How To Write An Evaluation Essay - Guide 2021

What you need to write an evaluation essay

The steps in this guide will help you structure and write a good evaluation essay. You'll also learn why it's important to evaluate something, how you can develop your own essay writing service , and learn about some specific writing strategies .

Step 1: Understand what an evaluation essay is

An evaluation essay aims to assess the value of something. The most common type of thing that people evaluate are social institutions (e.g., schools, prisons, hospitals, etc.), but you could also evaluate something like a piece of art or even a vacuum cleaner! In this guide we'll be looking at evaluation essays that focus on social institutions, and more specifically, education.

Here are some questions to ask yourself before choosing a topic:

What is the institution you want to evaluate?

Why do you think it's important to examine this institution?

How will you go about evaluating this institution? (For example: What kinds of academic reading will you use?)

What might motivate someone else to evaluate this same or similar institution/topic?

Step 2: Understand why evaluation is important in your discipline. Check out the page below for information about how evaluation has been used in geography and what it adds to our understanding of the world around us. Then answer these questions .

What is the main role of evaluation in geography?

Why do you think evaluation has been used to examine institutions? (For example: How does it help someone develop a critical feminist perspective or understanding of prison reform?)

Describe some specific ways that those working in your discipline have examined ideas and values related to the institution you want to evaluate. Have they focused on how or why something should exist, or have they been more concerned with what exists?

Step 3 : Develop criteria for evaluating your topic. You can start by using this guide on developing criteria , which includes questions reflective of key concepts from geography . Keep in mind that these are just suggestions; you don't need to use them if they don't work for you. Once you have your criteria, start to write them down.

Here are some ideas for questions that might help you develop your own ideas:

How can I show how the institution/idea is best (or worst) in terms of people- ity or place?

What would be an ideal form of this institution or idea? What goals should it achieve and how will these goals benefit the community or society in general?

If there were no barriers to achieving what is best in this institution or idea, what would that look like? How do we get there from where we are now? Can we ever reach a perfect institution and if so, would it be worth working towards?

Step 4 : Find out about the institution you want to evaluate

You can get started by using this guide on finding relevant reading and materials , including some suggestions for where to look. You should also try these strategies:

Read related documents, such as government reports or statistics, and think about how they relate to what you want to write.

Look at websites created for users of the institutions or industries that interest you (such as hospitals or prisons) and see if they provide any interesting information.

Step 5 : Evaluate your topic! Here are some questions that might help write my essay structure an essay, but keep in mind that there are many different ways to approach evaluation . What kinds of things do people do/need in this institution? How does your institution fulfill/fail to fulfill these goals?