The skills necessary to develop summaries or synthesis are considered as:
- functional, they can be acquired and then refined by experience and practice.
- transferable, they can be applied to a variety of professional occupations.
You can assess your ability to create a summary and synthesis works by performing the evaluation test below. This self-assessment test comprises of three steps:
- assessing your skills required to complete a summary or synthesis.
- confirming the skills you most enjoyed using.
- establishing the skills you want to learn/improve.
Step 1. Assess your level of proficiency for each skill below by circling the appropriate number in the right hand column. Assign a rating from 5 (above average) to 1(below average).
| 1. | Read with understanding skills - You are able to | |||||
| a. | Determine the purpose of a reading activity | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| b. | Monitor your comprehension in reading | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| c. | Analyse the read information | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| d. | Integrate new information with your prior knowledge | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2. | Investigative skills - You are able to | |||||
| a. | Reflect on underlying meaning of read information | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| b. | Sort read information into categories and classify it | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| c. | Compare information and find patterns | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| d. | Locate the sources of information you need in your work | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 3. | Planning and organisational skills - You are able to | |||||
| a. | Identify your objectives and tasks to be accomplished | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| b. | Organise sources of information to meet your goals | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| c. | Prioritise steps in your work | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| d. | Revise and enhance the effectiveness of your work | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 4. | Writing skills - You are able to | |||||
| a. | Edit and prepare written materials | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| b. | Organise your written information to serve your purpose | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| c. | Use language, grammar and punctuation correctly | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| d. | Write creatively | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| TOTAL on COLUMN | ||||||
| GRAND TOTAL |
A total of less than 24 points means you need to improve your synthesis skills.
Step 2. Underline in the table below up to 10 skills you enjoy in your everyday activities, work or life. In the right most column give an example that best shows your use of the selected skill.
| Read with understanding skills | |
| Determine the purpose of your reading activity | I read every week an article about climate changes because I want to understand their impact on my everyday life |
| Monitor your comprehension in reading | |
| Analyse the read information | |
| Integrate new information with your prior knowledge | |
| Investigative skills | |
| Reflect on the underlying meaning of read information | |
| Sort read information into categories and classify it | |
| Compare information and find patterns | |
| Locate your necessary sources of information | |
| Planning and organisational skills | |
| Identify your objectives and tasks to be accomplished | |
| Organise sources of information to meet goals | |
| Prioritise steps in your work | |
| Revise and enhance the effectiveness of your work | |
| Writing skills | |
| Edit and prepare written materials | |
| Organise your information to serve your purpose | |
| Use language, grammar, and punctuation correctly | |
| Write creatively |
Step 3. Underline in the table below up to 10 skills you think you should improve or develop. In the right most column give an example in your opinion that best illustrates how to improve your selected skill.
| Read with understanding skills | |
| Determine the purpose of your reading activity | |
| Monitor your comprehension in reading | |
| Analyse the read information | |
| Integrate new information with your prior knowledge | |
| Investigative skills | |
| Reflect on underlying meaning of read information | |
| Sort read information into categories and classify it | |
| Compare information and find patterns | |
| Locate your necessary sources of information | |
| Planning and organisational skills | |
| Identify your objectives and tasks to be accomplished | |
| Organise sources of information to meet goals | |
| Prioritise steps in your work | |
| Revise and enhance the effectiveness of your work | |
| Writing skills | |
| Edit and prepare written materials | |
| Organise your written information to serve your purpose | |
| Use language, grammar, and punctuation correctly | |
| Write creatively | I'll write every week a short story about my everyday life, in order practice my creative writing skills |
