In order to assess and develop students’ evaluative abilities, they must first be given something to evaluate. Therefore, each evaluation task will present some proposed problem solution, proposed model, conceptual claim, or experiment report which the student must critically judge. To satisfy the first requirement for formative assessments, I have developed rubrics, guidelines, and examples which
inform the students of the nature of the tasks and how their responses will be graded. The rubrics identify four classes of possible responses, with each class indicating a certain level of ability development. Guidelines and examples inform the students of strategies to be used when responding to an evaluation task. By discussing these guidelines and examples with their peers and instructor, students can begin to develop an understanding of each evaluative strategy. To satisfy the latter two conditions for formative assessment, the students are presented with many opportunities to develop their evaluative abilities. In recitations, students work on evaluative tasks and discuss them with each other and with instructors. In laboratory, students work on evaluative tasks as part of an exit interview process where each student group discusses the tasks among themselves and with the instructor. In lecture, students discuss evaluative tasks in small groups. These activities allow the students to understand how their current level of performance compares with the goal performance, as well as how to improve their performance.