Building Effective Evaluation Skills in A Level Business Studies

Teaching Business & Economics, Summer 2005 by Gillespie, Andrew

Andrew gave a talk at the annual conference on this topic and wrote the piece beloiv as a summary.

INTRODUCTION

Developing students' evaluative skills is one the greatest challenges we face as teachers of A level Business Studies. The ability to make mature judgements is the key to success for students at A2 - can they decide which route a business should take and defend this viewpoint effectively? Can they assess the case for and against a particular course of action and make a well reasoned decision on what to do next? Students need to think through problems, being aware of the importance of making a judgement and not leaving answers open ended and general. These skills do not come easily but are the result of practice and training.

CURRENT PRACTICE

A student's journey towards effective evaluation usually has three stages:

1. A belief that evaluating simply means providing a conclusion. This is often the stage that students are at in their first couple of terms of their A level studies. Ask them to define evaluation and they will describe it as "summing up" or "providing an overview". Typically their answers end with sentences such as "Overall there are arguments for and against...." or "Overall, there are many factors to consider". Whilst this approach recognises the need to stand back from their earlier arguments it clearly does not assess the relative importance of different factors or consider which one(s) are most significant. It fails to think about what really matters in this particular question.

2. The second stage students go through when developing evaluative skills is to appreciate that the answer "depends" on something. Students begin to appreciate that the most important factor in an answer will vary from situation to situation and that the solution to a problem depends on issues such as the nature of the business, the objectives of the managers, the external environment and so on. At its most simplistic this approach simply ends responses with a long list of things that might influence the answer: "it depends on the firm, its competitors and the short run and long run".

3. Stage three is a development of the "it depends" approach. Students now understand the need to support their arguments- "it depends on X because.. "This is clearly stronger evaluation because it is providing some justification for the factors selected. However it often remains learnt evaluation. I have several students who will produce this type of conclusion regardless of the question. "It depends on the resources available to the firm because.. it depends on the economy because..."

This appreciation of uncertainty is important - the "answer" to any issue will indeed depend on a host of factors including who is being asked, what is trying to be achieved and what resources are available. Indeed several years ago I think this appreciation that nothing in business was definite was all that was required by examiners for the highest marks. It showed a critical insight into the importance of the particular context of a business situation and showed a degree of critical thinking, especially if there was some support provided.

THE LIMITATIONS OF 'STAGE 3' ANSWERS

Nowadays, however, we are looking for students to make a judgement that actually provides a much clearer "answer" to a question. It is all very well to say that there are many things to consider but ultimately you still want to know what the firm should do. Imagine you are the Board of Directors and have asked a consultant to report back on some issue such as whether to go ahead with a product launch. If the consultant came back and said that it is a very difficult question and the answer depends on many things - it could be yes, it could be no - you would probably refuse to pay her fee. What you want is to know whether or not to go ahead - that's what you are paying for. By all means the consultant should flag up the various issues involved but what is her view: yes or no? This willingness to commit is surely what is required for effective evaluation: the ability to make a real recommendation rather than leave the answer very general. Imagine you're advising students on where to go to university. You could tell them that it depends on their interests, whether they like a campus, whether they prefer a modular course, what their academic strengths are, whether they like big cities and so on. All of these are relevant factors and you could explain why they matter. However if all you do is raise these issues you have not actually advised these particular students on what they should study or where they should go - you have simply highlighted things they should consider. To really be of value to them you need to understand them as individuals so you can name an actual place and course that would fit with each of their ambitions, skills and interests. The "solution" would probably be different for each one.

Good evaluation is therefore rooted in context - it cannot be in a textbook or taught simply by giving notes. It requires thought, debate, questioning and challenge.