(Self) evaluation of knowledge in students' population in higher education in Macedonia

Abstract

Students' assessment, in general, observed through a socio-historical prism, has always beentreatedas an extremely sensitive, current, significant, indicative and continuously present phenomenon. In that respect, what is especially relevant is that for a very long time docimological procedures and their effects have been focused on following only the primary and secondary schools' student population and they were expected to be an integral part of the teachers' professional practice. But, when the first book on evaluation in higher education appeared in the UK some 30 years ago, there were some fierce reactions to it. Thus, Hounsell (2003) points out that this topic has become so controversial, frightening and even offensive for many university professors. However, today it is considered that a good practitioner is the one who reviews his own practice and who evaluates the teaching process from the learners' perspective (Brown, Fry & Marshall, 2003). Therefore, the underlying motivation for conducting this research was the fundamental issue of students' self-evaluation of their achievements. The main objective of this study is to determine whether there is compatibility of the students' self-assessment of their achievements with the professors' evaluation of students' achievements. To that end, we applied a transparent procedure for collecting information involving a self-evaluation sheet and an interview technique in the context of the following university courses: general psychology, developmental psychology and social psychology. The preliminary results point to a high percentage of correspondence between the students and professor's evaluation. The expected outcome of this research is to promote this type of evaluation approach and to turn it into a common practice in higher education as it can contribute greatly to amplifying the quality of students' self-assessment on the one hand, and the teachers' interest in bettering the existing modes of students' evaluation on the other hand.