Posts Tagged ‘self-assessment’
February 1 - Student Self-Assessment: A Sample Assignment
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog
For me examples are like pictures; worth a 1,000 words. In the previous post I wrote about the need to intervene in the development of student self-assessment skills, leaving the process less to chance and making it more the result of purposeful intervention. At a recent Teaching Professor Workshop, I saw an assignment that illustrates that kind of intervention. It was from a 100-level, Introduction to U.S. Government course, but is adaptable to any course. The assignment has two parts and they are the first and last pieces of work students complete in the course.
January 27 - Developing Student Self Assessment Skills
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog
Our interest in more learner-centered instruction has changed the way many of us think about teaching as well as what we do in the classroom. We are devoting more energy to getting students involved during class. We are trying to give them more opportunities to practice those learning skills that expedite learning. We let them summarize the content; rather than doing it for them. We try to have them ask more questions than we do. We design activities which encourage them to learn from and with each other.
November 30 - Rubrics: The Essentials
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Educational Assessment, Teaching Professor Blog
“Teaching with Rubrics: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.” What a great title and the article is equally as good. For a quick review, rubrics, as this author points out, are most simply lists of criteria and levels of quality. (p. 27) What makes them good, bad, and ugly? Here’s a list condensed from
October 7 - Testing Knowledge–An Interesting Alternative
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Educational Assessment, Teaching Professor Blog
Sometimes we do get stuck in ruts—we use the same kinds of test questions: multiple-choice, short answer, maybe a few fill-in-the-blank, some matching and an occasional longer essay question. We forget there are other options. Here’s an example, initially proposed in 1990.
July 30 - What it Means to be a Self-Regulated Learner
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching and Learning
“Self-regulation is not a mental ability or an academic performance skill; rather it is the self-directive process by which learners transform their mental abilities into academic skills.” (p. 65) That definition is offered by Barry Zimmerman, one of the foremost researchers on self-regulated learning. It appears in a succinct five-page article that offers a very readable overview of research in this area.
June 18 - Self-Assessment Does Not Necessarily Mean Self-Grading
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Educational Assessment
Most faculty judiciously avoid having students self-assess because it seems hopelessly naïve to imagine them being able to look at anything beyond the desired grade. Even so, the ability to self-assess skills and completed work is important. Moreover, it is an ability acquired with practice and developed with feedback. It seems like the kind of skill that should be addressed in college. And perhaps there is a way.
April 8 - Inflated Self-Assessment
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching and Learning, Teaching Professor Blog
I wonder about the long-term effects of grades on the ability to self-assess. I got to thinking about this after I read the study referenced below. In it, 97 students assessed the participation of their peers and their own participation. Professors in the study also assessed students’ participation. The researchers looked at the correlations between
July 9 - Can Students Accurately Self Assess?
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog
Can students accurately assess their work? Most of us would say no with some conviction. But could they accurately evaluate their work under conditions that separated the grade they’d like to receive from the one they think their work deserves? A study in Great Britain found that they could.
March 17 - Simple Self-Assessment Activities
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Educational Assessment, Teaching Professor Blog
The last post explained how self-assessment is an important professional skill and how it’s a skill students should be learning, but aren’t in college. Here are some quick and easy ways to work with students on developing the skill.
March 12 - Self-Assessment Should Play a Central Role in Review and Revision
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Educational Assessment, Teaching Professor Blog
I’ve been reading some articles on self-assessment—as in having students look at their own work and come to some conclusions about its quality. Most faculty don’t let students self-assess and for good reasons. Most students can’t get past the grade they would like to the one they deserve. Moreover, several of the studies I’ve read document that when given the opportunity, given the criteria, and even given some guidance, students still see the activity as an opportunity to figure out what the instructor wants and/or would likely give them on the completed work. Almost none of them see self-assessment as a useful skill.
