Learning through Self-Assessment towards Understanding the New B.Ed. Curriculum in South Africa: Experiences from the new B.Ed. Programme at Sol Plaatje University

Abstract

The mismatch between instruction and learning could pose a serious barrier to effective teaching and learning. Effective teaching should be a dynamic alignment and realignment of teaching and learning styles to optimise achievement. When teaching and learning styles do not complement each other students may become anxious, frustrated and disengaged which may have negative effects on their performance. The focus of the study is to gather evidence on how students perceive their own learning in order to adapt the teaching approach which will accommodate the students’ preferred way of learning. The main findings in this study showed that students prefer to work independently and that elements of metacognition are present during their efforts to learn. This study therefore suggests that self-assessment activities should become an integral part of the teaching and learning process. Thus, students are afforded the opportunity to advance personal learning through the development of metacognition as self-monitoring and corrective actions. Key words: Self-assessment, metacognition, self-regulated learning