Using Cognitive Complexity to Understand Role-Play as a Pedagogical Tool in Graduate Evaluation Education

Abstract

In response to a call for more research on evaluator education, this paper explores the use of role-play as an in-class activity for students in a graduate course in evaluation. We describe the activity in detail and use the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes taxonomy as a tool to describe the cognitive complexity of student responses in the activity. Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, we found that the role-play activity provided the opportunity for students to exhibit knowledge of evaluation theories and for us to observe the complexity of their responses.