Abhijeet Pimparkar
1] Introduction
One of our test series student had asked me the basis on which self evaluation can be done. So here’s the reply which I gave. I have been already discussing these criteria with our mentorship students from long time, but the email made me to put it in proper structure. Have a close look. You can also implement the same in your own self evaluation of PSIR as well as GS answers.
2] Have I answered the question?
This looks a simple criteria, but is the most important one. To evaluate against this criteria, first you need to have a good understanding of the question itself. Try to see from a third person perspective. Try to see, if any person, who is not from a background of PSIR, if he/she reads the question, and then answer, will he feel that question has been answered?
3] Have I written anything un-necessary?
There are two cases when students write something which is not necessary in the answer. In first case, they like something, some quotation, some example or some idea, and they want to impress the examiner with it. In second case, while writing, they just get distracted from the question, and go on writing something which was not required. Try to see if you’ve written anything like this, which does not fit the context of the question.
4] Is my argument strong enough?
Now, you may fulfill the 1st and 2nd criteria, but if your argument is not strong enough, you still may not get full marks. To ensure this, your arguments should be backed up either of three things i.e. logic, facts or by some authority. We’ve a detailed article regarding this, you can read it here. Ensure that your arguments are strong from this perspective.
5] What else I could have written?
At the end, also try to compare your answer with your own notes first and then with model answer, to see what else you could have written. This will ensure that your topic gets revised nicely, and at least next time you are able to write a better answer if there is question from same topic.
If you follow this criteria of self-evaluation diligently for every answer you write, you can witness large improvements within short time. Best wishes!
