Self Assessment
The practice of self-assessment was frequently used as a reflective assessment tool throughout the program. At first, I was extremely uncomfortable with assessing myself. Over time, I came to appreciate the various forms of self-assessment as a powerful tool for developing metacognition and personal growth. The introductory video below provides an overview defining self-assessment and outlining its potential to enhance and support learning.
Length 3:54 min.
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Artifact Description:
My first experience with completing a self-assessment occurred during Research Methods in Education. At the end of the course, success criteria in the form of a checklist was used as a guide to grade and comment on my participation and contributions throughout the course. |
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Reflection:
While self-assessment was an assessment tool that I had used with my own students in the past, Research Methods in Education was the first time I experienced this form of assessment as a learner. At first I was extremely hesitant to complete the self-assessment as it was connected to my final grade in the course. I was worried that assigning a high grade would make me appear arrogant or unable to be reflective and identify areas for future growth. At the same time, I felt that I had demonstrated considerable learning in the course so I wanted to ensure that my efforts were accurately documented in my self-assessment. My initial concerns over the accuracy of completing a self-assessment have been documented in the literature. According to Fastré et al. (2012), the relationship between a student’s self-assessment and their actual quality of performance in a course or on a task may be quite weak due to inexperience completing self assessments, biased perspectives on personal strengths and weaknesses, and absence of specific performance criteria.
Despite my initial reservations, the practice of self-assessing my work was instrumental in taking ownership over my learning. In the past, the value I placed on learning tasks was based on how much the assignment contributed to my overall grade in the course. Completing a self-assessment helped me to focus my attention on my contributions and personal growth. Thus, I began to value learning over grades. The ability to self-assess is a life skill, as effective practitioners in any discipline need to be able to judge their own capabilities without depending on feedback from others (Boud, Lawson, & Thompson, 2013). When I first began the Master’s program I often emailed my professors for feedback on my work. The feedback that I was given was always very specific and directly related to course learning objectives. This served as an effective model and helped me to develop the ability to critically assess my own work. I am now much more confident and better able to assess my own work.
While self-assessment was an assessment tool that I had used with my own students in the past, Research Methods in Education was the first time I experienced this form of assessment as a learner. At first I was extremely hesitant to complete the self-assessment as it was connected to my final grade in the course. I was worried that assigning a high grade would make me appear arrogant or unable to be reflective and identify areas for future growth. At the same time, I felt that I had demonstrated considerable learning in the course so I wanted to ensure that my efforts were accurately documented in my self-assessment. My initial concerns over the accuracy of completing a self-assessment have been documented in the literature. According to Fastré et al. (2012), the relationship between a student’s self-assessment and their actual quality of performance in a course or on a task may be quite weak due to inexperience completing self assessments, biased perspectives on personal strengths and weaknesses, and absence of specific performance criteria.
Despite my initial reservations, the practice of self-assessing my work was instrumental in taking ownership over my learning. In the past, the value I placed on learning tasks was based on how much the assignment contributed to my overall grade in the course. Completing a self-assessment helped me to focus my attention on my contributions and personal growth. Thus, I began to value learning over grades. The ability to self-assess is a life skill, as effective practitioners in any discipline need to be able to judge their own capabilities without depending on feedback from others (Boud, Lawson, & Thompson, 2013). When I first began the Master’s program I often emailed my professors for feedback on my work. The feedback that I was given was always very specific and directly related to course learning objectives. This served as an effective model and helped me to develop the ability to critically assess my own work. I am now much more confident and better able to assess my own work.
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Artifact Description:
There were several courses in the program that integrated self-assessment into major assignments rather than using traditional self-assessment checklists. In Principles of Learning we were required to complete a wikiography describing our contributions to a course wiki. In addition, I completed a Lived Experience paper in Social and Cultural Context in Education. |
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Reflection:
In both the wikiography and lived experience paper I reflected on my learning and contributions while making connections between course content and my own interests and personal experiences. The nature of these assignments involved students in the process of self-assessment. McMillan and Hearn (2008) assert that self-assessment is a cyclical process in which learners self-monitor, self-judge and implement strategies to improve performance. For instance, when completing the lived experience paper I had to first become aware of my own thoughts and experiences in regards to privilege. As I completed the paper, the topics covered in the course gained more meaning as I related them to my own life and began to identify areas that I needed to learn more about. In the words of Dewey, “we do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” Learning was maximized in each of these courses by having students play an active role in their understanding, rather than acting as passive recipients of information. Incorporating reflective practices into the classroom engaged students in active learning as they thought about, evaluated and modified prior experiences to develop new understandings (Herrington & Oliver, 2000).
Both the lived experience paper and wikiography demonstrate how educators can incorporate self-assessment in an innovative manner. Within my own classroom, the self-assessments that my students would complete often followed a culminating activity and involved a standard set of questions focusing on their strengths, weaknesses and next steps. I can see now how this method would not have been engaging to my students as it was disconnected from the original learning objectives and often occurred after the assignment was completed.
Within my own classroom, I want to continue to develop my student’s capacity to self-assess. It is my hope that similar to my own experiences, my students will begin to value the learning process over grades. For this to happen, it is essential that I provide them with opportunities to reflect on their learning and work habits. My experiences with self-assessment in the Master’s program have provided a useful model for integrating this form of authentic assessment within my own classroom.
In both the wikiography and lived experience paper I reflected on my learning and contributions while making connections between course content and my own interests and personal experiences. The nature of these assignments involved students in the process of self-assessment. McMillan and Hearn (2008) assert that self-assessment is a cyclical process in which learners self-monitor, self-judge and implement strategies to improve performance. For instance, when completing the lived experience paper I had to first become aware of my own thoughts and experiences in regards to privilege. As I completed the paper, the topics covered in the course gained more meaning as I related them to my own life and began to identify areas that I needed to learn more about. In the words of Dewey, “we do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” Learning was maximized in each of these courses by having students play an active role in their understanding, rather than acting as passive recipients of information. Incorporating reflective practices into the classroom engaged students in active learning as they thought about, evaluated and modified prior experiences to develop new understandings (Herrington & Oliver, 2000).
Both the lived experience paper and wikiography demonstrate how educators can incorporate self-assessment in an innovative manner. Within my own classroom, the self-assessments that my students would complete often followed a culminating activity and involved a standard set of questions focusing on their strengths, weaknesses and next steps. I can see now how this method would not have been engaging to my students as it was disconnected from the original learning objectives and often occurred after the assignment was completed.
Within my own classroom, I want to continue to develop my student’s capacity to self-assess. It is my hope that similar to my own experiences, my students will begin to value the learning process over grades. For this to happen, it is essential that I provide them with opportunities to reflect on their learning and work habits. My experiences with self-assessment in the Master’s program have provided a useful model for integrating this form of authentic assessment within my own classroom.