Abstract
Self-assessment, whereby students are actively engaged in assessing the quality of their work, has been shown to benefit them. It is not routinely carried out in all institutions. This pilot study aimed to explore the extent to which students chose to engage with self-assessment when invited to do so, and how accurate they were when they did. A short pilot tool including qualitative and quantitative elements, was circulated to students within a school of the largest faculty of Kingston University. Students completed the self-assessment and submitted it with their completed assignments. Actual grades achieved were compared with self-assessments. Qualitative data were analysed using basic thematic analysis. The highest average marks achieved were in the group who correctly self-assessed their work. More students incorrectly self-assessed than correctly assessed their work, and almost a third of students did not engage with the activity. Those who incorrectly over-assessed their work had average marks similar to those that did not engage with the activity, significantly lower than the average marks achieved by the incorrect under-assessors and the correct self-assessment groups. Correct self-assessing students were more specific about the skills they demonstrated and the support they used for their assignments.
Highlights
Self-assessment, involving students in making judgements about the quality of their work, is recognised as an important tool which can be used to support student learning (Boud & Falchikov, 2006; Taras, 2010; Wride, 2017), and an important skill for their future professional development
It has been shown to improve student performance in their final examinations (McDonald & Boud, 2003). It contributes towards the development of self-regulation (Pintrich, 1995), and in the sense that graduate attributes require students to be autonomous learners, it can be considered to underpin the development of graduate attribute skills (Nicol, 2010)
A common complaint by academic staff is that students focus on the marks they are given rather than the feedback itself (Orsmond et al, 2005), while for a variety of reasons students may not understand how to respond to feedback (Weaver, 2006; Poulos & Mahony, 2008; Draper, 2009)
Summary
Self-assessment, involving students in making judgements about the quality of their work, is recognised as an important tool which can be used to support student learning (Boud & Falchikov, 2006; Taras, 2010; Wride, 2017), and an important skill for their future professional development. It has been shown to improve student performance in their final examinations (McDonald & Boud, 2003) Perhaps more importantly, it contributes towards the development of self-regulation (Pintrich, 1995), and in the sense that graduate attributes require students to be autonomous learners, it can be considered to underpin the development of graduate attribute skills (Nicol, 2010). A common complaint by academic staff is that students focus on the marks they are given rather than the feedback itself (Orsmond et al, 2005), while for a variety of reasons students may not understand how to respond to feedback (Weaver, 2006; Poulos & Mahony, 2008; Draper, 2009). Feedback is often viewed as a one-way activity whereby students passively accept the
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