indicators. Above all, they facilitate the communication of the evaluation criteria between the person evaluating and the person being evaluated.

The scale of appreciation, for its part, allows the frequency of an indicator to be identified. It is also a list but it establishes in more detail whether the expected skill, behaviour or task has been achieved. It may be of a descriptive type (what has been observed in the person being assessed is detailed), or it may be of a numerical type (achievements are graded on scales, for example from 1 to 10).

Bibliographic references:

  • SENCE (S/A). Evaluation Instruments. Recovered August 14, 2018. Available at http://www.sence.cl/601/articles-4777_recurso_10.pdf.
  • Carbonell Sebarroja, J. (2015). Pedagogies of the 21st Century. Alternatives for Educational Innovation . Barcelona: Octahedron.
  • Medina-Díaz, M. del R., Verdejo-Carrión, A. L. (1999). Assessment of student learning . San Juan (Puerto Rico): Isla Negra.