TOOL / ACTIVITY

Skills and Themes Inventory

Category:
Assessment
Duration:
10-15 minutes

This is a solo activity for anyone who carries out the work of research to quickly assess their current level of mastery for 47 research skills. Take stock of your strengths and weaknesses as a first step towards identifying what to invest in next.

Get the template→

What you'll need

  • Your copy of the template
  • To be in a quiet, reflective mood

Steps

  1. Open the template, and click "File > Make a copy" to make your personal copy.
  2. Go to the "Rating sheet" tab.
  3. Rate each skill pattern on a 0-4 scale.
    - A rough guess is fine.
    - If you want to know more about a skill, click the skill pattern to see details
    - This scale is a variation on Marzano's Levels of Understanding (ref "The Art and Science of Teaching")
  4. The "Score per Theme" table will fill in automatically. Review the table and ask yourself
    - What does it tell you about your strengths and weaknesses? Is it what you expected or were there surprises?
    - Where are the gaps that you'd like to work on next?

Optional next step - Skill Progression Mapping

Last updated: .
May 26, 2020 5:40 PM

Examples in the wild

Tips

Be honest with yourself. This is a reflective exercise to gain awareness of where you stand, not to get the highest score possible!

Variations

  • Conduct this assessment every 6 months to track your progress
  • Do a cross-assessment with a trusted colleague, and compare your self-assessment with how your skills are perceived by someone else

Can we clarify or improve?
How did it work for you?

We really like to hear how it goes—the good and the difficult. Use the contact form to send a quick note.

ResearchOps community
Research Skills Framework is a project by the ResearchOps Community.

We want you to use and build upon the materials here: see FAQ & Policy page.

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