The impact of self-assessment on achievement: the effects of self-assessment training on performance in external examinations

This digest found in

Assessment for Learning

Authors

McDonald, Betty; University of the West Indies, &
Boud, David; University of Technology, Sydney.

Publisher

Assessment in Education, vol.10 no.2 July 2003.

Introduction

Can students improve their learning through self-assessment?

Teachers have traditionally been seen as the custodians of knowledge, and students as the recipients. But, over the past few decades, there has been a growing recognition that revising for tests isn't the same as acquiring and developing deep understanding of the test, its purpose and content. Teachers are taking more interest in assessment for learning in which they target their own and their students' actions increasingly precisely upon the next steps in learning for individuals.

Activities that contribute to assessment for learning include the use of detailed feedback, teacher questioning and peer and self assessment built on specific learning goals and explicit criteria. The researchers in this study believe that self-assessment offers students the opportunity to manage their own learning by helping them to identify appropriate standards or criteria to apply to their work, and to make the judgements about the extent to which they meet these standards or criteria.

A highly significant feature of this study is that the teachers and students involved were first trained in self-assessment techniques. The researchers then set out to discover whether self-assessment helped them to improve results in external examinations across the whole curriculum.

Keywords
Caribbean; Secondary schools; Assessment; Self evaluation; Formative assessment; Summative assessment; Teaching methods; Pupils

Contents
What are the benefits of teaching self-assessment skills?                                          (Page 2)
What did the research find out?                                                                                    (Page 3)
What were the aims of the study?                                                                                (Page 4)
How were teachers trained in self-assessment?                                                          (Page 5)
What factors contributed to the success of the self-assessment programme?          (Page 6)
What did the students think of the self-assessment programme?                               (Page 7)
How was the research carried out?                                                                              (Page 8)
Implications                                                                                                                     (Page 9)
Where can I find out more?                                                                                            (Page 10)

Page 2
What are the benefits of teaching self-assessment skills?
The evidence is certainly growing. Black and Wiliam (2001) in particular have studied self-assessment in primary schools, and other digests on their work are available from this site (click to Where can I find out more?). Earlier studies have found that self-assessment:

transfers some responsibility for making decisions from the teacher to the learner;
helps students gain understanding of the concepts of quality;
provides a foundation for lifelong learning; and
improves learning in the course being studied

Page 3
What did the research find out?
The study reported that:

students who received the training performed better in the final examinations in the four curriculum areas than those who did not receive formal training;
gains in student attainment were greater for business studies, humanities and technical studies than those for science;
students valued the training; (click to What did the students think…?) and
the self-assessment training during the students’ final year did not disrupt their overall learning.

Page 4

What were the aims of the study?

This study focused particularly upon the impact of student self-assessment on attainment in external examinations. It aimed to measure the impact of self-assessment by comparing the attainment of a group of students who had been trained in self-assessment techniques with that of a matched control group who had not been trained. The students were all in US Grade 11, (UK Year 12, aged 16-17 years). The study reported on:

average student attainment in four subject areas:

business studies;
humanities;
science; and
technical studies; and

students’ views of the self-assessment programme.

Page 5

How were teachers and students trained in self-assessment?

Teachers were trained in self-assessment practices and shown how to introduce them to other teachers and their students in their own schools. The programme was designed to be used within the existing curriculum, so teachers could use their existing teaching materials. The training was flexible to allow for personal learning styles and speeds of individuals. It was also sustained over the school year to allow teachers time to work collaboratively to embed the practices.

Teachers undertook:

twelve formal training modules designed by the researcher. These focused on constructing, validating, applying and evaluating criteria to apply to students’ work;
interactive workshops with the researcher which gave examples of classroom situations; and
feedback and interaction amongst colleagues in the form of team teaching, monitoring, and school visits. This continued throughout the length of the study.

School visits involved trained researchers and teachers in coaching and in monitoring students’ activity through a range of methods including one-to-one discussions.

Students:

were encouraged to see self-assessment as being in their own self-interest;
practised naming assessment features, giving reasons for assessing the worth of their work;
were taught to make reasoned choices, assess responses to questions by applying given criteria, write a variety of question types, allocate marks to such questions, evaluate their work, and develop their own self-assessment activities;

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What are the benefits of teaching self-assessment skills? What did the research find out? What were the aims of the study? How were teachers and students trained in self-assessment? What factors contributed to the success of the self-assessment programme? What did the students think of the self-assessment programme? How was the research carried out? What are the implications of this study for practitioners? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader The impact of self-assessment on achievement: the effects of self-assessment training on performance in external examinations This digest found in Assessment for Learning Send to a friend Word doc 70KB Printer friendly Collate for later Authors McDonald, Betty; University of the West Indies, & Boud, David; University of Technology, Sydney. Publisher Assessment in Education, vol.10 no.2 July 2003. Introduction Can students improve their learning through self-assessment? Teachers have traditionally been seen as the custodians of knowledge, and students as the recipients. But, over the past few decades, there has been a growing recognition that revising for tests isn't the same as acquiring and developing deep understanding of the test, its purpose and content. Teachers are taking more interest in assessment for learning in which they target their own and their students' actions increasingly precisely upon the next steps in learning for individuals. Activities that contribute to assessment for learning include the use of detailed feedback, teacher questioning and peer and self assessment built on specific learning goals and explicit criteria. The researchers in this study believe that self-assessment offers students the opportunity to manage their own learning by helping them to identify appropriate standards or criteria to apply to their work, and to make the judgements about the extent to which they meet these standards or criteria. A highly significant feature of this study is that the teachers and students involved were first trained in self-assessment techniques. The researchers then set out to discover whether self-assessment helped them to improve results in external examinations across the whole curriculum. Keywords Caribbean; Secondary schools; Assessment; Self evaluation; Formative assessment; Summative assessment; Teaching methods; Pupils Contents What are the benefits of teaching self-assessment skills? (Page 2) What did the research find out? (Page 3) What were the aims of the study? (Page 4) How were teachers trained in self-assessment? (Page 5) What factors contributed to the success of the self-assessment programme? (Page 6) What did the students think of the self-assessment programme? (Page 7) How was the research carried out? (Page 8) Implications (Page 9) Where can I find out more? (Page 10) Page 2 What are the benefits of teaching self-assessment skills? The evidence is certainly growing. Black and Wiliam (2001) in particular have studied self-assessment in primary schools, and other digests on their work are available from this site (click to Where can I find out more?). Earlier studies have found that self-assessment: transfers some responsibility for making decisions from the teacher to the learner; helps students gain understanding of the concepts of quality; provides a foundation for lifelong learning; and improves learning in the course being studied Page 3 What did the research find out? The study reported that: students who received the training performed better in the final examinations in the four curriculum areas than those who did not receive formal training; gains in student attainment were greater for business studies, humanities and technical studies than those for science; students valued the training; (click to What did the students think…?) and the self-assessment training during the students’ final year did not disrupt their overall learning. Page 4 What were the aims of the study? This study focused particularly upon the impact of student self-assessment on attainment in external examinations. It aimed to measure the impact of self-assessment by comparing the attainment of a group of students who had been trained in self-assessment techniques with that of a matched control group who had not been trained. The students were all in US Grade 11, (UK Year 12, aged 16-17 years). The study reported on: average student attainment in four subject areas: business studies; humanities; science; and technical studies; and students’ views of the self-assessment programme. Page 5 How were teachers and students trained in self-assessment? Teachers were trained in self-assessment practices and shown how to introduce them to other teachers and their students in their own schools. The programme was designed to be used within the existing curriculum, so teachers could use their existing teaching materials. The training was flexible to allow for personal learning styles and speeds of individuals. It was also sustained over the school year to allow teachers time to work collaboratively to embed the practices. Teachers undertook: twelve formal training modules designed by the researcher. These focused on constructing, validating, applying and evaluating criteria to apply to students’ work; interactive workshops with the researcher which gave examples of classroom situations; and feedback and interaction amongst colleagues in the form of team teaching, monitoring, and school visits. This continued throughout the length of the study. School visits involved trained researchers and teachers in coaching and in monitoring students’ activity through a range of methods including one-to-one discussions. Students: were encouraged to see self-assessment as being in their own self-interest; practised naming assessment features, giving reasons for assessing the worth of their work; were taught to make reasoned choices, assess responses to questions by applying given criteria, write a variety of question types, allocate marks to such questions, evaluate their work, and develop their own self-assessment activities;