Does self-assessment in a group help students to learn?

Abstract

'One of the greatest misconceptions about self-assessment is that it can be undertaken in isolation from others' [Boud (1995) Enhanced Learning through Self-assessment (London, Kogan Page), p. 200]. Social work practice - the experience from which we learn in social work education [Boud et al. (1985) Reflection: Turning Experience into Learning (London, Kogan Page)] - operates in the context of social relationships. This means that learning develops within its social environment, be it a student group, workshop, team or project. If self-assessment is to be an effective aspect of reflective learning in social work education, then it is important that social work students develop skills in self-assessment in group contexts. This paper charts an exploration of self-assessment in a group setting in order to reach some conclusions about how self-assessment can be encouraged amongst social work students as they carry out group assignments.