Teaching Eval I

For both people who are official Eval overseers and for curious volunteers who want to pitch in with the teaching; evaluation helps volunteers become familiar with computer hardware and the procedures and standards at FREE GEEK.

Quick Guide

 * 1) Introduce yourself; point out the Syseval teachers list
 * 2) Describe the main goals of the task
 * 3) Point out the floormap and explain the piles/workspaces
 * 4) Point out the documentation on the wall
 * 5) Walk them through the large jobflow chart with an incoming system
 * 6) Ask if they want you to watch/help with their second system
 * 7) Check in periodically and be available for questions
 * 8) Doublecheck the cart; return and explain cart rejects
 * 9) Encourage them to keep the space workable
 * 10) Test out, if applicable

Detailed Instructions
Introduce yourself to volunteers in evaluation if you want to make yourself available for questions. You can also point out the Syseval teachers list so they know that there are certain people who know more about the area than others and they have names!

Describe the main goals of the task because people like to have an idea of their role in a system. In this case, they are visually inspecting incoming systems to detemine if they need to be recycled (recycled material earns money for FREE GEEK), and salvaging parts from systems which are going to be recycled (so those parts can be re-used).

Because the different areas/piles have different functions, pointing out the floormap will help them orient themselves to the space they'll be working in and the workflow. Make sure they know what piles they'll be pulling from and which ones they'll be adding to.

While you're looking at the floormap on the wall, point out the other documentation and explain its purposes. They should be aware that the documentation will change and that it's more important to understand it then to know it.


 * The System Evaluation 1 Overview flowchart is the overall step-by-step of tasks. Many of its steps refer to the other documents.
 * The System Evaluation 1 Triage flowchart will be used to determine if a system is to be recycled or probably a keeper.
 * Removing components from recycled systems tells what to do before closing a system that will be recycled.
 * Labeling and tallysheets for recycled systems explains how to do the paperwork before putting that system on the cart.

Common misconception: Many people think their goal is to memorize the triage flowchart; this is a bad idea because it will be changing pretty much forever.

Now's the time to get hands-on. Walk them through the overview chart with an incoming system, with frequent references to the documentation to make sure they know where to find the info. When they're done with the first, ask if they want you to watch/help with their second system. Different people learn at different rates. Sometimes you can enlist someone who has done that task before to help out their neighbor - this is a good thing!

Check in periodically and be available for questions; this can be difficult to do if evaluation is full. If there is someone else available to help with questions, share the load. It's ok to put off an interrupter until after you've finished the first question.

 Doublecheck the cart; return and explain cart rejects, if you find any. Be sure it's clear that you're instructing, not criticizing. Point out errors even if the person working isn't the one that made them, so they know some common errors.

Encourage them to keep the space workable by making sure they don't remove parts they're not supposed to or leave the workspace covered with screws. They can also throw various cables and steel bits that're junking up the workbench into systems bound for recycling. If you know when their shift is over, encourage them to start tidying up a few minutes before they leave.

If someone is confident that they are done, you can test them out of eval I. This is done by having them walk through the process of eval1 with a representative system from the stack as if you didn't know anything. Look for appropriate references to the documentation, understanding of the documentation and technical aspects, and attention to detail (cover on correctly and screwed in). If you think they're good to go, initial their page in the builder status book and make sure they know to sign up for Eval II next time.

Be prepared to learn something new and exercise your logic muscles.

Remember to have fun!

Other stuff

 * Join the http://lists.freegeek.org/listinfo/systemeval/ list if you want to teach this with any regularity or ever change the documentation. Introduce yourself to the list when you do so!
 * Before making changes in the documentation, confer with the other build trainers.
 * Initial your documentation changes and report them to the list.

Links

 * Teaching Eval II
 * Checking the Cart
 * System Evaluation Instructions
 * System eval email list