Adjudicated

Have you ever been evaluated and didn’t know it? 

I am not talking about being judged by someone and not knowing what he or she is thinking about you.  What I am refering to is being “adjudicated” or judged by others who are camouflaged within the audience you are presenting to.  Yup.  That happened to me during the EGSA (Education Graduate Students Association) Seminar Series on September 7, 2011.

First of all, I am pleased with myself about “taking the risk” of writing a 250 word abstract and submitting it to a blind peer review panel to be judged with hopes of being selected for the EGSA Seminar Series.  I had no expectations.  Being chosen with one other classmate to launch off the event for the fall session was an honour and a surprise.

Second, I looked forward to presenting parts of my research to other Faculty of Education graduate students.  I was unexpectedly challenged with the feedback from my supervisors and what I had submitted in my initial abstract a month prior.  I had to blend the two parts.  Furthermore, I had an opportunity to use what I learned in the Instructional Skills Workshop.

Third, I was unshaken by the experience of creating and presenting a 30-minute PowerPoint to my peers in front of a live feed that is 100% accessible online by ANYONE.  I had no fear.  That in itself was a good feeling and receiving positive feedback after the presentation from audience members affirmed to me that I’m on the right track with my research.

What took me a back was the email I received yesterday.  I got an email from the EGSA president with reviews from three anonymous adjudicators about my Seminar Series presentation.  I had NO CLUE that I was being judged by others in a “formal way” to provide me with constructive feedback about what they had witnessed during my presentation.

In public education, I was never evaluated for my teaching performance except during my first year of teaching in 1994.  At that time, I was informed about when I was going to be evaluated and I knew who was evaluating me.  Moreover, after my teacher evaluation I had a private meeting with my vice-principal about what went well and what I needed to work on.

Anyway, I loved it.  Receiving the email one week later with written feedback about my presentation was AWESOME.  Much like the Instructional Skills Workshop, I am more critical about myself compared to those evaluating me.  All three adjudications were generally positive and each of them expressed interest in my research topic.  Aside from speeding up near the end of the presentation due to time constraints… I did pretty good.