Lesson Plan – Appraisal
Aims

To explain the use and purpose of the appraisal system at work
Objectives
Students will be able to:
 describe what is meant by an appraisal system
 understand what is meant by self-appraisal
 carry out a self-appraisal and a peer appraisal
 understand the advantages and disadvantages of an appraisal system
This structure may be spread over a number of lessons as required.
Timing
20 mins
Stage of
Lesson
Introduction
Teacher Activity
Student Activity
Self-Appraisal
Teacher writes the aim and objectives of the
lesson on the board.
Working in pairs to produce a
self-appraisal and an appraisal
of a peer
Starter activity: Teacher explains that
employers will often have an element of selfappraisal within their system – this may also
be true in college or school. Asks students to
work in pairs to complete the self-appraisal
exercise on Worksheet 1 for themselves and
also for another student within the class –
this must be someone that they feel
comfortable giving feedback to.
Contributing to class
discussion
Giving feedback to the person
they are working with
Comparing their self-appraisal
with the appraisal done by
their classmate
Identifying patterns
Teacher opens the Self-Appraisal lesson
and asks for volunteers to read out their selfappraisals. Uses the ratings for each section
of the self-appraisal form to type appropriate
statements in the two columns on-screen.
Repeats for the peer appraisal and elicits
comparisons from the students.
Teacher asks all students to swap results
with their partner and see if their own review
of themselves is better or worse than their
peer’s. Teacher draws out patterns in the
class: Are students more or less self-critical?
What are the implications of this for an
appraisal system?
Timing
10 mins
Stage of
Lesson
Development
Teacher Activity
Student Activity
Cause and Effect Diagram
Teacher hands out Worksheet 2 and asks
students to produce a cause and effect
diagram for their own good or poor
performance at work, college or school. They
Drawing cause and effect
diagram on Worksheet 2 to
investigate what might
contribute to good or poor
performance at work, school
should use one of the statements below as a
starting point.
1 Good performance at work/college/school
2 Poor performance at work/college/school
Also asks students to think about how such
performance could be measured.
or college
The cause and effect diagram prompts
students to consider the end result and then
work backwards to how they got there in the
first place. For example:
Effect: good performance at college.
Causes: good attendance, turning up on
time, being organised.
Effect: good attendance
Causes: going to bed at a sensible time,
having an alarm clock to wake yourself
up, being interested in the lessons.
Timing
10 mins
Timing
15 mins
Timing
10 mins
Stage of
Lesson
Development
Teacher Activity
Student Activity
Elements of an Appraisal System
Teacher leads the drag and drop activity in
the Elements of an Appraisal System
lesson. Students decide whether statements
apply to an appraisal system or not and drag
them to the Business Doctor or to the bin as
appropriate. When all statements have been
positioned, teacher clicks the Check button
to get feedback. Any incorrectly positioned
statements return to the bottom of the screen
to be repositioned. Teacher can print this
screen so students have a copy.
Contributing to the activity
Deciding whether statements
apply to an appraisal system
or not
Stage of
Lesson
Development
Teacher Activity
Student Activity
An Appraisal in Action
Teacher plays the video in the An Appraisal
in Action lesson and asks students to write
down at least seven problems with the
appraisal on Worksheet 3, either while
watching or afterwards. Teacher plays the
video again if necessary. Teacher then asks
students to complete exercise 2 on the
worksheet.
Watching the video and
completing Worksheet 3
Making recommendations for
improvements to the appraisal
system in this company
Stage of
Lesson
Development
Teacher Activity
Student Activity
Advantages and Disadvantages
Teacher reminds students of the differences
of opinion they encountered during their own
appraisal exercise. Then opens the
Listening
Making suggestions
Advantages and Disadvantages lesson
and completes the drag and drop activity
following students’ suggestions. Correctly
positioned statements disappear, while
incorrectly positioned statements reappear in
the centre of the screen to be repositioned.
Timing
5 mins
Stage of
Lesson
Conclusion
Teacher Activity
Student Activity
Plenary: Teacher asks students:
 what they have learned about their own
performance during the session
 to describe at least one advantage and
one disadvantage of using appraisal
systems.
Answering questions
Differentiation
Differentiation is by application to the tasks, particularly in the starter activity which involves self-appraisal. The
more able students should be asked to provide a higher level of detail and some less able students may need
support to consider their own strengths and weaknesses.
Worksheet 1: Easy/Medium – The self-appraisal activity is used to support the on-screen activity by asking
students to write down their own ratings of what they are good at or not so good so that these elements can be
taken into the on-screen lesson as part of the examination of personal strengths and weaknesses.
Worksheet 2: Medium – This worksheet gives students the practical opportunity to produce a cause and
effect diagram. Differentiation can take place by supplying more or less of the causal data depending on the
level of the group. With lower level groups it may be useful to give out additional headings for good
performance causes, e.g. organisation, attitude, attendance, motivation, etc. This extra support may not be
necessary for higher level groups.
Worksheet 3: Easy/ Medium – Exercise 1, which requires students to watch a video of an appraisal and
identify seven things that are wrong with it, should be accessible by most students. Exercise 2 asks students
to make recommendations for improvement and any possible limitations – this may prove to be more
challenging and is therefore suitable for the more able students in the group.
Resources
Computer, projector, Worksheets 1, 2 and 3